A Very Dirty City

Street leading to the Sri Meenakshi Temple
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So I took the train to Madurai, which was fine; I slept for a little while. I got a rickshaw when I got out and asked him to take me to the hotel I had been trying to call. It was full, so he took me to a cheap hotel. I checked in because I didn't want to deal with it any more. It was really gross; there were bugs. I was also really hoping for a TV because I'm definitely not comfortable walking around here after dark. I slept and decided to find a new hotel in the morning.

Woke up this morning and got completely lost trying to find this other hotel, so I took a rickshaw. Madurai smells like piss and shit and garbage, and there are cows and trash piles everywhere. It's pretty gross. I finally gave up and took a rickshaw to the new hotel, where I reserved a room and I'll go check in after I get my stuff from the other hotel.

entrance to the temple
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Ok so I found a hotel with no bugs in my bed. In fact it was very very nice. For less than $10/night. Wow, developing countries rock. Ok so explanations for Ali (and everyone else who wanted to know!) - it's not that it isn't safe to walk around at night, I don't think. In smaller cities everything just goes dark at night and nothing is open and the only people out are the drunk men. In bigger cities, like here, people are out and about at night, but it's only men. Personally, I feel enough like an animal in the zoo during the day, and it's REALLY uncomfortable to walk around at night. Also, there really isn't anything to do after dark, so it's just not worth it.

carvings on the top of the temple wall
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So here is what happened in Madurai - After I found a better hotel (and spent WAY too long updating my blogs) I had a magnificent thali (all you can eat lunch). It was served on a banana leaf: rice and 5 different kinds of sauce things; although I have no idea what any of them were. Really. if you haven't done it, eat rice with your hands. It's HILARIOUS. So after lunch I went walking towards the temple and got utterly lost in a flower market, which really just made me sneeze a lot. People here wear flowers in their hair, I think for temple, but I'm not sure. So then I took a rickshaw to the Gandhi Museum, which was really interesting and informative. It gave an account of the freedom movement in India from the mid 18th century to present. I really never knew that much about the freedom movement or Gandhi so it was very interesting for me. They also had the bloodstained cloth he was (supposedly) wearing when he was assasinated. When I left, I bought more books (which I really need to stop doing until I unload some of the other ones). But I bought Gandhi's autobiography and another book by him that I can't remember the name of. Then there was a guy that had a bike attached to a cart you sit in who was following me and REALLY wanted the business, so I let him drive me home. I will never ride in one of those again. I felt so bad for the poor guy who was pedaling me home. I almost wanted to get out and walk except I didn't know where I was. So I got back, had dinner at the rooftop restaurant at my hotel, and watched James Bond - From Russia With Love.

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The next day I went to the Sri Meenakshi Temple, which is HUGE!I got to actually walk through most of it, although I couldn't go into some of the shrines. I got to take pictures though (I took way too many) and saw a few Hindu weddings (I think.) After wandering around the temple for about an hour, I went and had lunch and then fell asleep. Oops. That afternoon I went to the Tirumalai Nayak Palace, which is mostly a ruin, but what is still standing is incredible. It has an enormous open air courtyard surrounded by raised walkways with pillars about 4 deep on each side. Everything from the top of the pillars and above is intricately carved; even the ceilings. It was amazing. I sat there and just enjoyed it for a while and then a group of about 30 Italian tourists came in, so I left. I had dinner at another rooftop restaurant at a hotel nearby (which had beer - 650 mL is a LOT) and then watched Goldfinger and went to bed. I'm sorry this is so brief. I have to get on a train very soon, so I will try to add more detail later. Regardless, not sure what the internet situation is in the next city, so if you don't hear from me, wait about two days or so. Miss you all!