A 6-week waking dream in North and South India.
 

This was my second trip to India, and C's first. I'd already been to Tamil Nadu (and also Karnataka), but Kerala and Rajasthan were new to us both.

I won't spend much time describing the most common attractions we visited, as these are either well-known on this board or easily researched.

Traveling by car, train and boat in India feels like floating in a waking dream. Brief glimpses of unforgettable scenes at the side of the road, on riverbanks, while passing through towns and villages were like watching little 5-second plays. Glimpses of drama, comedy, even musical theatre, complete with singing and dancing. Which is the way we dream - a series of disconnected stories that often make no sense, but are nonetheless compelling. This is multiplied by the sheer "foreignness" of India for westerners. I sometimes took photos through the windows as we as we whisked by these moments, and sometimes that actually worked, but usually we were already past before I could have possibly raised my camera. So most of the striking images I saw reside in my memory, rather than digitally in a computer.

Of course the time we spent staying put and letting India slowly reveal itself was richly rewarding. But we also really enjoyed the time we spent while traveling from place to place.

<b>Planning and some general impressions</b>

Now clearly, six weeks of travel anywhere provides the gods of mayhem a lot of opportunities to rub our noses in the fact that we don't control what happens to us. And clearly India has a whole lot of gods. I hoped that careful planning would help ward off such ruination. But I packed my lucky travel socks, just in case.

All through the trip we took low dose generic Rifaximin once every morning. We bought it at a hospital pharmacy in Cochin for a tiny fraction of what it costs in the US. As a result, we both were able to eat whatever we wanted, which included lots of salads, raw fruit, vegetables and herbs, juice, and street food. We're not vegetarians, so we ate fish and chicken, but didn't eat any beef while in India. We did avoid any places where we had any reason to doubt the sanitation or food handling (including buffets where food sat around). And neither of us had any problems during the 6 weeks, so either we were lucky, or the Rifaximin worked.
I wrote more about this here:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...treet-food.cfm

I tried to plan our itinerary around Indian weather patterns. That meant we needed to finish in the south by late January, before things turned scorchy, and then head north to Rajasthan at the end of the month, when temperatures should have warmed to pleasant ranges, and the fog dissipated. This plan worked perfectly in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, where we enjoyed temperatures in the high 70s to the low 80s, but was sometimes less successful in Kerala, where early January this year was hotter than the seasonal norms. Munnar was, of course the exception in Kerala, as being up in the hills provided temperatures that were cooler.

Our mode of transport from JFK to India was both indulgent and strategic. We wanted to arrive in India rested, so as to shorten the adjustment to the new time zone. But more importantly, C has disabilities that make flying in coach physically painful for her. And while business class would have sufficed, I decided to make the first leg both super comfortable for her and also celebratory by cashing in a pile of miles for an Etihad first class award. It turned out to be a great decision, as I was able to snag 2 of what Etihad has named "The Apartment". They were dazzling. We may never be able to do such a thing again, though!

Each apartment on the A380 is actually a room with several windows and a closable sliding door. They take up half the width of the sizable aircraft, with a single aisle down the middle. In addition to a wide reclining seat, each person also gets their own big leather couch which opens into a long flat bed. There is a closet with hangers and various drawers throughout the apartment, and large storage drawers for carry-on bags under the couch, configured much like a captain's bed. And there is a shower in one of the bathrooms, so you can bathe at 40,000 feet! I had actually planned to do that, but never got around to it.

One of the photos I took shows my POV of watching our takeoff on the big entertainment monitor, as seen from the tail-mounted camera, so that I could see both the plane and the surrounding area. This could be switched to a camera mounted in the belly of the plane, looking straight down at the ground. While this provided a beautiful view as we flew over the Nile reflecting golden sunlight at dawn, the view was far less inspiring whenever the plane was sitting on the ground!

Even if you don't care about planes, you should take a look at these photos I took of the interior. I'm certainly not an airplane geek or blogger, and have never before posted plane photos, but this was really quite an aircraft!

<b>Photos of the Etihad apartments we flew in are here:</b>
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129067...57663863772073

Wow - love those "apartments"!

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

Thanks, Kathie, glad you'll be reading along!


(more thoughts)

Southern India at the latitude of Kerala and Tamil Nadu has developed in such a way that most of the foreign tourists are likely to be found on the coasts, with fewer in the interior. The west coast especially has been marketed enough toward tourism that cruise ships dock in Cochin (and to the north, Goa). Some areas of the coasts now display less of the "foreignness" and exoticism that draws many foreign visitors to India, although these areas are limited. There are far more hotels and restaurants of an international or fusion style there than in the interior. And the increasing rise of tourism by Indians within their own country has furthered this trend. This can be a positive on a trip to the south, as arriving at one coast can provide visitors a gentle emersion into India, and the other can be a place to relax at the end of a trip. Kind of like an "India sandwich", with the interior being the main ingredient. Although I'm not really sure what the coasts being the bread means in this analogy. But this is all relative, as we saw far fewer foreign tourists in <i>all</i> parts of southern India than in Rajasthan. And there are still plenty of fascinating, beautiful, unspoiled, and exotic locations on both coasts to make these rewarding areas to visit for those who have a limited interest in the India/International fusion style.

