On Tuesday, March 10 I didn't go to work and went for another trip! Again, it was quite a quick decision without much planning. A guy called Chris (American with Indian parents), who I only knew from this on-line forum IndiaMike, offered me to join him, his cousin and her colleagues on this trip. First I was a bit suspicious because I have never met him before and it's not recommended to travel with strangers, right? I wanted to meet him first to see what type of person he is but we couldn't catch each other. Finally we met just for few minutes the evening before the trip. Well, Chris didn't talk much (he's quite a shy guy) but still I got impression that he was not the type who would kidnap me, rape me, kill me and burry me deep in ground. And I decided to go for the trip with them.
Well, in the morning I already regretted my decision because after not much sleep during weekend I had to wake up at 4:45 again! Fortunately, Chris picked me up with his bike and the morning ride refreshed me. Of course I was still a bit worried - guy who I knew for few hours drove me to his flat (or somewhere else?!) so early in the morning. Moreover, his house was not by a big busy road but hidden at the end of a very little narrow one. Hm, this really didn't encouraged me much. His cousin came from the house and she was quite nice so I calmed down. We were still waiting for two people to come when it suddenly started to rain! After more than one month here I saw rain which is very unusual in this part of year in Chennai. And it wasn't just a short shower, it was really raining cats and dogs ;o) Well, finally our group was complete and we set out for the trip. We were travelling in hired taxi which was supposed to be faster and more comfortable...hm, it wasn't but I didn't mind. It was better than sitting in office ;o)
It took us three hours to get to Tiruvannamalai. It was raining like a hell all the time but luckily it stopped when we reached the town. Tiruvannamalai is another famous pilgrimage town with a huge Annamalaiyar temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, located at the bottom of the Annamalai hill. Unfortunately we didn't have time to climb the mountain but as you can see on the picture (it's not my photo, I just downloaded it ;o)), the view from the hill is gorgeous!
We met a guy (relative or family friend of Chris's cousin's colleague) who was supposed to help us to get into the temple without spending hours waiting in line. It took him some time to get a VIP entrance permit for us but he made it and we could get in. It was really nice inside and completely different than in Tirupati temple. Here we could move freely, look around and enjoy the atmosphere of this holy place. All pilgrims were concentrated around altars with statues of gods where priests were offering pilgrims' coconuts and flowers to the deity (they decorated the statues with chains of flowers and broke the coconuts). Other pilgrims were siting on floor and meditating or lighting candels. It was "strictly not allowed" to make pictures inside so I can't share my feelings with you, however, here are at least some pictures made outside despite a gloomy weather.
holy bull ;o)
should I be jealous?
decorated statue of God
chains of wonderful flowers to be offered to deity
Chris is just crazy about elephants and basically he only went to this temple because of the elephant that they were supposed to have here. He (and me too!!!) really wanted to stroke it and give it a coin to get blessing from it. Again, we had to overcome some obstacles (not-too-friendly temple guards, beggars all around, stony paths not very comfortable for bare feet) but it was worth it! We found our elephant, we stroked him, gave him a coin and were blessed. Whow! Just when I want to take some more pictures with me stroking the elephant, its owner (or what he is) almost beated me up with his stick yelling: "You don't pay, you don't touch!" ;o)
playing with "boss"
gratis stroking ;o)
And that was a sweet cerise on our Tiruvannamalai trip. But for me another adventure was yet to come in this town: we went to typical Indian veg restaurant for lunch. Well, I eat Indian food everyday and I really like it. But this was my first time eating from a banana leaf and with my right hand only (I use spoon in the office and in restaurants where I've been so far I was always offered spoon as well). I was quite awkwart (it's not that easy to eat rice with hand! and don't think that the rice is sticky...it's not! it fells everywhere!...at least in my case ;o)) but I really enjoyed the meal (and didn't have any health issues after ;o))
Our next destination was Gingee Fort. This is one of the few surving forts in Tamil Nadu 160 km from Chennai. This place used to be so well fortified that it was ranked as the "most impregnable fortress in India" and it was called the "Troy of the East" by the British. It was again raining when we stopped under the hill and even when we were climbing but we were lucky enough and after few minutes of walking in rain it stopped and our hosts monkeys came out! Ah yeah, there are many monkeys waiting for visitors and trying to steal their hand bags ;o) First they were quite cute. Chris was feeding them with bananas and it was fun. But then they wanted more bananas, they were following us and made strange sounds so I got a bit scared...Well, the place itself is just beautiful. You can really feel the breath of history. There is a nice view on other hills with forts all around...I just loved it! I think there's no use of trying to describe this place with words, just look at the pictures although they're not the best ones because of gloomy weather.
