Hotel Mathura Tiruchirappalli

... 8220;OK! Sleeper please!” We laughed. “Sorry, general seating only, if you want seats you have to go to the reservation counter.” She said in bad bad English, quietly. (or our hearing is going, but we never had so much trouble understanding anyone before in our lives as the Indians!) So we headed for the reservation room, where we were greeted by a lot of men sitting around, filling in pieces of paper. Somebody explained after noticing our hesitation that we fill ...

... where the god is supreme and above all. Near the idol, I could see him sitting regally6 in black stone, adorned with robes, flowers, and jasmine and chrysanthemum garlands and surrounding by all-consuming incense mystique. Members of the TTD all in uniformed blue t-shirts and dark blue trousers ushered us on, lightly pushing shoulders to keep everyone moving (an absolute necessity considering the numbers of pilgrims). <br><br>As I approached the front centre, one of ...

... cover the entire area, while provision for the burning of up to 450 incense sticks, stands close by. <br><br>There are no beggars, half-deads, limbless or lowly Indians here. While I probably didn&#8217;t see many in any mosque, temple or synagogue anywhere else either, pilgrims here (at least that day) looked well educated, respectable and affluent. there were Europeans too, all paying respect to the founders at the tomb, before returning around the courtyard to meditate. Silence ...

... all the way. The roads took us through many interesting small villages and farms and all kinds of people were using the bus to get around, the Tamil folk are a friendly kind. The trend for ladies here is to get two really large, gold nose piercings on each nostril. I've started to show them my little diamond nose stud which they think is hilariously funny because it's so small. The train is easier but the state bus makes for a richer experience, you're up ...

... oder weit weg. Zuerst haben wir uns dann fuer das Hotel Meega gegenueber des Busterminals entschieden, was sich als glatte Fehlentscheidung herausstellte. Auf den ersten Blick schien das Zimmer ja noch ganz ok zu sein, aber bei einem Blick unter die Matratze mussten wir feststellen, dass das Zimmer schon von vielen vielen anderen Kollegen bewohnt war. Es wimmelte nur so von Bettwanzen, also haben wir erstmal jemanden von der Rezeption geholt, der ...

... passing through different stages of metaphysical contemplation, and in a semiconscious mental state on the geriatric beach of Kamala, blowing through the dusty streets of my first Indian city was somewhat of a blur that I didn't know what to make of. Trichy, a temple city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, was home to one of the smallest, ghettoest international airports I'd ever seen, and reminded me strongly of Yangon. Locals in traditional dress, decaying industrial ...

... flight to Bangkok, instead she payed 60 dollars to go 4 times further all the way south to KL, only to fly back to Thailand the next day. She wanted to spend a week in Krabi, my favorite place on Earth. She is going to catch up with us in India in order to travel with us through India and Nepal. We almost missed our flight since the airport shuttle got pulled over for speeding on the way to the airport and the customs lines were extraordinarily long. Flights ...

... of the calf was half eaten, not a pretty sight at all. Ramesh broke down on seeing his calf, he hugged the lifeless head and had to be firmly pulled away.<br><br> <br><br> At 5.45pm the tiger had still not returned from wherever it had gone. Disappointed, we decided to walk back before it became pitch dark. We consoled ourselves with the thought that we had seen the tigers prey up close, a sight not many are privy to. Taking a last peek ...

Sightseeing, Shopping, and Adventures in Pondicherry  This morning myself along with Megan, Allison, and Ransom, were picked up and driven to Sharana. The community development organization that we will be working with. The main hub for the organization is about a 2-minute walk from our hotel. Which is nice compared to the other organizations spread across the city. When we arrived we got a tour of the ...

... either themselves or their luggage. And when the carriage got quiet and most people seemed to fall asleep, there was always somebody funny enough to wake everybody up, pretending we had arrived in Mumbai.. In short, it was a ride in an animal cage, with no sleep and staring eyes.. Let this ...