We did research before we left and for the most part had good experiences with food in India. On the advice of several Indian people, we checked out zomato.com, as many of the reviews there are written by Indian residents, not tourists. While selective use of sites like Tripadvisor can be helpful for researching hotels, the restaurant reviews in many countries are a lot more… dubious. We're no strangers to Indian food, as there are a lot of Indian restaurants at home in New York City, but surprisingly, a large number of them are run by Pakistani owners! So it was interesting to compare the versions of dishes we knew from home with the ones in India. We only went to driver-recommended places when in remote locations where we didn't have a clue where to eat. These recommendations varied considerably in quality, and although they were some of the worst meals we had, we also had a couple of the best!

Throughout both north and south India we found that a simple specific request in restaurants helped improve the food hugely for us. We like Indian food that has a lot of flavor, but that is not especially hot. For example, we like food containing things like ginger, coriander, etc., but not a lot of chili, which is where most of the heat comes from. We found that in most restaurants we could find someone who spoke enough English that we could communicate this preference successfully. And when we did this, the food was usually much better and less tourist-bland than when we didn't!

C began to learn some Hindi prior to leaving, but found that not very useful throughout our trip. Although it is the language being taught in schools and proscribed by the government, in most of India people may know individual words, but seldom more. Although it is widely spoken in Delhi, as we traveled further throughout Rajasthan, we found the language changes rapidly. And in places like Tamil Nadu, the Tamil words may change even from village to village. Even our Indian drivers sometimes struggled with communicating outside of their home towns.

In most cases, we found roads in the south infinitely better maintained than in the north, and provided a smoother ride. Even in poor rural areas. Because of their good condition, many also allowed for higher speeds, cutting travel time between more distant destinations. In contrast, if we had been told that some of the rural roads we took in the north were in reality not roads at all, but instead we were driving on dry rocky riverbeds, we would have believed it.

The head-bobble. This has been commented on in this forum before, but I just wanted to mention a theory of its origin:

“For well over 400 years, Indians were ruled by the British Empire and before that it was all monarchy. And people were afraid of saying no as an answer.”, Neither the British nor the monarchy liked to hear ‘no’ as an answer. They don’t care. It doesn’t matter if it’s feasible or not. They just want to hear ‘yes.’ So people were afraid and instead of saying a strong ‘no, ’ they would just nod their head this way and leave it up to the other person to judge whether it’s a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ and leave it there.”
Of course, it also means many more things than just "no"
https://youtu.be/eJ0SuD_ulVk

(coming next, Cochin and the backwaters)

Wow, that looks like one comfortable flight! I will try not to think about it the next time I fly economy... (Have you read the recent report about walking through first class inducing rage in economy class passengers? Hope they don't walk past these!)

Enjoying your TR.

Thanks for sharing. I'll be following along too.

I love your description of seeing a multitude of brief snapshots of local life as you drove through India. You have captured the fascination and privilege of travel perfectly.

Very much looking forward to hearing more as I plan for my Northern Indian trip later this year.

Omg...that was some flight...and we thought our business class flight was wonderful - not anymore! What a great start to your trip report. I've been looking forward to following along on your adventure as you did mine. Can't wait to hear about your opinions. As you know, we loved Tamil Nadu.

thursdaysd,
well, we may see you in economy, as we usually fly that way, too!

I did see that article, and wondered about it. It seemed to me that most of the air rage stories I hear about originate from the airlines increasing trend of taking away more and more comfort from economy class while cramming people closer and closer. And here's an interesting reaction to that story:

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....ause-air-rage/

tripplanner001,
Happy to have you along!

loncall,
Thanks! And you're right, it truly is a privilege to be able to travel to the all wonderful places we get posters on this forum have been lucky enough to visit.

dgunbug,
We love Tamil Nadu, too. I was so glad when you got there, as I had thought that would be the part you'd like the best!


<b>Kerala</b>

Our trip officially started when I received a text message from Etihad that our complimentary car to the airport was waiting for us outside our apartment building. This was a nice way to start our trip, and the drive to JFK had surprisingly light traffic. Soon we were ensconced in the spanking new Etihad JFK lounge, which was comfortable and attractive, and served very good food, although we only nibbled so as to save our appetite for the flight. When it was time to board, the process went quickly, as the A380 has separate jet bridges to both the upper and lower levels of the plane. Have to turn down the pre-flight champagne after having read about the dangers of mixing valium with even small amounts of alcohol. So I gazed at the bottles of champagne being offered with a tragic expression and attempted to endure this wretched existence I've been consigned to. I console myself with a mocktail of mango, lime and grenadine (as I write this, I notice that Spellcheck has changed mocktail to cocktail. Spellcheck wants to get me drunk).

The charming on-board chef visited shortly after takeoff to consult on how we'd like our meals. We could order off the menu. Or have him put together something to our taste, which is what we did. When I told him I'd like the biryani, he suggested having it with rack of lamb, which was sensational. After dinner, the flight attendants made up our beds, which were spacious and yet surprisingly hard. I wonder why Etihad allowed such an oversight. Maybe it was intentional and they were just preparing us for those infamous beds of India! But every other aspect was wonderful. Although it was a very lengthy trip, traveling in such a manner meant that the time flew by, both literally and figuratively, and before we knew it, we were watching the evening lights of Cochin glitter below us during our approach.

<b>Photos of Cochin and the backwaters are here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129067...57666098286066

All photo albums are here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129067489@N04/albums</b>
They look better and show more if you make them large!

