Temple Town

I took a long train ride and ended up in Madurai. When I checked into the hostel, there was an elephant outside from the temple across the street having some rice and water. Are you kidding me? Just hanging out, having some lunch. I checked into my room and felt sort of groggy from the train ride and so I decided to take it easy. I walked through the town, which is more like a city, but not by Indian standards, just my own, which have no real bering here. I ate Tandori chicken and I was immediately in love. So, so good. There was also a view of the Sri Meenakshi temple but it was dark out and I could not see. I went home and went to bed to the sounds of Diwali i.e. very loud, random explosions.

The next morning I awoke and went to check out the temple. I ran into what I thought I would, touts. This guy dooped me into seeing a great view of the temple. It was a great view and I should say that the size of this temple is gargantuan. It's so incredibly big that my eyes had a hard time looking in just one direction. After I was done with the view, the guy actually tried to sell me a 3,000 dollar rug. What do you think Beth? He said it's an investment? Yeah, right. I spent about 45 minutes in there telling these cats I was all set and I met a guy from Canada named Iggy. He was playing the same game playing grab ass with these guys, we shook them and made for the temple.

Ok, good time so far. Things to see:

1.Sri Meenakshi Temple
2.Ghandi Museum
3.Big Palace
4.National Museum
5.Various Temples

We entered the temple grounds and before we got in Iggy recognized this guy who was sitting down. His name was Rama. I introduced myself and had no idea this guy would become my travel partner for the next few days. How could I have known? Rama is a Sadu. A wanderer, a holy man. We sat down with him and we started to buy little things like sweets, bracelets, etc. We would then give them away to people and just talk to them. He especially loves kids and so we would play with them and give them stuff. They closed the temple and so we went for late lunch. Yummy local Indian stuff that Rama knew would scare me. It was really good, I just hope I don't get a virus.

After we walked around and ended up talking to this young woman. We decided to go for ice cream in the nicest hotel in Madurai. The young woman, who had an awful limp, ended up being the Jackie Joyner Kersie of Indian Para-Olympics. She has all these medals and had just been accepted for the games next month, again. She was so cool. We walked around for a little longer and it started to get dark. I said goodbye to Iggy and told Rama I would try and meet him the next day. I went to eat Tandori Chicken again, which is quickly earning Bamboocha type status and went to sleep accomplishing none of my goals for the day that I had set for myself. Then again, I was happy I hadn't.

The next day I went back to the temple determined to see it. There was no stopping me to see great views and blah, blah. I went past where Rama was the day before but he was not there. I went into the temple and it was unreal. People worshiping God in a different way than I have ever seen. I felt like the only times I had seen stuff like this was in Indiana Jones. I couldn't help but think if I had pushed on the right hoof of this golden elephant that a secret room would open up and there would be a ritual where the evil guy chants something like "Num Num Shivi" and takes out some poor souls heart. Unless I can get past the guards and save the priceless piece that belongs in a museum. And get the girl. And not forget my hat.

I saw the Palace too, and that was the only other thing I had time for. It was huge and the only things remaining from the original are the dance and main hall. 60% of it is gone, which makes one in awe at what was taken down. This place must have been huge! I went back to my hotel and the guy at the front desk told me my friend was around looking for me. I went up to my room to get all my stuff because my train was leaving soon and when I came down, like clockwork there was Rama, with his kind eyes and infectious smile. We walked to the train station and wanted to come with me to Quilon (Kollam). I think I asked him if he was kidding and then said "hell yeah". We boarded the train and headed South for Kerala. To Be Continued...