Trichy

The first two days in Trichy, I was suffering from a stomach virus, and spent most of my time in the room recovering. Leon and Rachel did some exploring though, and this is their story…
They decided to visit the Rock Fort. The guide book suggested taking a bus, but they weren’t sure where to pick it up. They went straight to the bus station and found the bus right away with some help from the locals. At the base of the Rock Fort, you take off your shoes (a common etiquette at Indian temples and monuments), cross the street and are greeted by Lakshmi the elephant. This was Rachel’s first meeting with a temple elephant. She gave her a rupee for a blessing and was charmed by the elephant’s sweet nature, but was concerned at the elephant’s busy schedule as the Fort Hostess with the Mostest.
After greeting Lakshmi, they walked up the steps to the top of the Rock Fort. There were large crowds of people walking up, or just sitting to enjoy the view of Trichy at twilight. Near the top of the steps, Rachel met two small boys, eager to talk to an American. They asked a lot of questions and posed for pictures with Rachel. They didn’t have a camera of their own, so they asked if Rachel could send them a copy of the photo. She took down their address (both boys insisted on writing their address, even though they were brothers who lived in the same house). We also found out later that the address they gave wasn’t complete, so it is doubtful that any mail would reach them. After the temple, Rachel and Leon went shopping for some electronics and dinner. They were excited to find a restaurant serving American style fried chicken, and got take-away for a late night feast.
The third day in Trichy, we went to see the huge temple with six gates. The gates, or walls, surround the temple and get smaller and smaller the further you go in. The first three gates are a vibrant part of the city, with vendors, homes, restaurants, even rickshaws. The fourth gate is the beginning of the proper temple. There you remove your shoes and enter into the sacred area. A few vendors remain in this inner section, but they sell idols and offerings for the devout. The innermost temple is restricted for non-Hindus, but we sat near the entrance and watched the locals come and go. On the way out of the temple, we met Lakshmi the elephant walking down the street. She came over and blessed our heads, along with the heads of many locals. Children lined up with offerings of rupees and bananas for Lakshmi. Her mouth was full of fruit, but she always made room for more.
Our fourth day in Trichy, we ran some errands, and then went about finding a bus to Pondicherry, our next scheduled stop. We were told that there was not direct bus, but we could take one bus for four hours, then switch to a second bus for the last hour. As usual, finding the correct bus was a challenge. Many of the buses only list their destination in Hindi, and often times they never pull up to their assigned bay at the bus station, meaning you have to ask each bus if it is the right one. After talking to at least 6 bus drivers, Leon found a bus that was headed the right way. A “luxury bus,” it was equipped with a television that played blaring loud Bollywood movies. We tried listening to our ipod, but between the movie and the sound of the horn (which buses use like a blinker) it was useless. Nevertheless, the three hours flew by. We found our second bus with no problem and continued on to Pondicherry.

Trichy