We stayed in the Fort Kochi area, which I'd recommend, as that central location allowed for easy strolling to many sites and restaurants. The Old Harbour Hotel is a charming oasis located right across from the most famous group of Chinese fishing nets. Despite this, it's a quiet and relaxing place to come back to after a long day. Hidden behind its high walls is a large and lovely garden with water lily ponds and a pool. The hotel itself is a beautiful old colonial building, with interior decor to match. It is also quite popular, so reservations are required well in advance.

Across the street and through a park, a promenade runs parallel to the shoreline where those Chinese fishing nets are located. Many Indian people come to stroll, get some sea air and a snack and watch the sunset. There is a playground where families come to frolic, and areas to sit where young couples steal a kiss. If you don't look like you are from India, the guys at the Chinese fishing nets will likely shout to get your attention as you walk by. They've discovered that they can get tourists to pay a hefty price to be allowed to lower and raise the nets. Nice when you can get someone to pay you for doing your work! My practice is that when people shout at me to come spend money for something I don't want, I pretend I didn't hear them and keep walking.

Early the next morning we were picked up at our hotel by Peter Thomas from Salmon Tours. I'd heard very good things about him from a couple of people on Tripadvisor who'd toured with him. We'd emailed him before the trip to arrange for a traditional country boat trip into the backwaters around Cochin. The boat is quietly poled through narrow canals surrounded by beautiful lush foliage, pristine and teeming with birds. Included is a visit to a traditional village and a chance to cook and have lunch with a village family. We passed on the village, as we knew we'd be in many villages soon, and were more interested in the serene nature. It was a lovely trip, with no tourists at all to be seen. In fact, hardly any other people at all, which was fine with us, as we would be taking another small boat ride in the backwaters south of Cochin, and that would include more people and villages. Occasionally we'd pass small canoes carrying local people as we glided through the greenery. Peter was great, sensing when we just wanted to be quiet and listen to the gentle sounds of birds and the breeze rustling through the leaves and when we wanted to talk about the politics and culture of India, which was conducted mostly in the car! Peter is intelligent and interesting and speaks English well, and based on our great experience would recommend him for a tour in the Cochin area.

http://salmontours.com/about_us.htm
[email protected]
[email protected]

A highlight for us was Santa Cruz Cathedral, which we loved. It has a great mix of Portuguese and Indian cultures inside. We've never been to Goa, but I suppose there is a lot of that there. Thursdaysd, maybe you can comment on that, as I remember you spent time in Goa?

As in many parts of India, we enjoyed wandering aimlessly on our own, through interesting traditional neighborhoods. Those parts of Cochin resemble more a continuous series of villages than a typical Indian city. The great thing about wandering in India is that there are usually tuk-tuks to bring you back to the hotel if you get lost.

One of the best meals we had during our entire trip was a lunch at Fusion Bay in Fort Kochi. The word "fusion" in the name makes it sound like it might be silly-trendy, but instead it is a modest little place with modest little prices and exceptional Kerala seafood dishes. I could rhapsodize about the Corriander Fish Pollichathu, a fillet of nicely spiced fish smothered in fresh herbs and then baked in a banana leaf. So very flavorful, but not too hot. Also, Prawns Kerala. And everything else we tried was delicious, too.

Also very pleasant and a very short walk from Old Harbour House is Kashi Art cafe (international food - casual). They even have Banana Cream Pie! We countered the heat with excellent iced coffee.

Turns out that Cochin was a great place to cheaply (insanely cheaply) fill our Rifaximin prescription. Due to the many hospitals in the area, pharmacies there were good and plentiful.

After careful consideration, we decided not to take any anti-malarials, but would be religious about using insect repellant. We're big fans of the unfortunately named Bug-X –– towelettes that come in little disposable packets which fit easily in a pocket. It is not noticeable on the skin and has almost no odor. It had worked in Laos where it repelled a lot of mosquitos. Luckily, there were none to be seen in India during our 6 weeks. Even in the backwaters. OK, actually there was one… exactly one!

One negative was that Cochin was the only place in the south where we encountered sales pressure on the street from merchants. The walk down a narrow street to the Jewish synagogue has been turned into a cattle chute through which hapless tourists have to endure a barrage of salesmen coming from a line of tourist shops. We walked the gauntlet, eyes fixed above those shops to the second floors, which frankly had the more interesting architecture anyway.

I was also surprised to see a number of young women (western tourists) walking around the busier sections of Cochin wearing shorts cut so high that most of their bottoms were exposed. I would have thought most visitors would be aware that modesty of dress is part of the culture of India.

While planning the trip, I'd had a hard time figuring out where to stay and where to visit for our backwaters experience. I'd read that there is a less visited area north of Cochin, but was unable to find enough information before we left. And I kept hearing that boats leaving Alleppey now had to travel through overcrowded waterways, so we looked for other places. One area that intrigued me was around Monroe Island, which is south of Alleppey, and is supposed to be very unspoiled and beautiful. But we never made it there, as out trip was already getting ridiculously long! We also loved the idea of a home stay in the backwaters, but most that interested us didn't have air conditioning, which we both need. Also, I had visions of mosquitos, so in the end we chickened out and went the more splurgy route, and stayed at a beautiful character-rich hotel called Purity. It is a restored old mansion/estate on the shore of Lake Vembanad, and is relatively small and intimate, unlike all those huge resorts located on the lake. One nice thing was that we were able to have a Shikara boat pick us up early in the morning right at the hotel dock. The Shikara ride was a nice compliment to the country boat ride, as it crossed the big lake full of fishermen at sunrise, and then moved into narrow canals full of old village homes, where we saw village life from our boat. It had an engine, but it was mercifully quiet, and so narrow that we could easily go through the most narrow canals. The fact that it had a roof was welcome as the sun became quite strong, and the deck style recliners also ended up being welcome.

