Pronounced HUMpee, this magical area (a World Heritage site) is full of hundreds of temples and granite boulders. Peaceful, relaxing. I can see why people say this is a can’t-miss-place (#2 after Varanasi)
I lost my buff in Mysore 2 days ago, so I have to wear my geeky safari hat – though it does protect my ears and nose Behind me is the 50m gopuram (entry tower) of the 16th Century temple in one of the 2 main temple areas of Hampi (the one with the bazaar, hotels, restos and tourists).
On the right is a little temple on the hill, surrounded by granite boulders.
Little temple on granite boulder strewn hill
Jan in dorky hat with gopuram
Would you believe I wasn’t able to find a usable Internet cafe in Bangalore, in the tourist area of MG Road?
I found one nice modern a/c one, but they required a minimum 7hr package for Rs270/$6.25. I only saw 2 places: one closed in my face at 20:30, and the other was brutally warm and had old-looking computers. This, despite being the IT centre of India, and the guidebook saying there are fast Internet cafes everywhere.
Sorry guys, but I was unimpressed with Bangalore: modern, clean, green (as in parks), expensive, somewhat un-Indian. The MG Road area could have been in almost any city (even a KFC and McDonald’s there). But uninteresting.
Alappuzha (Alleppey) was nothing exciting in and of itself, it’s more of a gateway to the backwaters. It sits roughly in the middle of the at least 120km long (north to south) stretch of backwaters; I’m not sure how wide it is (though it is wide too). Basically the area goes from Kochi (Cochin) at the north end all the way Kollam in the south (which is just north of Varkala). It’s so large that we actually travelled on “national waterway no. 3″ for part of the ferry ride! And there are canal-side signs showing direction and distance to towns, just like highway signs!
Popular cheap backwater cruises include: Kollam to Alleppey (8 hours by public ferry; the guidebook says this can get boring, but a few travellers I’ve met say it was interesting, what with all the village stops along the way) and the public ferry from Alleppey to Kottayam (2 1/2 hours), which is east of Alleppey and has more frequent trains to Kochi.
There are recommended half or full day tours out of Kollam, Alleppey and Ernakulam (the mainland part of Kochi, which is where the train station is).
You can rent houseboats designed like a kettuvallam (rice barge) which come in a range of sizes and luxuries; all of them are relatively expensive.
These 2 pictures are from the canoe ride I did out of Alleppey with Annerose:
Village in canoe going past a simple houseKids walking along riverbank
The highlight for me, though, was doing a 2 night backwater village homestay. As the guidebook puts it, “set in a typical and ridiculously picturesque backwater village.”
The erudite Thomas, who spoke great English, had homestays in his house and his sister’s newer house next door, plus “overflow” of sorts in a group of 10 or so other villagers’ houses.
The home-cooked food was very good (Thomas’ mother did the cooking), with the 2 lunches being spectacularly tasty!
The cost for a single was Rs750/$18.75 in the older home (which I took), or Rs1000/$25 in the newer home, including all meals and cold bottles of purified rain water.
The village itself, on the island/village of Chennamkary, was a 1 1/4 hour ferry ride (Rs5/$0.13) from Alleppey. Actually, Chennamkary is an almost circular island that is 30km in circumference, with a population of 4,000. However, most of the land in the centre of the island is rice paddies (at 1m below sea level), leaving really only a narrow band of solid land (100m wide or less) along the island edge for houses.
I walked in the village, rented a bike to explore the island further, and we hired a motorized boat for a 3 hour sunset cruise. Thomas’ mother also gave cooking classes (no time for me though).
One night we even took a canoe ferry across the canal to the mainland (although it looks like another island) and an auto-rickshaw to a temple to watch a Kathakali, a traditional Keralan dramatized play performance, with a green-faced actor accompanied by a few other actors and drummers and singers. The main character uses mainly mudras(hand gestures) and facial expressions. Here is the main Kathakali character, who has the divine power of always telling the truth:
Kathakali character
Misc notes about Kerala, which is an understandably proud province:
highest literacy rate in India (and if treated as a country, one of the highest literacy rates in the developing world!)
lots of schools, and lots of kids in school
little poverty (and few very rich people)
state govt has put money/effort into land reform and infrastructure
state govt is the communist party but democratic
See also previous posts on Alleppey and backwaters…
Tip: skip the night in Alleppey and head straight for Chennamkary village homestay!
These were added in place in the original posts as italicized updates, but I’m putting them here for those of you reading regularly:
Kanyakumari: I forgot to mention that at the memorial there is a darkened meditation room with a glowing Om symbol and a recorded Om sound that plays every 30 seconds or soo. Very relaxing.
