Ashok Lodge Thanjavur

... I'll tell you their name in a later chapter), worn out by years of hard labour, bare feet having thick horny soles that were not affected by the tonnes of rubbish that mingled with the red dust and scant grass. The cows grazed in the rubbish bins, and the cocks and chickens perched proudly on the top of metal rubbish canisters overflowing. Everywhere you looked, the paper and plastic of years made the countryside look like a surrealist painting built up of blobs of paint spattered ...

... they are quite amazed when they stumble across one and quite often they try to initiate a conversation by asking you where you come from and so on. I don't have problems neither when I have to take either buses or trains, everyone seems to be in the mood for helping you, giving you directions or advice. The only problem is food, not because of it being unbearably spicy but because it is not always so obvious to get. I have decided not to play Russian roulette ...

... the others) and was one of the few in this area deserving world heritage status. With our religious halos shining and plenty of god knows what plastered on our foreheads by every "can I be your temple guide?" we were ready for another escape to the cool of the Ooty hill station as had Granny and baby Mum during the summer months leaving Granddad to run the railways in the 1930s.

... boulders. There were so few people and we were able to hike up the boulders for some amazing views of the valley. After 3 days we hopped on an overnight bus to Goa. Travel in India has been a breeze, easy and cheap, not sure why everyone says it is so difficult, maybe things have changed in the last 5 years, they have seen unprecedented GDP growth. Goa Goa consists of numerous beaches on the West coast of India. We started in the south at one of the more ...

... and stopped at a little restaurant for a cup of Chai and a Masala Dosa for breakfast. After eating I went looking for a hotel room. After an hour I found a suitable room and spent the rest of the day looking around town. I ended up staying in Trichy for 5 nights. The main reason for staying here so long was because a lot of the historic sites were spread out and it took a full day to walk to each of them, tour the site ...

... the longest leg of the journey. so i suppose subsequent legs will be easier. as there are 200 students in the school tomorrow, we may buy large ticket items like fans and get a smaller number of stationery items. the hotel reception today was amazing. a photo, valet parking, a garland, sweets, hot towel and a drink. and now free Internet. felt like i was participating in the "amazing race". best wishes, sameer

... a bit ie. Make rows for people to line up in with the barriers. The security guard then spotted Matt and I waiting patiently and it was as if he saw a famous person - suddenly we had special treatment, were brought to the front of the line and offered seats next to the pregnant lady with 4 kids! Of course, there was a made rush to the counters once they opened, but Matt and I have learnt the old push in just as much as anyone else, and there was no way we would have ...

... for a place where we could have something to eat, but last year's Lonely Planet is outdated. Finally we found a place where there were some French people playing cards. In the evening we went back to Kumbakonam and found a restaurant where we could sit upstairs in an A/C room with only two tables, a bit like an aquarium. The waiter stayed at our table for the entire meal. If you want to give it a try, it's called Meenakshi Bhavan.

... some places ........... unfortunately I made it to about 1 and then was so ill that I had to go back to the hotel. I was absolutely gutted but couldn't do anything about it. So spent the day sleeping and watching Hercules on tv!! By the evening I was better so we found this really nice french-indian restuarnt. The next day the others headed off to Auroville but as I hadn't seen much of Pondy I stuck around. Feeling much better, I headed down to sit by the sea and ...

... aan in Kollam waar nog een minibusje (met gordijntjes!) wachtte om ons naar de boot te brengen. Al snel werd duidelijk wat de grote bruine doos bevatte. Klingelingeling! Bij sommigen veroorzaakte de lange treinreis bizarre gedragingen. Na een uur zochten we in het donker naar onze partyboot. Nadat de frigo gevuld en de muskietennetten gehangen waren, ging iedereen naar bed.