We stayed at Purity for 2 nights, enjoying the local life around us and the lush tropical location, and then were ready for the driver I'd arrange to pick us up for the next leg of our trip into the hills of Munnar.

(to be continued)

So glad you enjoyed Cochin and the backwaters more than we did. Your pictures are beautiful, but you missed the largest mall in Asia!!! Looking at your pictures and my own, which are also beautiful, I still say that much of the scenery on the backwaters was like south Florida. I guess I'm spoiled. I am really enjoying your report.

dgunbug,

That mall sounded like a hoot! I think we drove by it on the way to Munnar from Lake Vembanad.

I have to say I disagree with the South Florida comparison. I was born in Miami and spent my first 16 years there. I also still visit family there frequently. And I thought that while both places have palm trees and egrets, the comparison pretty-much ends there.

The differences were so big that we wouldn't think them at all similar. The architecture of the homes, the people and their clothing, the boats, smells, and most of the wildlife sang "India" with a capital "I" to us.

I will say that I did notice a few Florida-style towers while driving past one area of Cochin city, but this was not an area we'd ever had wanted to visit.

Enjoying your report. We haven't yet been to Southern India but I find it calls to me much more than the Golden Triangle are that everyone visits.

Kathie,
One of the things we loved about much of southern India is how few tourists you see there, as compared to the Golden Triangle. So it looks so much more atmospheric. (Unless one runs into me there, in which case I'll spoil it for someone, by being a damn tourist in their photo.)

A lot of sites are also blissfully uncrowded. Some of the great temples in Tamil Nadu, for example. So that the mood is so much calmer and more like being in another time.

I realized that I forgot to include our itinerary for the trip.

South India:
New York - Cochin
Cochin - Lake Vembanad (backwaters)
Lake Vembanad - Munnar
Munnar - Madurai
Madurai - Chettinad region
Chettinad region - Tanjore
Tanjore - Pondicherry
Pondicherry - Jaipur (flight)

Rajasthan (and Mumbai):
Jaipur - Shekhawati region
Shekhawati region - Bikaner
Bikaner - Jaisalmer
Jaisalmer - Jodhpur
Jodhpur - Narlai
Narlai - Bera
Bera - Khempur
Khempur - Begun
Begun - Bhainsrorgarh
Bhainsrorgarh - Bundi
Bundi - Delwara
Delwara - Udaipur
Udaipur - Mumbai (flight)
Mumbai - New York


This may sound like a lot of driving (which it is) as well as a number of short stops.

But we find being driven by car in India a lot easier than train, bus or flying. None of the schedule worries and rushing, no need to move bags around or pack carefully, and the freedom to stop where and when we wanted. And having done it before, I had some knowledge of what to expect, so to the best of my ability, I tried to place more comfortable and/or longer stops at regular intervals in our itinerary, which ended up helping a lot.

And as C had never been to India, we made it a bit like a sampler platter, so that we can decide where we might want to return for a more relaxed trip with fewer destinations.

rje,
I'm thoroughly enjoying your report and love your comparison of traveling in India to "floating in a waking dream". What a perfect and beautiful analogy! Love how you capture the flavor of the experience -- I'm happily along for this ride.

As I'm now planning a trip for Tamil Nadu and Kerala for 2017, your report is much appreciated. And I look forward to reading about Rajasthan, a place that my husband and I fell in love with.

Of course, it will only be a real dream for us to travel in the Apartment! But I so enjoyed looking at the photos. That will be us in economy, hopefully not becoming too wild with rage!

Appreciate the detail in your report, and your photos really bring India to life. I've been flirting with the idea of India for several years now and your report, as some of the others, inch me closer and closer to making the leap. Some day...

Yes, the photos are lovely! I just looked at Cochin and the backwaters, and they are lovely. I do feel like I'm floating along in the boat, too -- mesmerizing.

progol,
Thank you, your kind interest is helping to motivate me to keep writing and posting photos. And if you guys love Rajasthan, I think you'll love southern India, too.


tripplanner001,
That leap took me years to make, too.

But now I wonder why I waited so long!

<b> Munnar </b>

<b>Photos of Munnar are here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129067489@N04/albums/72157665972558042</b>
They show more if you make them large!

I'd contacted the driver service from my last trip to south India, who I'd found through recommendations on IndiaMike.com. He had been terrific, and less expensive than booking through most agencies. But although we'd reserved him for this trip, a few days before we would meet up with him, we discovered he'd still be on a long tour when we arrived, so the owner offered to be our driver. I had met him at the end of my last trip, and thought he'd also be good.

Unfortunately, when he showed up at our hotel with a shiny new Innova, as requested, he also had his son with him. He explained that his client had unexpectadly extended her trip, so he'd have to leave us and have his 20-something son drive us. We didn't have much of a choice at that point, but I was annoyed at the switch. Still, the son seemed nice, so we decided to proceed.

