Movin on movin on

My time has come to leave Varkala and head to Delhi. I extended my stay by a couple of days but now it is time to move on. I have literally done nothing for the last 10 days! Perfection really. So not like me - or is it?? When I was here last year I also stayed at Skylark Guesthouse which is fun by Faith from Seattle. It is such a great spot, low key with a chill vibe. This visit did not disappoint either. There are only 7 rooms and at present and I am the shortest stay visitor! That is the kind of place Varkala is, you come and get sucked in to the nothingness.

Faith is on the right and Fiana is in the middle. Fiana has been in India for 6 months and in Varkala for 2 months. We are laughing our asses off at a Ricky Martin website.



The rooftop has the TV and it is where there are 5pm dance sessions and after hours parties take place! Ben has been here for a couple of months and Micha has been essentially living in India for the past seven years and comes to Varkala for his downtime!



Nithya has a travel agency here and Faith and Micha are good friends with him. Needless to say, there was a gaggle of us from Skylark who hung out during my time here.



But the cutest of all was Bliss - her and her 14 year old sister and their Mom are staying at Skylark for 3 months then heading to Thailand for another 3 months - now that is what I call life!

Bliss.............

I have arrived at the beach and it is pure, unadulterated bliss. There is something very peaceful about having the sound of waves rolling in, the breeze gently blowing, heat on my skin and sand between my toes. I am in bliss right now. I will be here for a week at the 'all inclusive' staying at Skylark Guesthouse, eating on the cliff and lounging at the beach. The blogging will cease unless I see something absolutely amazing that I must tell you and I will be back at it again when I leave and head to Cochin.

Shanti,

Tracy

Madurai

Madurai is Tamil-borne and raised, no British, French or Portuguese influence there let me tell you. 100% pure Indian. The main reason to go to Madurai is to visit the Sri Meenakshi Temple which is considered to be one of the greatest temples in India. There are loads of Indian tourists here and few foreign ones. The temple complex is 6 hectares and is enclosed by 12 gopurams with the highest one being 52 meters tall! The gopurams were just refurbished and the colors are beautiful. I spent hours at this place and had a beautiful feeling when I was inside amongst the masses doing their thing.

Some of these pictures do not do it justice but it will give you flavor of the enormity and intricacy.



The ceiling art was outstanding.




When I was in Rome this summer there was a huge lineup to post mail from the Vatican. I have been to lots of temples throughout my travels in India and I guess this is the temple where it is considered auspicious to post from!


And of course, what would a day be without a family wanting their picture taken!


Pure relaxation and bliss is up next at the beach!!!!

Daily life

Of course this bike baby carrier meets safety standards.


This little gem was sitting next to me on the bus.

Tiruchirappalli

I have left lovely Pondicherry and entered into temple mania. Tamil Nadu has over 5000 temples and I am on the temple circuit for the next few days. Trichy is a dirty, dusty, busy city that has two wonderful temples. I arrived here on the train and knew as soon as I left the train station it was going to be a tough go. The hotels are disgusting but the Femina which caters to 'business men' will do the trick. In India you are often asked "profession?" and when I ask back these are some of the responses I have gotten: "typesetter' 'professor' and the funniest is 'business man' - what the hell kind of answer is that? Well, the Femina caters to them and to backpackers like me who look nothing like a business man but at least it is clean. Clean yes, showers no... bucket style.


Bonus: Continental breakfast included.



The first temple I hit up was the Rock Fort Temple. It is literally on top of a rock that you climb over 400 stairs to reach. Nice view which made it worth it as I could not go inside the temple - Hindus only.




The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple is beautiful. It is possibly the largest temple complex in India and feels more like an enclosed city rather than a place of worship. The pictures really don't do it justice.




As I was leaving the complex I almost got ran over. Is he old enough to drive?



The best part of my day was the bus ride back to the hotel. I sat next to a wonderful lady and we had such an honest and sincere conversation, it was lovely.

Keller Brown

Keller,

Thank you for the invitation to your parents wedding. I am looking forward to celebrating with you little man!

Love you,
Tracy

Market day

I got up bright and early and hit the local market. I was given strict instructions to start at the flower end by the guesthouse owners. As he told me this he had a huge grin on his face and I knew not to ask why and to just follow his instructions.




The flower section was beautiful and it gently flowed into the fruits and veggies section. This lady here requested her photo be taken and held the camera for a long time as she looked at her picture.



The dude is selling Betal leaf which is required for Paan It has a very fragrant smell and Sam who used to own Babas near my apt used to chew it. Whenever I went there and he was having a chew I always knew!



He told me I could take his picture - I promise...



As I meandered on through my nose told me the reason why I was to start in the flower section. If I started in the fish section I would never have made it to the flowers. If these pictures could smell...



These ladies are chopping fish with knives that looked to be 100 years old and dull as shit. I can only imagine how many fingers get hacked according to the vigor they chop at the fish with!



Mainly men run the flowers, fruit and veg section whereas it is all women in the fish section...



It was a great morning at the market.