India
Eventually, he decided it must be the visa. He took our fingerprints, stamped our passports and we left for immigration. We followed the signs down stairs but were called past immigration in a seperate lane. All very weird. It appeared we had already been to immigration, the visa desk!
We had decided to stay at the airport through the night. It didn't seem sensible facing India in the dark and booking a hotel. The final flight of the night came through arrivals. A selected few were held aside and escorted one by one to the x-ray machine. One of the people was asked to remove the cellophane wrapping from his suit case. Which he did with the Stanley knife they handed him! We were very surprised ..
We were then in a deserted airport for the rest of the night. We were free to roam around and were safe. There were guards outside with big guns! No one was coming in. We left at 6:00 a.m. to catch a bus to the centre. The first bus was rammed with people but still more people managed to squeeze on. The 2nd bus was much quieter and we took our chances.
Christine chatted to the lady next to her for the journey. Darryl looked out of the window and checked we were heading the correct way. First stop food. We walked straight into the first restaurant and ordered 2 dosai. Next, the tea shop next door. The pulled tea was made by a friendly, young man and we posed for selfies together. The bus, the food and the tea came to about £1.20. Not each but between us.
We decided to walk to our accommodation. It was a little further than we thought but we stopped for coffee on the way. We chatted to be a coffee shop owner he had only been open for 9 days. Are husband gate christine a lift on his motorbike to the hotel just a long the street. We also bought a charging cable for our phone from a nearby shop and helped a young man who had got his card stuck in an ATM. Darryl went to the bank which was much further than expected to get help. The card did eventually pop back out and Darryl caught a ride back from the bank by the young man on his bike.
As we approached where we were staying we were intercepted by a tout. He seemed fairly friendly but accidentally tuck us to the wrong place! He didn't speak any English but was genuinely trying to help.
After dropping our bags we walked to the end of the the road and jumped on the number 1 bus. It took us back to the Chatram bus station. The rock temple was not far away. We walked through chaotic market streets, entered the temple building and climbed hundreds of steps. The views from the top were impressive, we could see over the whole city of Trichy.
We decided it was time to eat again and along the market street found a busy little restaurant and ordered a Thali (meal). It came with lots of small side dishes. Some were savoury and some were sweet. We were obviously terrible at organising our meal and had help from 2 friendly Indian ladies. One day we will get it right!
We walked the busy, rough and noisey streets, horns used at every opportunity to let you know drivers are coming. We found a little tea shop, a friendly man talked to us for a while. Little did we know we would meet again. Across the street a barber caught our attention. This was our next port of call. Darryl needed a haircut. The barber was having a shave himself as we entered. We sat and waited and explained that he should shave (not all) but a lot of the curling hair off! He started to cut and did a great job but left the top far too long. It was hard trying to persuade him to shave it shorter after he had worked so hard on his masterpiece. He did it and Darryl had a short head massage before moving away rather quickly when it came to neck clicking time. The man laughed and we all had a photo together to celebrate.
We wandered the streets trying to take in the crazy Indian atmosphere. We saw rubbish, walls plastered with Tamil movie posters, butchers, more rubbish and lots of people. A group of children said hello and Darryl jumed on their truck and everyone posed for a photo. A man waved as he passed on his Enfield motorbike. He turned around and introduced himself. He was on a tour from Chennai!
We caught the number one back to our accommodation. The 2 dogs are adorable, bubble and jingle! After a very short break, it was time to explore the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple. We were collected by our friend's on their motorbikes and we enjoyed the ride! The temple was stunning and it was planned that our tour was at sunset. The light on the stone was really lovely. We sat and chatted in a central area full of sand. Unfortunately, we couldn't visit every part as we are not Hindu. Really stunning!
Next we dropped the bikes off and took the car to the other side of the city. There were bright lights everywhere. Even the newly decorated bridge was lit for the evening. We had some great Tamil music playing as we made our way across town, weaving in and out of the crazy traffic.
We stopped to eat Puri. It was great. We stood in a circle with other people and each was given a mini Puri. They were dished out at break neck speed. We also had small plates filled with different Puri to try! After Puri we returned to the car and were taken to drink badan milk, which was yellow. Christine opted for Pistachio milk that was bright green. Very nice!
It got later into the night but that didn't stop the party. We spent the rest of the night at a Hindu celebration with singing and dancing. They very kindly gave us more food to eat so we were very full!
Midnight tea is apparently the thing to do, so we pulled over and did!
A truly awesome day and one we will never forget. As we arrived home our shoes were not where we had left them. We wondered what had happened and our friend's mum explained it was the cute dog. He likes to hide the shoes. The downside was, he had enjoyed chewing on one of each of our socks. We are left with one sock each if anyone would like them!
Late to bed.
