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Trichy (Tiruchirappalli)
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8th-9th January 2005.
Trichy city is large and quite hectic. We chose to bus around town and leave the tuk tuks over-charging for the day to the other tourists (who haven't come to visit because of the Tsunami.) It was a one day place, and we gave it two days; when we did try to leave, the platform attendant at the train station advised us to sit and wait for our train that was half an hour late. Taking his advice, we missed our train which wasn't late. This was irritating due to the fact that we had got up 5am for it and were stupid enough to trust the only man at the station who could have told us which platform to wait on.
Trichy was the kind of place where we wondered if we had missed something.
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Sri Rangnathaswamy Temple, is a vast complex dedicated to Vishnu. It dates back from the 10th century, and is very colourful. Many figures make up the brightly coloured temple.
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Some of them are saucy foursomes.
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Flowers are sold on stalls for women to wear in their hair. The smell is lovely, and disguises some of the BO floating through the temples.
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Cheeky boys smile as we walk from one temple to the next. They didn't ask for rupees, chocolate or pens which made a welcome change. They just looked fascinated to see us walking through their neighbourhood.
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The famous Rock Fort Temple is absolutely spectacular from a distance. If you want to remember it as being spectacular we suggest not going any closer.
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Locals don't seem that impressed either...they attempt to leave..or were they just trying to get in for free? Sliding down a 200m, 45 degree, slippery rock face is dedication for you.
We hope they lived.
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The Ganesh temple at the top is closed to non-Hindus. We think people come here for the food, as the temple priests are definitely enjoying it.
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The view from the top. 350 or so stairs and our guide book said it was worth the walk. Lies.
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We took a break in the type of restaurant Jason likes. Dosa heaven (that's fried pancake with potato spices inside, served with spicy dips and cocount). They serve it on the table on a banana leaf which wouldn't be so bad if you felt that they had wiped the table sometime this year...anyway its what Southern India food is all about apparently.
It has been around 2 months since Jason last had Delhi belly! Claire however gets it monthly even though she rarely eats in these places preferring to watch for scurrying cockroaches and rats.
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Boobs and temples.
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Yellow heads, and these woollen head muffs are all the rage, they look so funny from the front we are on a mission to get a decent photo. (It is about 28 degrees and we are sweating so much we can't even think about wearing wool next to us).
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This is a Hindu god but we forget his name.
Jason thinks he looks like Ron Jeremey. If you don't know who Ron Jeremey is then you are a very good liar.
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Standard temple practice is sleeping for at least 4 hours either side of midday. This temple looked a battle ground with still bodies randomly scattered all over the place.
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This man was very busy with his basket and was delighted to partake in a photo. It was nice to see people who work here rather than just stalking tourists.
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