Temples of Tamilnadu – 2009 Big trip – Part II
30th Sep 2009 – Madurai to Bangalore! (Contd…)
Pics from inside the palace, showing the elaborate stucco work and the elegantly painted ceilings…
There is also a museum in one of the wings, housing some artifacts, reproductions of ancient paintings etc.
Coming out of the palace, we thought of catching an auto back to the hotel. Seeing a few cycle rickshaws at a corner, we decided to take a cycle-rickshaw instead.
Though it cost us almost double of what an auto would have, it has a certain novelty factor of its own. He asked for 40, we bargained for 30, but finally paid him 50,
This form of transportation is now almost extinct in most parts of India, the last time I rode in a cycle rickshaw was in the early 90s in Cuddapah.
Post lunch we packed up and started off towards Bangalore. Had a little bit of a problem in finding our way to the highway, but reached the NH7 and this was the home stretch all the way to Bangalore!
Drove past Palani, a passing thought occurred that we should consider a brief stop over, but continued on…
The highway can be quite treacherous due to morons (mainly private bus drivers & bikers) driving up in the inner lane on the wrong side of the road.
Though in some places there was a genuine diversion due to the ongoing construction, in most cases folks would be driving on the wrong side to avoid having to take a ‘U’ turn somewhere. So had to be really careful around the curves…
A classic example…
Stopped at a BPCL ‘Ghar’ dhaba for dinner and tanking up. Reached Bangalore at around 11.45pm.
“So, what plans for the next trip…?” “Oh, we should go for a drive around Kerala sometime or maybe a trip up north…” “Anything is fine; as long as you don’t take me around to see more temples!” “But Sri.Guruvayurappa is calling me… “It’s ok, just close your ears.”
