Ashby Hotel Tiruchirappalli

... and mountains off in the distance for most of the ride. Trichy seemed like a dirty city by South Indian standards upon arrival, and we checked into our hotel, which was a significant step down after being so spoiled at the last place. We had lunch and then went out for some sightseeing.

Many cities in South India go by two names - one that is the older, native name and the other that is easy ...

... perfect shaded canopy. You couldn’t see the temple at all, as I joined the most famous queues of all, thro’ an extremely long, holy maze of pilgrims.

Having gone thro’ several security screenings, I was then taken aside to complete details in a book and confirming my religioun and signing to say that I gave praise to the Lord. Thereafter, I followed in a queue of pilgrims ahead, while a wider, parallel queue of ordinary folk walked thro’ ...

... more I rushed the more difficult they were to get off! Thankfully, it turned out that we were still half an hour away from the station, but I must have lost 4 pounds in the intermediate panic!!

I got off the train at Villuparam (the nearest train station hub) and took a rickshaw (yes, incredible, but there’s always one available!) to the bus station, where I found a bus just leaving - absolutely full of people and babies, as if it was a Saturday afternoon! While I was ...

... like a champion, it was a good day on the road. Once in Trichy i ate noodles at the Banana Leaf restaurant and checked into the Tamil Nadu Hotel which was in the junction and over-priced but i couldn't be bothered trekking around with my pack on. The ladies in the restaurant were so fascinated by my clothes and sunglasses that they sat at the table and watched me eat. The next night they asked me to take their photograph and then everyone elses, the waiters ...

... and white mountain daisies grew in carpets along the penstock steps. The EB camp houses far below looked like little toys. We could see our friends children playing in the meadows in the distance. Nilgiri tahr frequent the huge rock massif above the valve house, we saw them on our last visit, now the sun was too much in our eyes.



After a long while enjoying the view, we debated whether to take the short cut staircase to the ...

... in worse. We only have one full day here so we decide to spent it at the Rock Fort and see the temple. We take the bus which is cheap and over crowded. It is hotter than hot and walking through the bizarre at the bottom is hard enough never mind the 437 steps we have yet to encounter. We leave our shoes and set of climbing the first section which is all inside. Then you get to the outside part and the floor burns your feet so we hop from shade to shade and rest under the ...

... that are attached to the ceilings. Nobody could get on or off the train, except through emergency windows. Immediately it became clear to us that we would nog get our berths to sleep on, and I had to show my ticket to people so they realized we had at least the right to sit squeezed in ...