My friend Neeraja and her cousin Sita kindly gave up their Diwali time with the families and decided to take me on a road trip start from Chennai travel to Kenyakumari the south tip of India.
Neeraja translates documents from Indian languages to English and vice versa. Sita use to work for the German embassy in Chennai. She is very articulate and has a really good sense of humor. I learnt a lot from these two ladies about the history and stories of India. Our driver Murugesan is a very kind man with a big smile, he has two kids, one 10 and one 13 both are boys, he really looked after us on this road trip.
Most common food I have had on this trip was dosa served with chutney and sambar on leaves. It was quite simple ad most places serve very similar food, I wanted something different but it’s food and when you see so many people sleeping on the roadside , it’s a bit heartless for me to complain about the food I have. The road condition was poor and most villages we passed by had no electricity. Some scooters on the road travelling at night didn’t even have lights on. The most funny thing is when we stopped asking for police for direction, we saw two guys on the scooter with four goats in between them.We saw many temples and I almost lost track of the names of them we visited.
The temple in Thanjavour was truly magnificent. We went around 9 am finished in two hours. Everyone need to walk around bare feet, when we were leaving I saw a group of European tourists arrived with wooly socks on. the floor can be burning hot during midday .
After three hours drive on road in superb condition with no traffic due to the holiday, we arrived Madurai late in the afternoon. Went straight to the Sri Meenakashi temple. The temples was built for Sri Meenakashi a fish eyed Goddess. The story goes that she has three breasts, when she met her husband God Shiva the third breast will melt away.
We were all a bit exhausted after visiting the temple, its getting dark and the fireworks started. We stopped at the YMCA because Sita really needs to borrow the bathroom. While Sita and Neeraja went, I asked the front desk about rooms and decided we would spend the night there. There was no decent restaurant open since its Diwali. We ended up in this tiny restaurant serving Rajasthani food. I had four pieces of thin doti. When we were at dinner I told Neeraja that I don’t think I can travel with this pace any longer. I am a lazy tourist, I just want to see one or two things a day and spend the rest of time lounging in cafes or watching locals get by the day. travelling 8 hrs in car than walking 3 hrs in a temple is pretty tough work. Main tourists attractions were never a big thing for me. If the queue is too long, I won’t want to see it regardless how famous the attraction is . So we came to an agreement with less time on the road and more rest for us.
Next day is the actual Diwali. I got a nice silk top from Sita as the Diwali gifts. The ladies all dressed in beautiful Sari . Neeraja had a blue colored one. Sita had a sand colored with tribal prints on it. when we woke up all the shops and restaurants were closed. Had a simple breakfast , the server had to be reminded for five times about my chai comes with milk. They seem to be in a constant state of high confusion. They were very kind when we left without the water bottle we purchased, one of the server came after us gave us the water.
Tamil Nadu road trip to be continued…
LIYANG'S THOUGHTS 