Hotel Femina Tiruchirappalli

... skirts and shirts, barefoot or in sandals, most in moustaches and or beards walking with their heads held high, or sitting in the shade, manning rusty and dusty coffee and milk bars, general stores and workshops. The women in their colourful sarongs, old and young, their belly exposed, mainly flabby and generally toothless faces, or with bad teeth, hair plaited or tied back, carrying large loads on their heads... Goats mixed with cows that dominated the scene, walking onto the middle of ...

... of people inside praying and we were the only tourists around. We were able to get a rooftop view of the many gates but non-Hindus are not allowed into the inner areas with the main statues. However, we were lucky enough to be standing around when the temple elephant came out for his afternoon stroll, and it was funny to see him with the paint markings on his face that are usually used to recognize ...

... period!<br><br>Lord Venkateshwara is said to have a host of powers, including the ability to grant wishes made before him, so there are tens and tens of bald men, women and children, as they donate their hair in thanks for previous wishes fulfilled, or to renounce their ego. As a result, there are hundreds of barbers in Tirupathi and Tirumala, to provide freshly tonsured appearances for those devotees, easily discernible as the queues meander thro&#8217; metal &#8216 ...

... the route, like it was the middle of the day! <br><br>I arrived in Puducherry at 3.20am and found some chairs in a quiet-ish spot. I set up my bags well and put a pillow on the top, thinking I might get a couple of hours sleep, but arriving buses soon put paid to that, as they pulled up near to my chairs. They all had radios blaring out at full pelt, with high-pitched female Indians screeching their heads off! As the buses parked, the noise carried on regardless and didn&#8217;t ...

... house or to return along the 8km road. We chose the road route again, rather than the vertigo inducing climb down several hundred odd steps without any support railing. Madhusudan passed by in his Qualis, kindly offering a lift. We preferred the enjoyable walk. <br><br> <br><br> That evening, our friends at the EB camp were worried as their three cows and a calf had not returned as they usually did by 5.30pm. The three cows came in later ...

... to take different colored flowers from baskets to make artistic pictures to bring in the New Year. It was really enlightening to be alongside peasant Indians, wealthy Europeans, and American students- all working together to create flowered art at dawn on the New Year.   Apparently, Auroville is an artists commune that is very exclusive, and popular with Europeans who want to live in India, while remaining in power. If white people want to live there now, there is a ...

... Dharasuram. It is only 4 km outside Kumbakonam but quite difficult to get a rickshaw to go there without having to pay too much. But we haggled a bit and visited this temple in the middle of a small village where everybody wants something from you : money to mind your shoes, a visit to a local silk factory, one guy telling us we should pay for parking etc. Even the driver tried to rip us off but we don't react to that kind of attitude anymore.