He told us there was a strike that was closing some of the roads that would normally have been our route from the Purity Hotel to Munnar. The hotel manager felt confident that we could drive on smaller roads past the road closures and urged us to go that way, but our new driver lives in Madurai, and not being as familiar with this area, he insisted on taking the route that would make us go through Cochin and then up to Munnar. I would have insisted on taking the country route, but we found out there would be no signal to use Google maps if we got lost, so I reluctantly agreed to the longer and much less scenic route. I fumed a bit when we got behind numerous trucks that themselves fumed more than a bit. The traffic near Cochin steadily increased, and as it turned to stop-and-go traffic, I regretted not having insisted on the more scenic route. But of course we had no way of knowing if it would have been a terrible mistake, and this was the safer option. Anyway, as we climbed out of city traffic and into the increasingly cool hills, we relaxed and enjoyed the views and found that happily our young driver had really excellent driving skills.

Where we would stay in the Munnar area was not an easy choice, as information about the best area for our purposes was not easy to find. There are a great many places to stay in Munnar, varying in price and quality. Many of them are largish places that seem out of scale to me for the landscapes they occupy. We were looking for smaller places to stay. The region considered to be the Munnar area is actually quite large, and while some areas are very beautiful, other areas are comparatively bland. This is less of an issue for the many Indians who visit Munnar largely as a relief from the heat in the plains, and so are likely to be pleased with locations that seem more ordinary to us, since just the presence of clean cool air, hills and trees is already a big plus for them. After a good deal of research (including liberal use of Google Earth), we decided to spend 2 nights in 2 different places along the way, partly to break up the trip, but mainly to place us in easy range of the tea plantations on our second day. Munnar town held little interest for us, being rather nondescript. We were more interested in seeing the beautiful plantations located past Munnar town (on the route to Madurai) and exploring the villages where the workers lived.

The first night we stayed in Bracknell Forest, a modest relatively inexpensive place with a terrace in the trees. I got up early the next morning and had a delightful walk through the surrounding forest. The floor of the forest was thick with lovely green cardamom plants, giving off a heady scent. Later that morning we headed for our next hotel, and the landscapes became increasingly magnificent. The terraced sculptural quality of the tea plantations enthralled me. They somehow looked like giant Japanese moss and rock gardens. I had the driver stop repeatedly so we could get out whenever I spotted a likely village, temple, landscape, or location where tea pickers were working.

Our next hotel was the Spice Tree, clinging to a steep hill in the Chinnakkanal area. Very comfortable and attractive, and conveniently close to a particularly beautiful area of tea plantations, and not too far from the Kolukkumalai Tea Estate where I'd hoped to go. Kolukkumalai looks to be a great area for landscape photography, but is located at the end of what is widely reported as an hour-plus arduous spine-rattling-y jeep ride. Photos of the unpaved road strewn with what were practically boulders looked daunting, and C's disability would prevent her from going, but I still considered it for myself, only dropping the idea when I found that my back wasn't feeling 100% during those few days. Still, the alternative tea gardens in the area were gorgeous, and the next morning I was able to visit several tea plantations, wandering happily through narrow paths between the tea plants in the crisp morning air under brilliant blue skies. Something about it felt magical. A waterfall, a small village and a local temple rounded out the day.

(coming up next, Madurai.)

RJE, I just found your report and am thrilled!!!!!!! Thank you for the wonderful "pictures in words" - will open your "real" pix soon and comment, of course!! Keep going...this is bliss!!

Your photos from Munnar are definitely magical, rje! They're stunning!

Thank you for posting this! I'm so enjoying reading and viewing the photos; I feel like I'm traveling along!

Loving your photos too, although your words give the destination plenty of life. Munnar reminds me of Sri Lanka tea country in many respects.

I'm enjoying your report and looking forward to more. How many days was your trip?

OOps-Just reread your title. 6 weeks=42 days.

<b> Madurai </b>

<b>Photos of Madurai are here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129067489@N04/albums/72157665509823980</b>
They show more if you make them large!


We had begun our descent from the Western Ghats (the mountain range separating Kerala from Tamil Nadu) when our driver pulled off the road. He pointed down the hill where our road could be seen continuing in an endless series of downward "S" turns and counted off the number of turns we'd be taking with a big grin. "27 hairpin turns", he cried. "Count them!" And with that, we were off. I could plainly see he was relishing the chance to drive them! As we careened around turns, we looked down the steep drop to the plain below. That plain was Tamil Nadu. The change to flat terrain is sudden and abrupt from the steep hills, and as we crossed that plain, we saw it was only broken by an occasional hill of bare rounded stone. We drove around and through large herds of goats sharing our road, and many villages. I told our driver that I knew we had no time to stop, as we had a long drive to Madurai, but that I wished we could. They looked so intriguing. He told me not to worry, and that there were many such villages near Madurai, and that we could go to some during the next few days.

Madurai is such an ancient city, and yet today not well known in the west. But in ancient times it was very well-known:

<i>“In 22 B. C. Roman Emperor Tiberius wrote to the Roman Senate complaining that the rage for jewels and precious trinkets on the part of the Roman ladies was draining the empire of its wealth, viz., gold.” In 70 A. D. India drained Roman gold to the value of a million pounds a year. “The trade was highly profitable to Madurai but the balance of trade was so adverse to Rome that the Indian trade seriously affected the coinage of Rome.”</i>

On the last trip I'd spent several days in Madurai, arriving on the overnight Tuticorin Express Train from Mysore (which was a mini-adventure in itself), and had been smitten by the great temple, the Meenakshi Amman Temple. I wanted C to see it, as I was sure she'd love it, and I wanted a return visit for myself. And now we were getting close.

