You have to love traveling by train in India. We took the 12hour overnight train from Varkala to Madurai (which is in Tamil Naidu).. . . . Third class as usual...... And these train trips are a microcosm of what the whole country is like. For example ;
(a) they may or may not arrive, and depart on time- but they will get you there
(b) the carriages themselves are falling apart at the seams - but everything that needs to function does . . . And anything that is not essential simply doesn't work.
(c) the people are really friendly. We might not be able to speak to each other but being so close and confined in such a small space . . . We always manage to communicate.
(d) there is no escaping the filth and the smells. Whether it is being perched over a hole in the floor that passes for a toilet, or having to sleep with you head away from the walls so the cockroaches stay out of your hair. The smells and the dirt of India follow you everywhere- and some of the less pleasant smells can imprint themselves in your memory.
(e) you can't escape beggars . . . . Even on the train :) how they manage to get on the train is beyond me but the seem to be able to track down a foreigner with all the stealth and accuracy of a cruise missile.
(f) you can guarantee that there will never be a time when things are quiet. Regardless of the time someone will always be shouting into their cell phone, or the food/lottery/chai man will walk past shouting out what they have for sale...........
(g) despite all of this......there is a charm amidst the chaos. Sometimes you just have to look hard for it:)
We arrived in Madurai early in the morning, and when we washed up at our hotel were surprised to see an elephant standing at the front door (a new form of bouncer perhaps?). Now having an elephant at the front door probably makes you think that the hotel was some former maharaja's palace, no doubt set amidst beautiful grounds and an oasis of peace and calm.
It would probably be stretching the truth to describe this place like that. In reality it was an "ugly mother of a concrete box", overpriced, worn out but offering an air conditioned vegetarian restaurant. And Madurai was hot. We had had plenty of hot weather up till now, but mostly tamed by the sea breeze. Here it was a different kind of heat. Between 35 - 38 each day it made walking around after 10am and before 5pm like taking a sauna.
And yet the Sri Meenakshi temple was awesome. This was the sole reason for coming to Madurai, and it was something that I had built up in my mind, but it was outstanding. According to religious tradition the beautiful Meenakshi was born with three breasts and with a prophecy that the superfluous breast would melt away when she met her husband. This happened when she met the god Shiv and became his consort. The temple itself is a six hectare complex enclosed by four huge gates (the highest Apparantly 52meters) and another 8 gateway towers. All of the gates and towers are carved with hundreds of gods, goddesses, demons and heros. All of which are painted in the most vivid colours. It is a riot of colour, form and fantasy.........and takes the breath away. Inside the complex has thousands of carved stone statues and pillars and a very cool, and subdued atmosphere. One of the things that I loved about the temple is that it is so much more than a beautiful tourist attraction. It is primarily a site of Hindu pilgrimage for everything from wedding blessings, to choosing baby names, to the forgiveness of sins and prayers of every shape and colour. Two parts of the temple are closed to non-Hindus and foreigners, but all around you are people prostrating themselves on the floor, or chanting, or throwing balls of butter at statues, or lighting candles.
It is quite beautiful. History and contemporary culture mixing together quite happily.
The city itself is Apparantly the oldest city in India (which makes it very old indeed in world terms) and it feels like it is. As is the case with all of the cities / towns I have visited. It is simply chaos and carnage. There is no real infrastructure and in Madurai not even any traffic lights :) so crossing the street is a fantastic experience. You simply throw yourself into the mix and hope for the best. If you waited for an opportunity to cross you could be there all day so you need to mix it up with the pedestrians, and motorbikes, and tuk tuks and cabs, and trucks, and cows and a million vehicles all simultaneously blowing their horns.............it's fun :)
I arrived back in Mumbai last night and fly out to Paris and then Barcelona in the early hours of the morning. So the first part of the Indian journey is at an end. I am really looking forward to seeing Susan and it will be good to have a chance to reflect on things away from the maddening crowd.
Be good and be kind to each other
Ant
(a) they may or may not arrive, and depart on time- but they will get you there
(b) the carriages themselves are falling apart at the seams - but everything that needs to function does . . . And anything that is not essential simply doesn't work.
(c) the people are really friendly. We might not be able to speak to each other but being so close and confined in such a small space . . . We always manage to communicate.
(d) there is no escaping the filth and the smells. Whether it is being perched over a hole in the floor that passes for a toilet, or having to sleep with you head away from the walls so the cockroaches stay out of your hair. The smells and the dirt of India follow you everywhere- and some of the less pleasant smells can imprint themselves in your memory.
(e) you can't escape beggars . . . . Even on the train :) how they manage to get on the train is beyond me but the seem to be able to track down a foreigner with all the stealth and accuracy of a cruise missile.
(f) you can guarantee that there will never be a time when things are quiet. Regardless of the time someone will always be shouting into their cell phone, or the food/lottery/chai man will walk past shouting out what they have for sale...........
(g) despite all of this......there is a charm amidst the chaos. Sometimes you just have to look hard for it:)
We arrived in Madurai early in the morning, and when we washed up at our hotel were surprised to see an elephant standing at the front door (a new form of bouncer perhaps?). Now having an elephant at the front door probably makes you think that the hotel was some former maharaja's palace, no doubt set amidst beautiful grounds and an oasis of peace and calm.
It would probably be stretching the truth to describe this place like that. In reality it was an "ugly mother of a concrete box", overpriced, worn out but offering an air conditioned vegetarian restaurant. And Madurai was hot. We had had plenty of hot weather up till now, but mostly tamed by the sea breeze. Here it was a different kind of heat. Between 35 - 38 each day it made walking around after 10am and before 5pm like taking a sauna.
And yet the Sri Meenakshi temple was awesome. This was the sole reason for coming to Madurai, and it was something that I had built up in my mind, but it was outstanding. According to religious tradition the beautiful Meenakshi was born with three breasts and with a prophecy that the superfluous breast would melt away when she met her husband. This happened when she met the god Shiv and became his consort. The temple itself is a six hectare complex enclosed by four huge gates (the highest Apparantly 52meters) and another 8 gateway towers. All of the gates and towers are carved with hundreds of gods, goddesses, demons and heros. All of which are painted in the most vivid colours. It is a riot of colour, form and fantasy.........and takes the breath away. Inside the complex has thousands of carved stone statues and pillars and a very cool, and subdued atmosphere. One of the things that I loved about the temple is that it is so much more than a beautiful tourist attraction. It is primarily a site of Hindu pilgrimage for everything from wedding blessings, to choosing baby names, to the forgiveness of sins and prayers of every shape and colour. Two parts of the temple are closed to non-Hindus and foreigners, but all around you are people prostrating themselves on the floor, or chanting, or throwing balls of butter at statues, or lighting candles.
It is quite beautiful. History and contemporary culture mixing together quite happily.
The city itself is Apparantly the oldest city in India (which makes it very old indeed in world terms) and it feels like it is. As is the case with all of the cities / towns I have visited. It is simply chaos and carnage. There is no real infrastructure and in Madurai not even any traffic lights :) so crossing the street is a fantastic experience. You simply throw yourself into the mix and hope for the best. If you waited for an opportunity to cross you could be there all day so you need to mix it up with the pedestrians, and motorbikes, and tuk tuks and cabs, and trucks, and cows and a million vehicles all simultaneously blowing their horns.............it's fun :)
I arrived back in Mumbai last night and fly out to Paris and then Barcelona in the early hours of the morning. So the first part of the Indian journey is at an end. I am really looking forward to seeing Susan and it will be good to have a chance to reflect on things away from the maddening crowd.
Be good and be kind to each other
Ant
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