I've been to four temples, three cities, and two palaces in the past four days.
Madurai, where I am right now, is definitely my favorite city so far. It's exactly what I expected from India: narrow, crowded streets, dirt and filth offset by luxury hotels, hildren rollung bike wheels down the lanes with sticks, and culture galore. The Sri Meenakshi temple, three blocks from the sh*thole of a hotel I'm staying in, is wonderous. The Taj (palace) not too far away from there is half-missing due to a family fued wherein the king's grandson destroyed much of it, but the remains are a beautiful mess.
I met a man in the temple museum (who turned out to be an undercover cop -- I saw his credentials) who took me around and explained things to me. He spoke half in Tamil, half in broken English and I understood him very well. Too bad I'm leaving Tamil Nadu in an hour and a half. By 4am tomorrow I'll be in Kerala, the neighboring state, where Maleram (sp?) is the official state language. Yay for another overnight train! (I made friends with a woman on yesterday's train who gave me jasmine flowers for my hair. People are so nice in the south.)
I just saw some women decked out in red, white, and blue walk by. I forgot about today! Happy Independence Day to another one of Britain's former colonies!
Madurai, where I am right now, is definitely my favorite city so far. It's exactly what I expected from India: narrow, crowded streets, dirt and filth offset by luxury hotels, hildren rollung bike wheels down the lanes with sticks, and culture galore. The Sri Meenakshi temple, three blocks from the sh*thole of a hotel I'm staying in, is wonderous. The Taj (palace) not too far away from there is half-missing due to a family fued wherein the king's grandson destroyed much of it, but the remains are a beautiful mess.
I just saw some women decked out in red, white, and blue walk by. I forgot about today! Happy Independence Day to another one of Britain's former colonies!
