Have Sari, Will Travel

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On 8 February, we took a four-hour ride on a local bus. It was amazing. We snagged the seat right behind the door so that Tom could stretch out his right leg. Sure … The sign at the front of the bus said, “25 Standees” but we had about 50 men, women, and children jammed in the aisle. One nice thing about India (compared to some other places we’ve traveled) is that the folks seem to bathe - not much BO, and very nice and friendly people, which was good, since we were definitely intimate. Here are some of the things we saw: Hindu temples, more Catholic churches, begging children, a dead body in the street, dirt and dust, and fields of bananas, corn, rice, coconut, pineapples, rubber trees, oil palm trees, papaya, cabbage, tomatoes, and marigolds. All is chaos, but there’s a strong attempt to organize the chaos. I found myself comparing India to China, where the government attempts to control everything, while the Indian government tries to organize the chaos and not worry about the rest.

We arrived in the afternoon in Madurai, a dusty city with little to recommend it (at least to me). It was too late to go to the Gandhi Museum and most of the gorgeous Menakshi temple was closed - partly because it was being repainted and partly because the resident god and his wife had gone away for the weekend to a Hindu festival in a nearby town. That was cool.

Yesterday, we took a 7-hour train ride (non-airconditioned) to the east coast and the city of Pondicherry. Begun by the French (more invaders), it does look French, with wider streets and a beach front. Some of the areas area also cleaner than we've seen before. Someone is actually cleaning up the litter. Apparently there are still people here who have joint French and Indian citizenship. We'll leave this afternoon and begin to go back across southern India to Kochi.

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Photos

Menakshi Temple, Madurai
This woman is preparing an offering in a temple area devoted to women and their worship.

Traffic
You just can't believe the number of pedestrians, bicycles, motorbikes, rickshaws, tuk-tuks, cars, trucks, buses, tractors, ox-carts, etc. that share the roads.

There are cows here ...
Yes, you'll see cows everywhere here, just strolling down the streets and eating what's offered to them, sometimes garbage. Most seem thin, but in pretty good shape.

Comments

[Anders Kjemtrup]

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Hi Tom and Sandy! Well it seems like you guys have had a perfect start on your new adventure! boy oh boy, I wish it was me! Allthough living in Denmark isn't too bad! Keep the stories coming and lets see more of those awesome pictures! Best wishes and good luck further on the trip! Anders