Oddly, a few weeks earlier back in New York City, I'd had a vision examination conducted by an ophthalmologist of Indian descent whose first name is Meenakshi. I asked her if she was possibly named after the Goddess Meenakshi, and she smiled and said yes, and that none of her patients had ever known to ask her that. I commented on the coincidence, since Meenakshi is known as the "fish-eyed Goddess", which sounds strange, but was actually praise, as that meant that she had perfect eyes. What a name to give a little girl in New York who would grow up to be an eye doctor!

Madurai is a bit dusty and chaotic, so we were staying on a wooded hill just outside it, just as I did during the last visit. The Gateway Hotel is owned by Taj Hotels, which in turn is owned by Tata, which appear to own everything in India. The hotel is full of wild peacocks that roam the grounds and sometimes the lobby. It seems that when the estate was turned into a hotel, a couple of tame peacocks were brought in to provide "atmosphere". But unexpectedly they were females who went into heat, and their cries attracted many wild randy males, so the population soon exploded!

The hotel has lovely garden grounds with a very pleasant pool, but the service was bit of a comedy. Here's one example emblematic of the problems. They didn't have a safe in the rooms, but instead, ancient safety deposit boxes which the staff had to unlock for me each morning and night. They kept the keys all tangled in a jumble inside a cardboard box. So each time I'd need my box opened, there would be a long delay while they fished through the cardboard box looking for the right key. They even lost the key for some time one day. This wouldn't have been an issue for me in many hotels in India, where odd lapses are normal, but in a Taj hotel, this was peculiar. That, along with a number of similar events prompted me to have a word with the manager at checkout!

It is a long story that I told elsewhere on this forum, but I had been given permission by the local police to photograph inside the Meenakshi temple. Anyone was allowed when I had last visited, but some misguided vision of what entails security had prompted government officials to ban photography in the temple except for cell phone cameras. The Madurai police say someone with a bomb in their camera might try and destroy the temple. But my contacts in Madurai had spoken to the police in advance of my coming and gained permission for me. However, just before we arrived, a bomb went off in another Indian city far away, and my permission evaporated.

So when we arrived I went to the police station with my contacts from Madurai to plead my case. I politely pointed out even government airlines like Air India allow passengers to bring cameras on board, as do all the other airlines in the world, and that a jet aircraft 30,000 feet in the air is far more vulnerable than a temple made of stone. I volunteered to take my camera apart at the entrance to show there was nothing inside.

But I was told over and over that it would be impossible to bring in my camera because of "security". Finally I gave up and went to the temple without my SLR camera, but I did take a lot of photos with my iPhone, as did many other visitors that day! Some of those photos can be seen if you follow the link at the start of this Madurai post. In addition, I added some photos I took during the last visit, as they could have been taken today, nothing inside has changed.

It is a glorious temple, with many nighttime ceremonies and pujas, so it is well worth visiting again in the evening as well as during the day. Every night there is a closing ceremony where a representation of Shiva is carried in procession to his wife Parvati's bedroom where the two are joined and put to bed. This is accompanied by chanting priests, drummers and torchbearers!

Luckily, most other great temples in Tamil Nadu have no similar ban on photography, so I was able to take a lot of photos inside them.

The streets around the temple are fascinating in their own right. Markets, tailors, shops of all kinds abound, and they are as interesting at night as during the day. Maybe more so. There are no cars on some of those streets, so it makes for easier wandering.

Another worthwhile but seldom visited site is the laundry ghats by the river. Also, there are some white rock quarries outside of Madurai that are supposed to be photogenic, with white oxen pulling old wood carts laden with the white stone up steep hills. I never made it there, but they sound interesting.

And true to his word, our driver fulfilled my request and took us to some small villages about ½ hour outside Madurai. Wandering through them, a smile was enough to break the ice with the residents, who were quite welcoming and pleased to have me photograph them.

One recommendation for a very good lunch or dinner in Madurai would be Sree Sabarees. Don't be put off that it is #1 in Tripadvisor! It is the real deal, and they have very good food including excellent Thalis. There are several locations in Madurai.

(coming up next, the Chettinad region.)

Loving this! Munnar looks/sounds like a place we would really enjoy.

Kathie,
Munnar was lovely, and I'd like to go back.

CaliNurse,
Thanks, and welcome back. Hope your trip was wonderful!

progol,
Thank you so much!
And you make a great virtual travel companion.

tripplanner001,
Sri Lanka is definitely on my list of places I'd like to visit.
But the list is getting so long...!

shelleyk,
That's OK, I kept forgetting when I was coming home!

rje,
Your description of the trip to Madurai is wonderful and hilarious, with as your driver careening down the mountain! Loved the story of your ophthalmologist named Meenakshi -- I'll bet that she was impressed that you knew the origin of her name!
And the photos are just amazing! The shots of the goats -- what an experience that must've been! I also loved the intimacy of the shots of in the small town. And even if it was just the iPhone (or earlier shots), the photos in the temple are simply stellar. Thank you!

Wow, RJE--so much to wonder, see, and respond to!! Will comment bit by bit, so neither of us gets overwhelmed!

First--thanks for link to Gary Leff's article about "plane rage." I agree with his analysis of that "study."

