Hotel Tamilnadu Thanjavur

... so we walked towards town, dodging muddy puddles, jumping over broken drain covers showing glimpses into what was going on in the ditches where the black water trickled over the heaps of rubbish stinking of urine and slime. Men stood around in groups outside milk bars and under banyan trees or went about their business. People were getting breakfast of Buri and Chutney and Coconut sauce and some other spicy sauce off banana leaves, eating with their hands. We joined them and got served ...

... Amiji says it is like chestnuts, in that they have a little film under the shell but over the nut that is bitter if not removed. Cool, huh? We stopped at Gangakondacholapuram which was built by, Chola Emperor Rajendra I (1012-44.) (He was the son of the king Raja Raja who built The Big Temple in Tanjore, see following.) It was similar to Brihidishwara. We loved this temple as there wasn't a crush of people and also ...

... mix the travel up a bit by going out into the real India then coming back in to see another white person every now and then. This is my kind of country and i'm now absolutely certain i was living here in a past life. India has me hook, line and sinker. The public bus i took from Trichy to Ponducherry had a tv that worked so as we hurtled down the road like a nuthouse on wheels we listened to the crazy Bollywood movie at full power volume as a soundtrack. I ...

... in shifts (one person stays with our bags while the other two visit the temple). We were hungry and getting a bit cranky (the grueling four hour bus ride to Thanjavur was not fun) by the time we stopped for a bite to eat. The restaurant was actually closed, but the owners seemed to sense our situation, and made us a great meal. We arrived in Trichy after a two hour train ride from Thanjavur (definitely the ...

... big gold bit in the centre. However we paid 10 rupees at a bookshop and a girl unlocked a big iron gate that allowed us to climb up onto the roof to get a fairly good view. We are grateful that we had a guidebook to tell us such things exist, as you wouldn't guess otherwise! Anyhow, enough about temples, as actually, the day was to get a bit more interesting (temples are very pretty and everything, but hey...). We popped back to the hotel for a freshen up and a bite to eat nearby and ...

... temple as it is so eloquently known. Quite an impressive temple, it is from the early Chola period apparently and features amongst other things a rather enormous Nandi, which one a fortnight they wash with milk, water and tumeric in front of large local crowds. Sadly this was not happening during our visit. The temple has many impressive and intricate carvings, and the largest Vimana in India ...

... Sri Ranganathaswami (ils ont de ces noms les temples en Inde... pas facile pour demander son chemin) est bien plus beau. Mais bon, je commence à en avoir ma claque des temples hindous. T'en a vu un tu les as tous vu... ou presque. Celui là est censé être Vishnouite ...

Today we made a day trip to Thanjavur. We walked a kilometer to the bus station, only to discover that the bus actually stops at our hotel! Well, at least we get our daily exercise. Thanjavur (also known as Tanjore) boasts one of a few World Heritage temples, The Brihadishwara temple and it is truly a unique one, as it is built in a distinctive art style, which is usually a combination of raised and painted surfaces. Thanjavur ...

... ons af of dit het traditionele hotelporselein is of dat men signaleert dat er een jokergroep langs komt. Het einde van de dag is in zicht. Enkele wagen zich aan een Indische film. Het gewone groepje gaat nog wat pintelieren. Plichtsbewust ga ik naar het hotel om m'n rugzak te pakken. Ik wacht op het verhaal van Marianne over de film;. Ondertussen half twaalf. --- (één ...

... cool plants. There was Jasmine plants, where you have to take your shoes off to go into the fields. They respect the jasmine plant that much. There were sesame plants, roses, tons of other flowers that I can't remember, Jack fruit trees, mango trees, all kinds! It was fun because most of the village followed us around, and would show us different plants, and we'd take lots of pictures. The kids were especially fun, they don't know what to think when you ...