As I expected, I awoke this morning with aching limbs and my right hip, where the cow horn made direct contact, throbbing from yesterday's exertions.
Much sugar at breakfast from India's tamarind and fig jam was a boon.
Everyone around me was tucking into traditional south Indian fare but whilst I don't mind Idli ( the steamed rice cakes) or the egg pancakes, the savory donuts and rice dishes mixed with spices are often a bit much for me first thing in the morning.
Coffee here is always sweet, served in an aluminium mini dish, and some mornings I just crave an enormous mug of hot strong english stuff.
My intention was to find the bus out to the dam, a popular recreation spot-until I saw the crowds at the bus station. I m terrified of being knocked on my swollen hip, rather hard to avoid in the manic streets of India anyway-so I lost my nerve and hopped on another bus instead to Srirangam Island to explore more slowly the temple complex there.
The local bus is easy and cheap Yesterday my French friends insisted on paying/getting auto rickshaws (tuk tuks), which were averaging around a pound or two a trip-and we did three or four different journeys.
Today the bus covering the same distance cost me 4 pence each way. Yes, 4 rupees. Bargain and, as in Chennai, conductors and fellow passengers very helpful.
The most expensive transport of the day was my fault and entirely due to my bad habit of wandering 'off piste' . Leaving one temple by an alternative gate to my entry point I was gently walking through the usual mix of slum and villa 'colonies' (as districts are called here) which lie in the shadows of the ancient walls, only to find I was lost. I had to get a rickshaw back to the right gate to find the bus.
Memo to self...if a temple complex spans over 150 kms, do not try and walk around it!
The driver tried to rip me off but I refused. I gave him what it said on the meter (30 rupees) instead of the hundred he wanted and hastily limped off hoping he wasn't going to follow as I couldn't have outran him.
Luckily the bus arrived immediately and I 'hopped' on asap arriving back into Trichy's heaving bazaars amidst the festival shoppers.
It turns out that on a public holiday Indians do what westerners do, they shop!!
So I dodged and weaved my hobbling cautious way through the throngs, stopping to gaze up at the looming stunning view of the Rock Face Temple and enjoying several sweet chai and a wonderful orange coconut cake for sustenance. South Indian sweets and cakes are just sublime and at 10p for a generous slice, too good and too cheap to resist. As I type up in the sanctuary of my hotel room the noise and bustle of the outside world is filtering up but I am curling up with BBC world news in my comfy bed and treating myself to a nice early night.
Much sugar at breakfast from India's tamarind and fig jam was a boon.
Everyone around me was tucking into traditional south Indian fare but whilst I don't mind Idli ( the steamed rice cakes) or the egg pancakes, the savory donuts and rice dishes mixed with spices are often a bit much for me first thing in the morning.
Coffee here is always sweet, served in an aluminium mini dish, and some mornings I just crave an enormous mug of hot strong english stuff.
My intention was to find the bus out to the dam, a popular recreation spot-until I saw the crowds at the bus station. I m terrified of being knocked on my swollen hip, rather hard to avoid in the manic streets of India anyway-so I lost my nerve and hopped on another bus instead to Srirangam Island to explore more slowly the temple complex there.
The local bus is easy and cheap Yesterday my French friends insisted on paying/getting auto rickshaws (tuk tuks), which were averaging around a pound or two a trip-and we did three or four different journeys.
Today the bus covering the same distance cost me 4 pence each way. Yes, 4 rupees. Bargain and, as in Chennai, conductors and fellow passengers very helpful.
The most expensive transport of the day was my fault and entirely due to my bad habit of wandering 'off piste' . Leaving one temple by an alternative gate to my entry point I was gently walking through the usual mix of slum and villa 'colonies' (as districts are called here) which lie in the shadows of the ancient walls, only to find I was lost. I had to get a rickshaw back to the right gate to find the bus.
Memo to self...if a temple complex spans over 150 kms, do not try and walk around it!
The driver tried to rip me off but I refused. I gave him what it said on the meter (30 rupees) instead of the hundred he wanted and hastily limped off hoping he wasn't going to follow as I couldn't have outran him.
Luckily the bus arrived immediately and I 'hopped' on asap arriving back into Trichy's heaving bazaars amidst the festival shoppers.
It turns out that on a public holiday Indians do what westerners do, they shop!!
So I dodged and weaved my hobbling cautious way through the throngs, stopping to gaze up at the looming stunning view of the Rock Face Temple and enjoying several sweet chai and a wonderful orange coconut cake for sustenance. South Indian sweets and cakes are just sublime and at 10p for a generous slice, too good and too cheap to resist. As I type up in the sanctuary of my hotel room the noise and bustle of the outside world is filtering up but I am curling up with BBC world news in my comfy bed and treating myself to a nice early night.
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