Your Etihad apartment ...whoa!! Until now, my "ultimate" was BA First Class in its current incarnation. Having had luck at somehow (ok, confession:--lots of credit card offers!) accumulating 400,000 "One World Alliance" (visions of Darth Vader) miles, I've considered one way in the Etihad First Class. Alas...if only that didnt exhaust so many precious FF miles! Anyway, so glad that you and C got to enjoy and relish this probably once in a lifetime travel mode!!!! What a lovely gift to her!

Re head bobble video---thank you for sharing. The vid, which automatically followed on my computer, is hilarious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY1vJTZgHRI

My explanation of the head bobble: an instinctive genetic response to India's bad, long, and/or winding roads, and crazy driving style. How to prepare yourself for carsickness-causing inner-ear fluid shifts? Prophylactically creating them yourself, in the form of the head bobble!

Your thread title--yes!!!! Those moments and flashes of scenes in daily lives!! People ask why I keep returning--I reply that India is a place where, within first ten minutes on a local road away the airport, you see 100 things that make you grab for your camera, with your jaw dropping with wonder. A girl with a water pitcher on her head...a man giving himself a bucket bath...a mother feeding a baby...an old man squatting by the roadside bruise his teeth...a barber on a street corner. As Faith Pandian of the aptly named Indian Panorama once explained to me, when I wondered how to figure out the ongoing passion for India---it's the awe of seeing every facet of life, from birth to death, and all the in-between moments, right out on the street, unself-consciously on display, in the vivid colors and sounds and more of India. Nothing, even the daily activities of daily lives, seems mundane when I'm there!

OK, back to your fantastic report!!!!

Rje - your report brings back so many wonderful memories and I feel like I am there with you. You have a wonderful way with words! We also stayed at the gateway hotel which was a beautiful property. How I wish we had spent more time in Tamil Nadu, exploring the amazing temples and small villages. Looking forward to more. Reading your report makes me want to return.

Really enjoying your report. The drive down to Tamil Nadu sounds amazing even if mildly scary. Meenakshi Amman Temple would be right up our alley, as are some of the other temples you're visiting.

CaliNurse: thank you for your insight into why you keep returning to India. I, myself have been trying to put into words for others why I find India such a spiritual place to visit and your insight :

"you see 100 things that make you grab for your camera, with your jaw dropping with wonder...................it's the awe of seeing every facet of life, from birth to death, and all the in-between moments, right out on the street, unself-consciously on display, in the vivid colors and sounds and more of India. Nothing, even the daily activities of daily lives, seems mundane when I'm there!"

Your words are exactly why I would return................India is REAL!


RJE: thank you for sharing your travel experiences. I look forward each day to read about your experiences.........I like how you integrate your photos to back up your words....................

Calinurse - I completely agree with dragon88 - I love your description of WHY your passion for India! As someone who has been there only once but completely taken by it, I can say "I understand!" I'm now planning a second visit and can't wait!

rje- your report is wonderful; the words and the photos just work together beautifully!

progol,
It was pretty amusing photographing that big goat herd. Right before they engulfed our car, I'd gotten out and was lying on the road to get that angle as they approached me. I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't got up before they reached me?
And the incredulous looks on the herders faces was only matched by the look our driver gave me when I got back in the car.

Calinurse,
Thank you for your wonderful, poetic and profound comment about India!

dgunbug,
I agree! There is so much we left still left unseen in that area that I'd love to go back, too, and spend more time in each locale.

tripplanner001,
Lest the description of the drive down the mountain makes you nervous about taking it yourself, don't be concerned, while the road was very winding, it was the speed of the driver that made it so...memorable.

dragon88,
Well said!
And thank you for reading.

<b> the Chettinad region</b>

<b>Photos of the Chettinad region are here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129067489@N04/albums/72157665509823980</b>
They show more if you make them large!

The drive from Madurai to the Chettinad region is short, but the difference is dramatic. From a teeming city to a series of sleepy dusty little villages so chock-full of abandoned Chettiar mansions that it would take weeks to see them all. On our sampler trip we only have a day and a half.

So mainly we concentrate on the village where we'll be staying, which as it turns out offers many treasures.

The Chettinad region has some similarities to the Shekhawati region (Kathie has another thread going now regarding the Shekhawati region, and I remember Thursdaysd wrote an account of the area which she had explored). Both regions are known for having mansions covered in forms of art (and are themselves a form of art), and both are showing the ravages of time and neglect, but still maintaing a power and beauty. The mansions in both regions were constructed by merchants, traders and bankers who wanted to display a visible form of their fortunes made, and both had families that moved away when the conditions that made those fortunes possible ended. In the case of the Shekhawati region, it was the end of the spice route, in the Chettinad region, the end of the British Raj. They can both feel like ghost towns at times. Both have caretakers who will sometimes allow entry, usually for a small fee. And both are richly deserving of a visit.

Before we get to the village where we'll be staying, we stop at a Chettiar mansion in another town which our driver thinks we'll want to see. He is right! "What is the name?", I ask him. "Very famous house", he answers. This is typical of the information we get from him. So far during the trip, his contribution to our understanding of India has been to periodically point at some large nondescript building and say "Very important factory", slowing down our car as we approach, in expectations that surely I'll want to take a picture of such a fine example of a huge brick rectangle. I keep disappointing him, though, not asking him to stop the car so that we can gaze at "very important factory" or the high wall he points to, behind which is apparently "very big school". Oddly, he notices, I never seem to want to take a picture of those walls. But we're inconsistent, as he knows we <i>did</i> want to go to the Meenakshi temple, the splendor of which he'd managed to reduce to "very big temple". I can tell he is trying to make sense of my inexplicable lack of enthusiasm for what he finds important, and my interest in what he finds mundane, turning to look when he hears the "click" of my camera, to see what in Shiva's name that crazy American <i>does</i> find interesting now.

