Monday 10th February, 2020 – Munnar
Left Kochi after lunch and took the road to Munnar, about 4 hours away. The road goes through the Western Ghats mountain range and was quite narrow in places but with nice scenery. The town of Munnar is a famous hill station in Kerala ( elevation 1,532 m), a former resort for the British Raj elite, it’s surrounded by rolling hills dotted with tea plantations established in the late 19th century. The hill station enjoys a favorable and pleasant climate all year round.
Tuesday 11th February, 2020 – Kodaikanal
The road from Munnar to Kodaikanal goes through the tea plantations initially (for more than 50km) and was very scenic with several viewpoints on the way. We made the most of the scenery by having a break ……. tea break of course! …. by the side of the road to take in the views.
The road was narrow and twisty and it took us over 5 hours to do 173 km, though this includes two stops we made, one to fix another flat tyre !!!! and another to follow a procession by the side of the road, where people were celebrating some local religious festival.
People and other interesting views on the way:
We got to Kodaikanal just as it was getting dark.
The town is on a hill top (2,000 m) and streets are narrow. Had some trouble finding a hotel, many just do not cater for foreign visitors (paper work involved, reporting to authorities) or were already full. Eventually we found one slightly out of town, it had seen better days but was clean enough.
Wednesday 12th February – Kodaikanal – Madurai
“Kodaikanal” in Tamil language means “The Gift of the Forest”. Kodaikanal is referred to as the “Princess of Hill stations” and has a long history as a retreat and popular tourist destination. It is set in an area of granite cliffs, forested valleys, lakes, waterfalls and grassy hills. The town centers around man-made, star-shaped Kodaikanal Lake, bordered by evergreen forest.
We drove on to Madurai, one of the oldest cities in India. Ancient documents record the existence of Madurai from the 3rd century BC. It was a trading town, especially in spices and traded with Rome. Legend has it that Shiva showered drops of nectar (madhuram) from his locks onto the city, giving rise to the name Madurai : the City of Nectar.
The main attraction: the Meenakshi Amman Temple is ranking among India’s greatest temples, built in the 17th century, it became the hub of Tamil culture and played an important role in the development of the Tamil language. Dedicated to Meenakshi (“fish-eyed” – a term used for perfect eyes in classic Tamil poetry) the triple-breasted warrior goddess, the temple complex covers 6 hectares and is considered the peak of South Indian temple architecture with 12 tall, heavily decorated gopurams. (towers typical of south indian temples). The south tower, at 55m high is encrusted with more than 1500 gods, goddesses, demons and heroes!
The temple is one one of the most important places of Hindu pilgrimage. To get in you have to go through airport style security and part of the complex is closed to non-hindus. Long queues are waiting to go and pay their devotions.
After visiting the temple, we wandered round the old town. The area near the temple is pedestrianised but is in the process of being paved and everything is covered with sand and dust. It looks like a giant building site. There is a covered market facing one of the gopurams, where tailors are sitting in a row behind their sewing machines, ready to make any garment on demand.
Street scenes:
Thursday 13th February, 2020 – Chettinadu – Athangudi – Thanjavur
On the way to Thanjavur, we made a stop in a couple of small villages where the Chettiars, a community of traders built very opulent mansions in the 19th century. The Chettiars made their fortune as financiers and entrepreneurs in colonial-era Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. It is thought that up to 30,000 mansions were built in the villages around Chettinadu, their rural and arid homeland. Only the finest materials were used and no expense spared: Burmese teak, Italian marble, English steel, Indian rosewood and so on… Art and sculpture from around the world also decorated their homes.
Their businesses collapsed after the Second World War and their mansions were left to decay or were demolished. A resurgence of interest in early 2000’s in these historic houses has seen some of these mansions converted into heritage hotels and a couple of them have also been renovated to their former splendour and open as museums. Some of the houses are still owned by the same families.
We visited Athangudi Palace, with one of the most beautifully carved and painted wooden ceilings and a bit further in Kanadukathan, CVT and CVR twin houses shared by 2 branches of the same family, with impressive succession of pillar lined courtyards and views over the neighbouring mansions from the rooftop terrace.
