So it transpires that a significant proportion of the railway network in southeast India is undergoing an upgrade at the moment so my cunning plan not to take anymore buses has come undone. I had come to Thanjavur primarily as it is a big railway hub but of course there was a temple to be visited as well as witnessing the bizarre ritual where the temple elephant "blesses" those who
make a contribution to the temple. Or feed him, he doesn't seem to differentiate. As it turned out there was a train to my next destination , Madurai , but it was unreserved so it was pot luck if you get a seat. The train arrived 1.5 hours late by which time a huge crowd had gathered and due to the fact that I am just not quite ruthless enough yet I failed to secure a seat in the melee. Happily an hour into the journey we stopped at a major town and I managed to nab a vacated seat before the swarming masses on the platform scrambled on. I keep meaning to take a photo of one of these transport related scrums but I'm generally too busy beating my way through a crowd and besides I reckon only an aerial photo would do it justice.

Madurai is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu and I used it as a base for over a week to visit some of the surrounding attractions. The city itself is famous for.... you guessed it , it's temple which is admittingly impressive. All of the hotels geared for tourists have roof top restaurants which give great views over the city and said temple. But aside that from it is a large bustling Indian city and I only stayed one day in the city itself.

My first trip was to Rameshwaram , an island steeped in mythology and a major pilgrimage site for Hindus. I booked a tourist bus (tastefully decorated inside and out)thinking that it might be a good way to meet other backpackers but yet again managed to be the only non Indian on the trip. And incidentally
the only guy without a mustache, it's mad how every single guy in Tamil Nadu has a ronnie. I had two reasons for coming here, I had seen a photo of the temple corridors and they looked amazing and at the extreme east of the island you are less than 20kms from Sri Lanka across what is know as Adams bridge, a series of sand bars and islands that stretch from Rameshwaram
in India to Mannar in Sri Lanka. The swarm of day pilgrims left around 2pm and I found myself being one of only around 6 Westerners staying overnight in the town. The temple was lovely and peaceful and the corridors were amazing as you see from the photos. My evening stroll took me along the coast took me through a shanty fishing village where I became like the pied piper of Hamlin with the local kids. I still get lots of requests for photo's (or should I say orders, people just walk up to me, say "photo" and I have to pose)but recently people have
been
asking me to take photos of them with my camera. They neither ask for money which happens in some places or are aware that the camera is digital judging by their amazing when I show them themselves. Anyway these fishermen and the guy who was immensely proud of his cow and cart all asked for photo's. (note all the mustaches, all the big Tamil movie stars have them so I guess it's the fashion)
The trip from Rameshwaram town to the Indian side of Adams Bridge was surreal to say the least. As soon as we left town we hit a dead straight road and as we traveled along the 18km strip of land the sea closed in on both sides as the strips of land left and right got narrower and narrower until we reached a point where we were on a narrow sandbar (it really felt like you were on a road to
nowhere). At this point I had to switch from a tuc tuc to a truck as the tarmac had stopped and had 7kms left to travel over sand. Mercifully enough they decided to put the big white guy in the front cab with the driver as it was a tight fit in the back. On the way we passed Dhanushkodi which up until 1964 was a major fishing village and terminal for a ferry in Sri Lanka. Then a cyclone hit, wiping out the
village and killing over 1,800 inhabitants, it now stands as a eerie ghost town with a few shacks erected between the ruins. Suddenly the sandbar just stopped and in the distance you could just about make out other sandbars and islands that stretch across to Sri Lanka. This is a holy place for Hindus as it forms a part of the Ramayana , an epic ancient tale equivalent to the Iliad. So all the Hindus had their ritual bathing while the few westerners paddled in the Gulf of Mannar.


Next up was Kodaikanal, a former British hill station. Situated at over 2,000 metres the temperature is just wonderful and the nights were actually cold and I really enjoyed sleeping under blankets again. I booked a hike one of the days but unfortunately 20 minutes the clouds rolled in and I saw nothing of the great scenery I had been promised. My mood wasn't improved by the guide constantly assuring me that he had a English couple out hiking the previous days and it was a beautiful clear day. Still the 25kms exercise did me good and it was nice to be
breathing fresh mountain air again. The following day I took a bus to Palani, another famous pilgrimage site. I wasn't aware that it was a festival day until I arrived but as myself and the thousands of Indians slowly wound our way up the stairway to the temple at the top of the hill outside town I reckoned something was up. Despite featuring in all the guide
books as a place to see
I found myself yet again to be the only Westerner around and caused consternation where ever I went. The crowds at the top were unreal and the drumming and dancing made the climb up the hill in the midday sun more than worthwhile.

Kanniyakumari is a town located at the southern tip of India where the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea meet. It is yet another pilgrimage site for Hindus and when the tsunami hit over 1,000 visiting pilgrims were killed. Incredibly the 500 or so pilgrims who were on Vivekananda Memorial (the
two rocks just off the shore) survived and were airlifted to safety after being stranded for 10 hours. The temple was even stricter than normal, I have no problem taking off my shoes going into a temple but there is no way I am going topless (a requirement for men only). As if I don't get stared at enough as it is. So I gave the temple a miss. The two big things to do here are to experience sunrise
and sunset which leaves you with a good 12 hours in between to wander around and be harassed by street sellers selling every kind of crap imaginable. Why would I want my name written on a grain of rice anyway ? The town does have a nice vibe and a real "lands end" sense to it. And the sunrise and sunsets are certainly spectacular and worth the effort of getting up early.
So that's it for Tamil Nadu..for the moment at least. Frustrations aside I have really enjoyed and it was nice to see the Tamil culture in a different light that what you see in Sri Lanka. The fact that I haven't seen a gun in my time here highlights one big difference. Having said that I reckon I've seen enough of Hindu Temples to last me a lifetime and I'm dying for a beer and non vegetarian dinner so I'm off to Kerala.