Luckily, I've done a lot of research before we left home, so I know where we want to go and what we'll be seeing. But in the cases where I failed to do enough research, often the only contribution I can hope for from our driver is "Very large wall". Still, as I keep telling C, he is an excellent driver!

And he is right about one thing, the mansion he stopped at <i>is</i> undoubtably famous and pretty nifty. I find out after I get home and do some research that it is called Athangudi Palace, located unsurprisingly in Athangudi. It's covered with painted statues, some of which are humorous depictions of British soldiers. But we have bad timing, seconds after we park, a big tour bus pulls up, and a boisterous group of French tourists spill out. As the trip goes on, we will begin to notice that a large number of the tourists we see in less-visited regions in India turn out to be French. Are the French more intrepid travelers than other nationalities? We decide to return later, and after taking a few photos we continue on to our hotel, Chidambara Vilas (in the village of Kadiapatti). It is another of these old Chettiar merchant's mansions, beautifully restored from previous ruin and turned into a gorgeous and well-run hotel. Walking into the "lobby" is jaw-dropping. The wood in the interior was imported from Burma, sporting pillars made of polished teak, rosewood and granite, lights and mirrors from Belgium, chandeliers from Daman and Diu and tiles from Italy. It is an attraction unto itself, and we spend a good amount of time just walking through it and admiring the fine craftsmanship. There is an attractive pool on the second floor that sadly we never find time to enjoy.

The restaurant is beautiful, too and the Chettiar food is very good. While we have lunch in the dining hall under towering ceilings, the chef comes out periodically to make sure all is well, and while talking to him, he mentions that he worked in a restaurant in America. "Where in America?", we enquire. "Edison, New Jersey" is his unexpected answer. But he came back to India, and Edison's loss is Kadiapatti's gain! Our's too.

Walking through the quiet village streets outside the hotel is fascinating, as the village is chock-full of these old mansions, now decaying, but still architecturally opulent. It is a bit sad to see them in this state, but as the area has seen a resurgence in interest, more and more of them are being restored. And frankly, the patina of age on the non-restored ones is quite lovely.

Dinner is again quite good, and we retire to our room early, lying on the bed and looking up at the unusual (to us) fan suspended from the ceiling over us. It is a contraption made of pieces of heavy richly-colored fabrics attached to a wooden frame which we can swing over us, like a trapeze, by pulling on a braided cord on the wall over the headboard. But so unfair that we should be required to pull this in order to keep cool. Where are the servants who should be doing such a task? Disgusted at this unforgivable oversight, we go to sleep.

I wake early and let C sleep while I go out with my camera, walking through the village, observing morning activities like drawing water from the village well and filling colorful jugs, delivering hay, marching cows all the way to… somewhere. After breakfast, we drive to several more mansions (among them, the CVRM House and VVR House in Kandukathan). These are uninhabited save for a caretaker family who unlock the doors for us and let us in for a few rupees. These mansions are only partially restored, but fascinating, as they have the original kitchens from the 1800s, etc.

At one of our stops, C's knees are catching up with her, so she waits in the car while I take some photos. I return about 5 minutes later to find the car surrounded by about 30 school children. Our driver has wandered off for some reason leaving C alone in the big white Innova. The children are just gazing in at C, some smiling, some giggling, some solemnly motionless, with big-eyes. She is a star! This keeps happening throughout the trip –– she is a source of curiosity and wonder. I know this sometimes happens to tourists, but somehow I fail to elicit such a response, which is just as well. That is, until I pull out my camera, at which point everyone either wants a photo of themselves, or their baby or their goat, or their pumpkin, which a man in Jodphur runs to retrieve, so that he can pose holding it high toward the heavens as he grins at me triumphantly!

At the end of our last day it is evident that we should have scheduled at least one more day in the area, but at the time I planned the trip I wasn't even sure we should go. Maybe we will be able to return one day.

(coming up next, Trichy and Tanjore.)

<b>I put the wrong link in for the Chettinad photos and fodors won't let us edit!



Photos of the Chettinad region are here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129067489@N04/albums/72157664341481163</b>
They show more if you make them large!

What a wonderful trip report! I'm floating though your waking dream.

Envy you the hotel in Chettinad. Mine was fine, but yours sounds really special.I came across some special houses in Coorg, too.

I think the French may be more intrepid. I have run into small groups of them in places well off the general American tourist's radar - southern Laos in 2002, far southwest China in 2004, Syria in 2009 - although there were a LOT of European tourists in Syria then. So few Americans I was questioned on the way back in Istanbul airport, where I had switched to my US passport.

I'm like an alcoholic, sneaking away from "must-do"s for a quick drink! Your text and photos are completely intriguing and dangerously (-: addictive!!!!!

Wow! The mansions look absolutely amazing. I love it that you are able to experience a different slice of India, although I am surprised that you ran into a tour group there.

How can a country seem so "raw" at first glance but is magnificent and wonderful at second glance? Your photos are splendid. How did you find this hotel..........the use of wood is amazing! Your experiences continue to reinforce the fact that India continues to be full of surprises at every turn for the mind, body and soul............Thank you....