Alleppey: I forgot to mention that on the train was also a 22 year old Finnish girl who had just married a local Indian boy in Varkala!
brief Alleppey and Fort Cochin posts: I added one photo to each of these posts (one has an elderly woman and grandchild, the other has the trio from Hong Kong), so scroll down or click on “Older posts”!
The flight was great, though I was only in Bangalore (in the state of Karnataka) long enough to sleep, eat breakfast and wander the veg/fruit/flower market. The cones of coloured powder are kumkum, used for bindi dots on the foreheads of married women, as well as for religious rituals.
Kumkum, used for bindi dots
Update: By the way, Bangalore looked like a western city at night from the airplane, with real suburbs and such. It was also quite clean, at least until I got near the market… The air was noticeably cooler in the evening than anywhere else in my trip thus far, quite refreshing. And in Bangalore, by law, the auto-rickshaws have to use the meters (which are never used anywhere else), which are Rs12/$0.30 for first km plus Rs6/$0.15 per km after that.
Then I took a 2 hour express train at 11:00 to Mysore, which is southwest of Bangalore. I’ll be here 2 nights, then on Tue I will take a mid-day train to Bangalore, spend 9 hours looking around, then take a night train north to Hospet, the gateway train station for (fabulous) Hampi (where I’ll spend 3 nights before going to the beaches in Goa).
In a fit of planning activity, I have my next 3 trains booked!
There is a big Maharaja’s Palace here, which is lit up with 96K light bulbs on Sunday nights for one hour – and as it turns out, today is Sunday! They also light it up for the Dussehra festival in Sep/Oct. I saw this girl at the train station in Mysore right after I booked a future train – she reminded me of that famous photo of the Afghani girl with the blue eyes (which I recently saw on a book cover in a shop).
Maharaja's Palace in Mysore, lit up on Sunday nightIndian girl with blue eyes
Update: I bought some fruit today in Mysore, since I have been a little negligent in that department. Some at the market, some on the street. Four plum tomatoes for Re1/$0.03 (Rs5/$0.13 per kg, I think he rounded up my 4 tomatoes without weighing them), a red papaya for Rs10/$0.25, 15 finger bananas for Rs10/$0.25 (they range from Rs16-20/$0.40-0.50 per kg), and some “peas” (single pea-like pods on little leafy stalks). I didn’t buy any (to avoid over-buying at once), but pomegranates were also Rs18/$0.45 per kg.
I was hoping to get the backwaters written up tonight, but I’m just too tired. And I’m not sure if I’ll be up for it after a 12 hour organized tour of Mysore and surroundings tomorrow!
No real sights per se in Varkala, but it was an excellent rejuvenating stop.
The town, which I ignored except for the train station, is a few km from the beach; the Varkala I describe is the tourist ghetto on the cliffs.
Here are some of the things I enjoyed in Varkala:
sandy beach
refreshing breezes
body-surfing in the waves
walking along the cliff-top walk, looking at the stores and restos and cafes (all with breezes and a view)
Keralan coffee – filtered!
fresh seafood nightly (I counted 16 restos that had fresh fish on display for dinner along the 1.2km cliff-top walkway)
Fresh fish selection for dinner
note the pieces cut out of the blue marlin
meeting other travellers (hi Brennen, Micaela, et al) – this was the first stop since Mamallapuram where there were lots of westerners
taking my first yoga class, and meeting a very interesting western “swami” (Jay, though he hates titles – he’s “a spiritual being having a human experience”) on the beach later that day
taking a hands-on Kerala cooking class (see my other post)
sunsets (at least the last 2 days when it wasn’t cloudy); see a sunset wave video at http://jantrabandt.blip.tv/Sunset on the beachTibetan shopkeeper
Tibetan singing bowls (there are a number of Tibetans here, with their shops and restaurants; in fact 2 of my best meals here were at 2 Tibetan restos – one fresh kingfish/dolphin-fish/mahi-mahi, and one veg sizzler). (sorry, no Tibetan singing bowls in that picture – different shop!)
tourist wedding on the beach: bride and groom arrive on separate elephants, led by a little band (drums and cymbals); after a brief ceremony in a decorated bamboo hut built on the beach for the occasion, they depart together on one elephant. Lots of tourists on the beach watch! (see the photo in another post, and the video now at http://jantrabandt.blip.tv/)
natural spring water coming out pipes at the bottom of the cliff (refill your water bottle! I UV-sterilized it to be extra safe (because I had the technology :-), but lots of tourists were drinking it)
Misc photos: North beach viewed from a breezy 2nd floor resto, fishermen at dusk:
Actually it is now officially called Alappuzha, but Alleppey seems more common (even in the train schedules!).
2 hours by train (Rs70/$1.75 for “sleeper” class). I almost missed getting on the train!
