Blogs from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia

I was driven from Maana Madurai to Madurai City in the late night. It took us about half an hour to reach the city but I was redirected to another place, my driver's relative place, which the whole family wants to meet me. On my way there, darkness catches up very soon, street lights lighted up, looking at my watch it was only 6.00pm. In my country this time is still bright that it will take another hour or more to see the street lights on. What amazes me was I caught a photo by chance that really made the world of paint companies looked rather less competitive. A new brand spray was born, solely Indian. A versatile standing auto paint spray, free style featured with the branded New Indian Masala. Paint the world colorful, bright ... read more

As soon as we got off the train in Madurai, we were swarmed by rickshaw drivers (as usual) and very pushy beggars, one of whom inadvertently flashed us due to a poorly wrapped sari. We figured out that the hotel we'd booked wasn't terribly far away, so, despite the heat, we decided to walk. When we arrived at our prospective hotel, we were appalled by its dirty, run down state, as well as its jacked up prices, considering its website falsely advertised it as affordable and clean. Disappointed, we set out to find another hotel and settled on one nearby that, though still a bit pricey, was exponentially cleaner. After we checked in, we realized that it did have a few downsides, however, in that the beds were extraordinarily short with wide pillows, causing our ... read more

We casually got up and dressed and went down for breakfast. We then packed our bags and checked out. We left our bags at reception while we went to the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple. It was really nice, colourful and ornate. While we were out we had another look for gifts but couldn't find much as its not too tourist here but I'm sure we can get everything in Chennai. We then got in a tuk-tuk to go to the hospital for my second rabies injection. Seriously hygiene/medical standards out here are appalling...no gloves etc... We then went back to the hotel and sat in the lobby for a while. We popped out to find some food as it was (3pm) and were starting to feel hungry as we hadn't yet eaten lunch. We couldn't really ... read more

We arrived in Madurai bang on time and walked straight to a hotel we had seen online. We checked in, had a nice refreshing (cold) shower and then I put some laundry in and did some smalls myself. We got ourselves ready and went to find somewhere to eat before walking round the streets near the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple. We decided to not go into the temple today but save it for tomorrow. Instead we went to a market stall that Emma and Manni had recommended and got a few family gifts. Aidan did very well but had soon had enough especially as it was hot so we left and went back to the hotel. We used the wifi before getting an excellent dinner on their roof top restaurant. We were both pretty tired so ... read more

Weetje : dansen is zeer belangrijk voor Indiërs. Naar verluid even belangrijk als seks! De klassieke Tamil dans telt 108 heilige posities. Standjes, zeg maar (...of was ik toch in het verkeerde boek aan 't lezen?). Neen hoor, ze staan allemaal afgebeeld op de oostelijke gopuram van het Nataraja Tempel (Chidambaram) Maandag 20/02/2012 - Van Trichy naar Madurai De Chaos in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is nog een graad erger dan wat we tot hiertoe al hebben ervaren. Maar ook chaos went. Wat niet went is het onophoudelijk getoeter van wat maar rijdt! In alle toonaarden. Te pas en te onpas. De Sri Rangatanathaswamy tempel, gewijd aan Vishnu, gaat door als de grootste in India. In feite lijkt het meer op een ingesloten stad dan op een gebedsplaats. Om b... read more

We zijn inmiddels in Madurai beland. We zijn maar 4 dagen in India, en worden overspoeld door indrukken : - een gids die Stalin heet, en een chauffeur Nelson... - Engels leren herkennen dat helemaal niet op Engels lijkt... - tempels in alle vormen en maten... - je blote voeten verbranden op de oververhitte plavuizen van de tempels... - de chaostheorie aan de lijve ondervinden... - ... en de mensenzee! Zaterdag 18/02/2012 - Van Pondy naar Tanjur In Puducherry, beter bekend als 'Pondy' zijn er meer katholieke kerken dan tempels of moskeeën. Een van de belangrijkste bezienswaardigheden is de Sri Aurobindo Ashram, mede gesticht door een Franse dame, die bekend werd als 'The Mother'. In India zijn alle meditatieve groeperingen erg in trek. Waar je ook maar in gelooft of wilt in geloven, je v... read more