Deutschsprachiger Stammtisch Chennai - April

Der naechste und dritte deutschprachige Stammtisch findet am 13. April ab 19:30 im Rooftop Restaurant des Raintree Hotels statt. Bis jetzt wars immer lustig und feucht, darum Zeit nehmen an diesem Abend.



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Rent a place

Hunting for a place to live has turned out to be a difficult event. There is not too many properties available in Chennai, which meet Western standards and can be described in three categories:

1. Upmarket houses in the city center around the boat club area
2. Apartments in the city
3. Houses, villas along the East Coast Road

The scarcity of offer in the real estate market together with lots of foreigners coming in has lead to a price increase of around 50% in rental prices for expat housing. I have seen fabulous houses for 50,000 INR per month rented three years ago and really bad stuff for 120000 INR per onth rented out this year. With companies normally willing to pay whatever the expat in India demands, the local landlords are just hiking the prices on a monthly basis and have to open their wallets to fill it with money. I came accross stories, in which the landlord wanted to kick out the expat, if he would not be willing to pay 50% more rent.

As I have experience in a house along the ECR as well in a city center appartement, let me explore the advantages, disadvantages of both.

Beach houses:

• Am I willing to travel around one hour to the city one way, as the ECR can get pretty crammed?
• It is phantastic to live two minutes walking distance from the sea side
• What about cobras (snakes) in the garden? Do I have a provision for an antitoxin in my fridge as my neighbours do?
• How much piece and dark do I stand?
• The more you go south the worse the infrastructure will be. We had times of two days without electricity, therefore a back up generator is a must have! Forget about DSL Internet connections down south and seek as well, where the water comes from in your shower.
• Am I ok, that there is no garbage removal, but everybody burns their waste in the garden, which can stink heavily
• Does your family like insects, who share the space with you, such as cockroaches, ants, etc..?
• Any allergy against lizards?

Dont forget you choose the jungle to live in - it is great to live in midst of wild exotic nature at the beach, but be also prepared for exotic adventures!!

Ideal beach resort

The best expat hangout place on the weekend is Ideal beach resort. Around three kilometers before the cultural heritage of Mahabalipuram is this hotel resort, which has a great beach, a nice swimming pool and an ok restaurant, but you will definitely find most of the Chennai expat families spending their Saturdays or Sundays there.

What makes this place unique is, that for 150 Rupies you can use the well maintained beach area as well as the swimming pool, which no other resort in the area would allow you. And the hygenic standards are acceptable so that it makes the only place on the coast strech between Chennai and Pondy, where you can hang out on the beach, enjoy a fresh coconut water under palm trees and have a nap in one of the hammocks.

The food at the beach itself is not really great, but in the restaurant in the resort it is definitely acceptable and they have a wide variety of Indian, continental and sea food.

At the pool you will soon make your friends in French, German, Danish, Italian or English language. Lots of mainly European expat families enjoy this place on the weekend, despite the fact, that it is a good hour drive on the East Coast Road (ECR) from Chennai.

On Sunday afternoons Brynjulf from Norway is organizing beach volleyball games and everybody fit enough to play for some hours in 45 degrees is welcome to join.

This place has the best recreational factor on the whole coast and worthwhile a visit!