unreserved. it means you're not guaranteed a seat. why not just dive in head first to our first train ride in india? luckily, an incredibly kind indian man felt sorry for me and gave me his seat for the 8 hour ride. he and his wife have unreserved tickets too, as i see them moving around the carriage throughout the journey trying to locate more available seats. david ends up sitting on the floor in the open doorway of the carriage - which he actually appears to enjoy. every time i turn around he's talking to someone new, shaking someone's hand, or posing for a picture. you would think he's a rock star or something…
later that night we arrive into madurai, one of south india's oldest cities that’s history dates back to the 4th century b.c.
the highlight of madurai is its amazing sri meenakshi temple complex, a religious landmark that attracts over 10,000 pilgrims and tourists a day. the temple is an example of dravidian architecture with its 12 highly decorated gopurams (towers) of carved celestial and animal figures. unfortunately (for us), all of the gopurams are being restored and are covered with wooden scaffolding. luckily, we are still able to see some of the intricate carvings and images beyond the wooden beams. once inside the temple we realize we have visited madurai in the midst of its most important festival, the chithrai festival, a 14 day event celebrating the marriage of two hindu deities, meenakshi and sundareshwara (shiva). the temple is swarming with thousands of pilgrims and visitors that have come to madurai to worship and enjoy the festival events. the "wedding" ceremony is scheduled for the following morning and we see hundreds of women cutting the 9 vegetables that will be prepared for the luncheon that will serve 75,000 people the following day. wow. we're amazed at our unplanned "timing" and are happy to have the opportunity to participate in the festival's events and join in on the celebrations.
a few days later we opt for a 6 hour bus ride that will take us to kanyakumari, our next destination. after a rather painful journey (hot, dusty, and loud), we arrive to the southernmost point of india, also known as cape comorin. the small city is the "lands end" of the indian subcontinent and is where the bay of bengal meets the arabian sea and the indian ocean. the city has great spiritual signifigance to hindu pilgrims and is a place where people visit to fulfill their spiritual duties and bathe in the sacred waters where the ashes of mahatma gandhi were spread. kanyakumari is also known for chaitrapurnima, or april full moon day, the best time to experience sunset and moonrise over the ocean simultaneously. to our amazement, we find out the april full moon day will occur the day after our arrival. again, we can hardly believe our lucky timing. the following evening we gather with thousands of others to observe the simultaneous sunset and moon rise over the 3 seas. popcorn, cotton candy, and chai vendors make the event feel like a fair. we shake many hands, pose for many pictures, and smile and wave back to what seems like hundreds of indian people that are so interested in us. david says lately he feels like a politician…we are both truly enjoying the interactions we're having with indian people.
a couple of days ago we made our way via 7 hour train (reserved sleeper this time) to the nice city of kochi, or cochin. we're staying on an island off the coast called fort cochin, which is small, quiet, and rather peaceful. our room is at a portugese heritage home called spencer house (800 rupees or $20.00) that is 360 years old. it has no a/c, but it is incredibly atmospheric. this morning we awoke to birds chirping, rather than honking horns…nice change of pace. tomorrow we're taking a day trip to cruise the backwaters of kerala - we'll keep you posted.
alina
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