You can easily imagine how beautiful theses house must have been but it is quite sad to see so many being left to go to ruins. We were able to go in one of the derelict houses and you can see the potential but also the huge amount of work and investment needed to bring them back to life!
The Athangudi area is also reputed for its handmade cement tiles. You see examples of the design in the Mansions. We stopped at a local workshop where you could see the process.
A frame, the size of the finished tile is placed on a sheet of glass. Then a metal design template is inserted and the artisan is filling the pattern with the suitable colours. (cement based mix with added synthetic oxydes pigments). This is then covered with a rough gritty dry cement and sand powder then with wet cement. This is levelled with a long blade to ensure a flat surface. the tile is then left at room temperature for a day before being immersed in a water bath for 5 to 7 days. The tile is then ” cured” and left out in the sun to dry for a couple of days. The plate of glass can then be removed and the tiles are ready.
Thanjavur
We then drove on to Thanjavur. The town was the capital of the Chola empire ( a Tamil dynasty of southern India, one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the world’s history). One of its most famous site is the Brihadishwara Temple, the crowning glory of the Chola temple architecture, built between 1003 and 1010. You enter the compound, passing two original Gopurams. Inside you can see one of India’s largest statues of Nandi (Shiva’s sacred bull) and some magnificent carvings and lime-plaster Chola frescoes. This is a popular destination for pilgrims and a busy place.
Friday 14th February, 2020 – PUDUCHERRY (formerly PONDICHERRY)
Arrived mid-afternoon and found hotel 4km from centre. Big room at top of the building with access to roof terrace. Went to the centre by bus (less than 10p each).
The territory of Puducherry was under French rule until 1954 and the influence is reflected in the architecture of the “French Quarter”, the number of restaurants offering gallic inspired menus and some designer shops. French is still spoken by some .
We wondered through the older part of town and ended up on the sea front, a popular destination in the evening when traffic is banned and you can have a relaxing stroll on the old Goubert Avenue, a street lined with restaurant and cafes.
Saturday 15th February, 2020 – PUDUCHERRY
Spent another day wondering through the French Quarter, admiring the old colonial mansions and relaxing.
Sunday 16th February, 2020 – CHENNAI
Took the coastal road and stopped for breakfast in a small turnoff. It was not long before we had company… a man approached and seemed enthralled by our breakfast menu. We were cooking pancakes ! We offered him some and also some watermelon which he gladly accepted.
Further along we stopped in a small fishing village.
Chennai is our final destination and we have arranged to have the truck shipped back to the UK from there. The shipping company is based north of Chennai and we know we will need to go there several times so we booked a hotel with relative easy access to the office and the shipping port. It is close to the main train station and the metro “Central Chennai”.
Monday 17th February, 2020 – Chennai
Took the car to a body shop to get the dent in the door fixed and a few other jobs that need doing as it is a lot cheaper here. We should get the car tomorrow evening. We then took a tuk-tuk back to the centre and spent the day looking around. The hotel we are staying at in on a busy road but at the back there are small alleyways and streets with shops and restaurants. We went for a Thali meal in a small restaurant. We must have been their first european customers as the waiters were all over us and explaining what to eat with what from the set of dishes on the thali tray which they kept replenishing as soon as we had finished one. ( see previous Thali description in one of the blog entries at the beginning of our time in India). At one point we had seven people looking after us ! and all that for 180 rupees each ( around £1.80).
Tuesday 18th February, 2020 – Chennai
Today we meet Naveen, a former colleague who took us round the town, beach and some of the sites. We then had a meal in a restaurant specialising in local food.( part of a chain). We had idli served with chutney and sambar and then tried some payinaram. Both are south indian breakfast staples. They were served on a green banana leaf.
IDLI: soft & fluffy steamed cake made of fermented rice & lentil batter
PANIYARAM: little dough balls prepared with leftover idli or dosa batter and steamed in a special pan which typically has 7, 9 or 12 shell shapes
Thanks Naveen for taking the time to show us around !