This is the gateway town to the backwaters of Kerala – canals and villages accessible only by boat (over a huge area).
I already did a 3-hour canoe ride (2 paddler guides) shared with Anne, a nice German almost-a-doctor I met on the train (who is travelling after studying at a hospital in Tamil Nadu for a few months). The first part was a little disappointing, and it really wasn’t until the 3rd hour (which we negotiated at the point they wanted to turn around and return by exactly the same route) that it became more relaxing and interesting – that 3rd hour definitely made it worthwhile! Anne had negotiated Rs250/$6.25 for 2 hours, which became Rs350/$8.75 for 3 hours (total, not per person).
We saw this woman and grandchild at a canoe stop for coconut water (Annerose gave some white balloons to the kids):
ld woman and grandchild
Tomorrow I go to my backwater village homestay in my “ridiculously picturesque backwater village” for 1 (or maybe 2) nights. Should be fun, and there better not be internet access! 😉
Update: I forgot to mention that on the train was also a 22 year old Finnish girl who had just married a local Indian boy in Varkala!
Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin), also known as Cap Com, is at the very southern tip of mainland India, where the Gulf of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea all come together (the southernmost of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are slightly further south, latitude-wise).
There are 4 main sights to see (not counting sunrise and sunset, which unfortunately were unspectacular due to clouds in the way):
The Vivekananda Memorial (Rs10/$0.25) and Thiruvalluvar Statue (free), reached by a small passenger ferry (Rs20/$0.50) that does a circular route to these 2 small rocky islands a few hundred metres off-shore. The memorial was built in 1970 for in memory of a swami who meditated here in 1892. Visiting this memorial had a Disneyland-ride feel to it (follow the arrows and lines around the island). Update: I forgot to mention that at the memorial there is a darkened meditation room with a glowing Om symbol and a recorded Om sound that plays every 30 seconds or soo. Very relaxing.
The statue, also referred to as the “Statue of Liberty” of India, is of the Tamil namesake poet and stands 133 feet tall (inc. the base) due to his master 133 chapter work Thirukural.
Kumari Amman Temple and Vivekananda Memorial
The Kumari Amman Temple (free) which I didn’t find that interesting, though it has the unusual feature of requiring all men to take off their shirts when entering the temple. It has a stunning location near the tip, but you can’t see the shore or oceans from within the temple’s high outer walls.
The Gandhi Memorial (free) – yes, another one! he’s very popular, you see – which is a multi-architectural-style building near the shore, with a good 360° view from the little tower.
The bathing ghats just south of the temple. There’s a little sandy beach too, but beware – the water is full of rocks and shallower than one would expect (I scraped my ankle). Always an interesting slice of Indian life at a ghat or beach.
Here is an emaciated old man meditating near the ghats:
Old emaciated man meditating
Also, there is an interesting looking tsunami memorial to the lives lost in the tsunami of Xmas 2004 near the ghats.
Tsunami memorial
There were far more Indian tourists/pilgrims here than foreigners, not to mention school groups…
Overall it’s a relaxing little town on a stunning location, definitely worth a visit!
My hotel was right next to the temple entrance, and I had a view of the water and rocky islands (the memorial and statue).
Madurai, about 3 hours by train south of Trichy, has 2 main sights: the big Sri Meenakshi Temple, and the Gandhi Memorial Museum. And lots of tailor shops.
The Sri Meenakshi Temple (Rs50/$1.25, + Rs50/$1.25 for camera) was built in 1506 in Dravidian architecture. The outer wall surrounds a 6ha/15acre compound. There are 12 gopurams ranging in height from 45-50m. The large pillared temple contains many gold-topped sanctums (off-limits to non-Hindus). There is also an art museum in the 1000 Pillared Hall (which probably really does have a thousand pillars!) which I rushed through.
I was getting a little templed out so overall I wasn’t wowed by this one, despite the rave reviews in my guidebook.
Gopuram at Sri Meenakshi Temple
Closeup on one of the gopurams
the closeup isn’t from the same gopuram pictured on the left…
The Gandhi Memorial Museum (free, + Rs50/$1.25 for camera) had 2 distinct sections: the first one describes the 2-century fight for independence against the British, which I had just read in my guidebook the day before, so it was a little repetitive (albeit with photos and maps) but still interesting. The second one describes the life of Gandhi, in way too much detail (well, too much detail for me). The exhibit includes the blood-stained loincloth that Gandhi wore when he was assassinated by a Hindu zealot on 1948/01/30 (I recall they had a remembrance on that anniversary when I was in Pondy, which has a huge Gandhi statue by the shore). Anyways, the reason the loincloth is in Madurai is that Gandhi had decided in Madurai years earlier to only wear a loincloth (of the style common in Madurai).