Well, in the morning I already regretted my decision because after not much sleep during weekend I had to wake up at 4:45 again! Fortunately, Chris picked me up with his bike and the morning ride refreshed me. Of course I was still a bit worried - guy who I knew for few hours drove me to his flat (or somewhere else?!) so early in the morning. Moreover, his house was not by a big busy road but hidden at the end of a very little narrow one. Hm, this really didn't encouraged me much. His cousin came from the house and she was quite nice so I calmed down. We were still waiting for two people to come when it suddenly started to rain! After more than one month here I saw rain which is very unusual in this part of year in Chennai. And it wasn't just a short shower, it was really raining cats and dogs ;o) Well, finally our group was complete and we set out for the trip. We were travelling in hired taxi which was supposed to be faster and more comfortable...hm, it wasn't but I didn't mind. It was better than sitting in office ;o)
It took us three hours to get to Tiruvannamalai. It was raining like a hell all the time but luckily it stopped when we reached the town. Tiruvannamalai is another famous pilgrimage town with a huge Annamalaiyar temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, located at the bottom of the Annamalai hill. Unfortunately we didn't have time to climb the mountain but as you can see on the picture (it's not my photo, I just downloaded it ;o)), the view from the hill is gorgeous!
We met a guy (relative or family friend of Chris's cousin's colleague) who was supposed to help us to get into the temple without spending hours waiting in line. It took him some time to get a VIP entrance permit for us but he made it and we could get in. It was really nice inside and completely different than in Tirupati temple. Here we could move freely, look around and enjoy the atmosphere of this holy place. All pilgrims were concentrated around altars with statues of gods where priests were offering pilgrims' coconuts and flowers to the deity (they decorated the statues with chains of flowers and broke the coconuts). Other pilgrims were siting on floor and meditating or lighting candels. It was "strictly not allowed" to make pictures inside so I can't share my feelings with you, however, here are at least some pictures made outside despite a gloomy weather.
holy bull ;o)
should I be jealous?
decorated statue of God
chains of wonderful flowers to be offered to deity
Chris is just crazy about elephants and basically he only went to this temple because of the elephant that they were supposed to have here. He (and me too!!!) really wanted to stroke it and give it a coin to get blessing from it. Again, we had to overcome some obstacles (not-too-friendly temple guards, beggars all around, stony paths not very comfortable for bare feet) but it was worth it! We found our elephant, we stroked him, gave him a coin and were blessed. Whow! Just when I want to take some more pictures with me stroking the elephant, its owner (or what he is) almost beated me up with his stick yelling: "You don't pay, you don't touch!" ;o)
playing with "boss"
gratis stroking ;o)
And that was a sweet cerise on our Tiruvannamalai trip. But for me another adventure was yet to come in this town: we went to typical Indian veg restaurant for lunch. Well, I eat Indian food everyday and I really like it. But this was my first time eating from a banana leaf and with my right hand only (I use spoon in the office and in restaurants where I've been so far I was always offered spoon as well). I was quite awkwart (it's not that easy to eat rice with hand! and don't think that the rice is sticky...it's not! it fells everywhere!...at least in my case ;o)) but I really enjoyed the meal (and didn't have any health issues after ;o))
Our next destination was Gingee Fort. This is one of the few surving forts in Tamil Nadu 160 km from Chennai. This place used to be so well fortified that it was ranked as the "most impregnable fortress in India" and it was called the "Troy of the East" by the British. It was again raining when we stopped under the hill and even when we were climbing but we were lucky enough and after few minutes of walking in rain it stopped and our hosts monkeys came out! Ah yeah, there are many monkeys waiting for visitors and trying to steal their hand bags ;o) First they were quite cute. Chris was feeding them with bananas and it was fun. But then they wanted more bananas, they were following us and made strange sounds so I got a bit scared...Well, the place itself is just beautiful. You can really feel the breath of history. There is a nice view on other hills with forts all around...I just loved it! I think there's no use of trying to describe this place with words, just look at the pictures although they're not the best ones because of gloomy weather.
Peťulí, you absolutely shouldn´t be jealous of the hard-rock silicon implants goddess. You know, it´s very hard for her to keep an eye-to-eye contact with others. Quiz for boys: Try to count the rings on her necklace - impossible :o)
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