Wednesday 19th February, 2020 – Chennai
We got the car back from the body shop and we are pleased with the work. They did a very good job. After having some pictures taken with the workmen we made our way to the bonded warehouse where the truck is to be stored until it is loaded into a container.
There, it took a while for the agent to understand that we needed to reorganise some of our belongings inside the truck. Finally we were ready to leave and he took us to his office to go through some of the documentation. We were told everything was in order and left only to be called 15mns later and told to come back, this time to the Customs House. Our tuk-tuk driver had some trouble finding the place but we made it eventually. There, one of the Customs officer went into a long explanation as to why we needed an extra document from the Indian Automobile Association, guaranteeing an extension to our Carnet de Passage if, for some unforeseeable situation, the car could not leave India before the expiry of the Carnet. This got us worried but it turned out it was up to our agent to get this paper and he could apply online. Not sure why we had to make a special journey back to the Customs office to hear that? but anyway, once again we were on our way back to the hotel , hoping everything will be ok. We booked our flight for Tuesday next week which is the last day of validity of the Carnet.
Thursday 20th February to Tuesday 25th February, 2020. Chennai.
Spent our last few days in India doing some shopping, visiting Pondi Bazaar and some of the more modern shopping malls. Since we had time on our hands we also went to the cinema a couple of times in ultra modern complexes looking more like lobbies of 5 star hotels. We watched international films… not bollywood ones!
Friday was a bad day. We had to be at the container terminal at 11 am for a final inspection . We got there in time but had to wait for a while for the Customs officer. When he arrived he went through everything in the car, opening bags, taking pictures and asking all sort of questions. After 45mns he was finished but then said another officer had to come and inspect the car before giving the final clearance. Since it was well into lunch time and the officer could not come for a couple of hours, our agent invited us to a restaurant. After the meal we went back to the terminal but there was no sign of the Customs officer and we sat waiting for most of the afternoon. The official reason for the delay was that the officer who should have come was off sick and his replacement was extra busy. Later on the story changed and it looked that we were victims of office politics: one of the officials felt offended because he should have been given the job ( inspect our car) and he would not give the final clearance until the officer who did it wrote an apology to him… power struggle!
Finally around 7:30 pm we got the green light and the car was loaded, lashed and secured into a container. Fingers crossed that there are no more hiccups! The Agent promised that the Carnet with all the relevant stamps will be returned to us on Tuesday…
Sunday
Spent the day with Rena and Jaggadish ( former colleague, going back more than 10years). They live about one hour’s drive from the centre, south of the city. They live in a new apartment complex with gym and gardens. We had a nice time catching up, going to a restaurant on the beach and then drove to the famous Shore Temple at Bahabalipuram.
The Shore Temple is the icon of the ancient monuments of Mahabalipuram. The temple gets its name from its location on the Coromandel shore overseeing the Bay of Bengal. The sculptural excellence dating back to 7 -8th century symbolizes the heights of Pallava architecture . The temple is one of the oldest structural stone temples of South India and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984
The Shore Temple has three shrines, devoted to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. The main temple is a five-storeyed structure sculpted out of granite dedicated to Lord Shiva. The pyramidal structure is 60 feet (18 m) high and sits on a 50 feet (15 m) square platform. The sculptures have been eroded by the passage of time, wind …and tsunami but you can still marvel at the craftmanship.
Later we returned to the flat, had some snacks before going to the shops locally to buy beer! ( Paul had explained the difficulty he had to find an off licence near the hotel). We then said our goodbyes and took a cab back to the hotel. Thanks Rena and Jaggadish for a nice relaxing day!
Below are some pictures of street scenes near our hotel
Tuesday 25th February, 2020 – THE END OF THE JOURNEY!
Our trip was coming to an end and it was time for us to leave India. We really enjoyed our time there, the friendly people, the food and the varied scenery. We spent 5 weeks in India but this is a vast country and there is still a lot we want to see…. we will be back!
