Category: Southern India

When Anan told us it would take nearly 4 hours to do about 100kms, we didn’t scoff. And he was right – but sadly a lot of it is down to the terrible storms that Kerala suffered last August. One of the big main roads was either swept away in parts or was under landslides, so quite a bit of the journey was on very small roads with very large potholes.

Munnar is about 5,000 feet above sea level, and we are staying at the Rose Gardens HomeStay – essentially private houses that let out fewer than 6 rooms.

Ventured out into Munnar – not the most salubrious of towns:

And Kerala has introduced very strict licensing laws, which means that most hotels can’t serve alcohol. But you can buy it at government approved stores and take it back to the hotel.

The only liquor store in Munnar:

Classy eh???

Then met Tony whose father had started the Rose Garden and he took us on a tour of his eco-friendly spice and flower gardens.

Apparently the “deal” is that as long as the local wildlife take only 30% of the crop then all is fine. Solar panels, recycling food waste to create methane for cooking, spring water and virtually zero food miles. And it’s lovely.

And had a quick wander out just before sunset:

And found a friend – no, it’s not my CD but I kept a close eye on my phone.

In the mountains (Western Ghats, but you all knew that!), and the main attraction around here is the Periyar National Park. So we had an early start to catch the wonderful animals from a boat ride.

Yup. All on strike. But beautiful landscapes so the artist in me took over.

We weren’t scared. A mooch around town later on:

And saw some thatching:

And another evening performance – need to read up to fully understand but was essentially an ancient parable (mimed, played by men, of course, and whatever the details, she ended up being stabbed to death).

Splashed out on a 3 course dinner – a tenner at the Bamboo Cafe – and it was excellent.

Can’t believe we aren’t even half way yet. Today is another one on the move, so time for thinking about India.

But you cannot think without a hearty breakfast:

I was thinking about how to take a single photo which summed it up, but of course that’s impossible. So for now will stick to “gritty” and start with a view from my walk around Madurai this morning.

It’s just starting to get busy, with all the shops opening up. If you add to this scene other things I saw in a single hour:

– cows and dogs roaming about

– someone milking a cow on the roadside

– someone else selling milk directly from a churn – bring your own cup

– two ladies in beautiful saris sorting through the rubbish. Wood is saved for fire, plastic bottles in a pile – presumably to be sold for recycling, and organic stuff put in a pile for the cows to eat

– a group of men sitting around an open fire in a shop making a brew

Add the cacophony of noise – horns, music and tuk-tuks and there you have it. And all topped off with the advert for very expensive men’s jewellery with an unfeasibly pale-skinned model.

Anyway, on the move again. Here’s a map – it’s only about 130kms from Madurai to Thekkady:

So we scoffed when Anan told us it would take 4 hours. And we were right – 3hrs 50 minutes! The roads are great but the traffic can be a nightmare. And having to stop to get a permit for reasons we didn’t find out.

Into the mountains now. View from the hotel:

A quick shopping trip around Thekkady in the afternoon – bananas anyone?

And a great acrobatic show:

Dinner must have been one of our cheapest ever – about £11 for fantastic curries (vegetarian, of course. To be honest, the food is so fantastic meat wouldn’t add anything.). One of the reasons is that we have moved from Tamil Nadu to Kerala. Kerala seems to be restricting alcohol which obviously reduces dining costs!

Finally, it’s cold for the first time. Cold is a bit of an exaggeration – means need a sweater when we’re out in the evening.

And I liked this – stopped for petrol and a bus full of passengers rolls in right behind us.

Early start tomorrow.

We were reflecting that we’ve now been here for a week, and are totally blown away. It is amazing how quickly we’ve settled into the rhythm, the noise and smells (me), openness and friendliness of the people, the warmth, and especially the food.

Firstly, before we left we were given a tour round the hotel by the head waiter, who clearly loves his job and the house.

Can’t remember half the details he told us, but the one bit I do remember is that the enormous wooden pillars in the entrance come from Burma. The way they were transported over 100 years ago was to drop tree trunks into the see, and 2-3 months later they would wash ashore and be collected. Simple.

A quick stop at the Ghandi Museum – Madurai was one of the many significant places.

Hotel is ok – private pool!

Tour of the Palace:

And then on to the main event of the day, and one of the highlights of the holiday, namely Madurai Temple. It is the most important, although not the biggest. A great guide who was knowledgeable, spoke terrific English, and was also entertaining.

No cameras allowed, so this was all I could get:

So thanks to Google Images for the next 2!

Describing it, though, defeats me utterly. All a mishmash of stories, sights, Hinduism, people milling about, so nothing more here. Instead a few random bits and pieces from the day:

No adultery in the Temple please.

Nothing allowed in, so no camera, shoes, bag (containing passports and money). View from the queue – crosses my mind if it was an almighty scam we’re in a bit of a mess as I gazed at the view.

Interesting sculpture. If you look inside his mouth there is a ball which is completely loose – but the whole thing was carved out of solid granite – so how did they do it?

Finally, buying a new suitcase:

Probably easiest to start with the R&R today, as it has been quite a strange experience, but I’ll come on to that.

Rest

Relaxation

Evening – note the genuine Indian beer!

I showed the hotel/mansion we’re staying in last night. In this area there are loads of them – not ancient, built in the 20th Century. So this morning was what seemed like a fairly random tour of some of them …..

….. on a bullock cart.

