Hotel Annamalai Tiruchirappalli

... roared into life, and chugged out of the airport carpark onto the crazy roads towards town. The beeps enveloped us like a blanket as we drove underneath the coconut and banyan trees lining the road, overtaking and overtaken by gurgling buses and motorcycles and Ambassador Classic taxis, white and as the name suggests classic looking. The green hornet song was going on quietly in my head, trying to make sense of the chaos in the red dust around us. BEEEP! Men in smart trousers or ...

... are Brahma, the creater, and Shiva, the destroyer.) The temple had expanded many times over the years and gates were built depending on the style of the current ruling power, so there were I think seven gates to go through. There was one gate that was made without any paint that was done to show Muslim dominance while they were ruling. We started getting inside a few and I noticed that there were a ...

... Devoted souls flock here to see Lord Venkateshwara, who is an avatar (reincarnation) of Vishnu. The Puranas (18 encyclopedias of Sanskrit stories in verse, of the 3 Hindu pantheon, from the 5th century onwards), include legends and stories about Tirumala Hill and its surrounding area, so it’s very possible the temple’s history is over 2,000 years old. It’s very possible the present devotional rates are attributable to succeeding generations over ...

... on the bus, there seemed to be people working outside, all around me!! By this time it’s 2.30am and there’re people setting up fruit on stalls, walking around in their towns, many sleeping all over every available surface (roads, kerbs, on barrows and benches), near cows, rubbish and tatty sheds. This was a pretty grotty place and the shops and building all around looked incredibly run down. The whole route was incredible, as the bus picked up and dropped off folks all ...

... Some people haven't been photgraphed before and are not sure what to do in front of the lens so they give a stern look and i have to remind them to smile. The general conversation i have multiple times a day contains the questions what is your name? you are coming from? where are you going? how many days here? then are you married? A good trick for the solo traveller is to pull the sheets off your double bed and find that there are always two single ...

... og en lille smule bange for fremmede. De kravler ind til de voksne. De er smaa, de aeldste er ikke mere en 4 aar. Saa det er ikke alt det lego vi har koebt som kan bruges. Vi faar dog ikke lov at give dem legoet, det skal vi give til lederen. Boernene maa ikke saadan faa gaver. PIS OG PAPIR!!!! Det havde vi glaedet os til. Ikke mindst for jeres skyld. Men vi haaber at det ender ho boernene. Vi sdagde flere gange hvad ...

... around Madurai we were prepared to leave, their big draw was under construction and we got tired of avoiding cow **** in the streets. I just read that one cow puts more CO2 in the environment than a car that drives 3000 miles and that is per day. Apparently, they belch methane, which is 31 times stronger than car emissions, as part of their eating process. We hopped on an overnight train for Verkala beach, a nine hour ride that cost 2 bucks for a sleeper. I ...

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

... shortly afterwards. It was an experience of a lifetime, and I am so glad I didn't stay inside to play cards all night.   We came back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep, before leaving at 4:30am for the town of Auroville, a French hippie commune about 20min away from Pondicherry. We walked in the dark, for about 15 min in the jungle to the gathering. When we arrived, there was a large bonfire next to a huge, golden globe. At sunrise, everyone was invited ...

... it is a Chola temple, and it is situated in the middle of a green garden. Few visitors come here, so we had a very peaceful time appreciating the beauty of the surroundings. In almost all the temples we visited, we also participated in the Puja or offering. In the end we touch the flame, get a coloured marking on our forehead and sometimes get rice or a flower or some other kind of gift. It is a very impressive experience. In the evening we ...