Another noteworthy item is the large number of tailor shops in Madurai. I had 2 cotton short-sleeved shirts made for me (one orange, one blue) for Rs600/$15 for the pair of them (probably “overpaid” but they work, though they won’t last forever
Trichy, as Tiruchirappalli is known, (pop 847,000) has 2 main temples to visit.
The first one, Rock Fort Temple, is built on top of an 83m rock outcropping – it takes 437 rock-carved steps to get to the top!
There are actually two temples at this site – one big one half way up, and one little one dedicated to Ganesh at the very summit (non-Hindus can’t go into the first one, nor into the sanctum of the second one). However, you do get a great 360° view of the city from up top!
My heart rate was 168 when I made it to the top, almost non-stop. Oh, and you have to do it barefoot, since the whole thing is a temple site.
The entrance is through another temple at street level on the main bazaar street in the area.
Rock Fort Temple
The second one, Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, is actually a ridiculously large temple complex consisting of 7 concentric circular walls, with a total of 21 gopurams (pyramid-like tower on an entrance archway) – the tallest one, which you hit first at the south end, is a whopping 72m high! Granted, the area within the outermost walls are city (dwellings, stalls, etc.), and only the innermost parts are temple per se, and a huge pillared temple at that.
Thanjavur is a smaller town (pop 215,000) 50km east of Trichy; I visited it as a day trip (1¼ – 1¾ hours by train, Rs10/$0.25 in unreserved second class).
It has one World Heritage listed temple and a palace to visit.
I rented a single-speed bicycle for Rs3/$0.08 per hour.
Jan on rented bicycle
The first one, Brihadishwara Temple, is a large sand-coloured complex in Chola architecture, built in 1010 by Raja Raja. It is different than most temples here in that the vimana (the pyramid tower over the inner sanctum) is taller than the gopuram (over the entry way). In fact this vimana is 66m tall! There is a huge Nandi (bull) statue carved from one 25 tonne rock (it’s 6m long and 3m high). Just inside the outer wall is a covered arched walkway containing hundreds of linga (phallic statues representing Shiva). And in the centre, a huge carved pillared temple; the air is cool inside. The inner sanctum contains a huge lingam.
See http://jantrabandt.blip.tv for a video.
The second one, Thanjavur Royal Palace & Museum, is an old palace seemingly surrounded by schools. There are a number of buildings to visit, including:
Durbar Hall, where the king once held audiences, with a large dais
Durbar Hall
the Saraswati Mahal library containing interesting artefacts, inc. palm leaf manuscripts with tiny script, and a 1785 World Atlas (with the latest discoveries of Capt Cook!) in which Australia is called New Holland, and Hawaii is the Sandwich Islands
an art gallery with detailed Chola bronze statues from the 9th-18th Century.
a slog up the narrow circular stone staircase of the ~8 story bell tower for a great view (though on the way down I saw a sign that said tourists shouldn’t go past the 3rd floor for their safety)
the Royal Palace Museum, which was small and the only case that grabbed me contained royal embroidered shoes & hats
and the uninteresting Raja Serfoji Memorial Hall
A lesser highlight of Thanjavur was that school kids kept wanting to talk to me and, gasp, I talked to them!
At one point I was surrounded by school boys (age 10?) in uniform on their break, near the palace, and they wanted their picture taken (and see it on my LCD) and they didn’t even pickpocket me (if you’ve been to Rome, you know what I’m talking about
I’m currently in Tiruchirappalli, known as Trichy, pretty much in the centre of the state of Tamil Nadu.
Trichy has 2 major temples, one of them called Rock Fort and is built on top of a 83m rock outcropping – it takes 437 rock-carved steps to get to the top!
Today (day 10 in Tamil Nadu) I realized I have some Tamil (language) in my big LP guidebook (but not in my LP phrasebook, which has Hindi, Urdu and Bengali), so I learned hello and no and thank you on the train today (a day trip to another town, Thanjavur, for 2 temples, one of which is a World Heritage site). Hello went over well, returned with a (Tamil) hello and sometimes even with a namaste gesture.
Tomorrow I leave for Madurai (3 hours by train), which has another famous temple.
Another breakfast sample:
Mini-tiffin breakfast
the mini-tiffin (Rs32/$0.80) including the tea (tiffin means snack); in the lower left are 6 mini sambar idly (spongy rice dumpling), in the lower right is a small dosa (lentil flour pancake), in the upper left is a small scoop of pongal (sticky rice w/ spices; Pongal is also the name of the big harvest in January)
Behind me is the 50m gopuram (entry tower) of the 16th Century temple in one of the 2 main temple areas of Hampi (the one with the bazaar, hotels, restos and tourists).