Here’s a selection:

Plus we had to get sucked in to ceramic tile making – actually quite interesting and no shop where you’re forced to buy.

Overall still trying to get to grips with India. The wealth gap between us and many of them is immense. For example it seemed to be a big harvest day where many people were manually threshing the wheat in the middle of the road. Would have made a very interesting photo, but we questioned our motives and so didn’t. Not sure if that makes sense – still trying to understand it ourselves (as we sit in an air-conditioned mansion eating and drinking extremely well).

Anyway, to finish off:

One of the descriptions of the area, although another is that they were indeed wealthy traders, but moved inland after a tsunami.

And we liked this:

It has to be said that as a city Tranjavur has little or nothing going for it. But it made the gritty morning walk even more so – the smells (many not especially pleasant), dirt, noise and so on a fabulous experience.

Also gave me an indication of why we’re here.

The name is a bit of a give away …

Then with a proper tour.

Plus demon:

And here’s a question. If you’re in the 11th Century and building this, how do you get the dome piece right on top? The building is 216 feet high, the dome weighs 81 tonnes, and the building is so constructed that the dome is vital for its stability – essentially no mortar of any sort – the pieces fit together and need the weight to hold them firm.

Answer – obvious when you think about it. Build a 7km ramp out of sand and get elephants to pull it up. Really!

Then one of the things I’m not keen on – the factory/shop tour. However, this one has been on the BBC with Michael Wood so must be OK.

Then about an hour to Trichy. Interesting piece about the death ceremonies next to the “Southern Ganges”

And then to the biggest temple in Asia – 150 acres, since you ask.

And getting the chariot ready for the ceremony tomorrow which we will miss.

On the move again later on – mainly for a bit of R&R at an amazing mansion hotel. Arrived late so haven’t explored yet.

Slowly (or quickly) getting into it and beginning to love India after only 4 days. Not sure what it is, although you can see the sights through the photos the smells and the sounds are terrific. And the food is amazing – sticking to our vegetarian (plus fish) pledge with great ease.

Today was planned as a sort of fill-in day. Nothing specific planned. Started with an early morning walk – usually a solitary affair for me but not today – it was packed.

That was about 6.30 – wonderfully cool with a sea breeze.

Breakfast on the terrace:

Morning in Auroville. See below for more info if you can read it.

An experiment in democratic and sustainable living, and beautiful as well.

Afternoon at leisure as the tour brochures might say. Eileen did some (very successful) clothes shopping, then visited a nearby beach when it got cooler. (Have I mentioned it’s quite warm😎!??)

And finally, horror of horrors, it’s an alcohol-free day in all the shops, bars and restaurants. So, wink wink, beer is served with foam in a coffee cup.

On our travels tomorrow – some serious temple sightseeing to come.

It’s difficult to know where to start as we’re still having to pinch ourselves. Got some sleep last night, but still a touch of jet lag. So functioning at a reasonable level.

Let’s start with tech. Bought a new phone.

So with a cheap Indian SIM card we are fully contactable by our driver, hotels and so on. For a grand outlay of £15.

But on to the serious business of Mamallapuram. As per usual, Eileen knows all about it; me a bit less. It’s a World Heritage Site though.

This is a fairly random photo of a piece of rock.

About 1,500 years ago the King had a brainwave – where do they come from? – let’s carve a series of temples out of this granite rock. So they did.

All carved out of that granite rock, and not finished even after 38 years. And when that King was overthrown the new King wanted to destroy it but couldn’t because it’s solid granite – so all the figurines and animals have had their noses chopped off which meant it could no longer be a temple – job done!

Brief stop for lunch – cheers!

Afternoon siesta – did I mention it is pretty hot – just below 30 so sightseeing is tough …

Dinner out in town which felt like a bit of an adventure – we have so far stuck to our hotel but no sign of tummy trouble yet 🤞.

And a wander around town:

Colour and cows!

It feels totally unreal. For the first time in our lives we are in India and at the moment can’t get our heads around the fact that we only left home 24 hours ago. And we are 5 1/2 hours ahead of the UK, so even the time conversion is a bit complicated.

First 7 hour leg to Dubai was easy – 4 seats to ourselves, and arrived in Dubai at about 9.00 so all fine.

Was pleased to see the plane took a by-pass around Syria, even though we did fly over Iraq at 40,000ft.

Dubai is interesting. It is massive and as a major hub is heaving at all times of day and night – 1.00 in the morning their time – with thousands of people milling around with different body clocks.

Next 4 hours was more of a challenge as little sleep and landed at Chennai (used to be known as Madras) at 8.00.

Met by our tour guide who didn’t want to lose us:

and thousands of fans ….

And it’s warm and sunny – 28 degrees with a light breeze 😎

So a bit of survival today, trying to stay up. Staying just outside Mamallapuram, so our guide took us for a brief visit – full-on guided tour tomorrow.

Crazily busy as it’s a long public holiday weekend with families out in their finery. And did I mention our fans earlier? Well Eileen’s anyway. On the busy beach:

Eileen was accosted 4 or 5 times in a few minutes by groups of women wanting their photos taken with her:

Finally we were lucky enough to be in town for the big annual dance festival. Here are one troupe having their photoshoot before they went on.

So as I said – a bit unreal to say the least. I’m sure we’ll be getting into the rhythm after a few days. And we were veggies today – fantastic curries.