We left Delhi in the (very) early morning to make our way – by train – to Agra.
In Agra we got picked up at the train station and were bussed straight to Agra Fort. The fort itself is huge, felt more like an exclusive walled city. Our tour took in the various parts of the fort; I don’t really recall any details here (check here for those), however I do remember, that I was impressed – and incredibly cold at the same time.
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The second part of the tour had started – with a new area (up North), a new tour leader and some new faces in the group. We spent this Monday with a tour through old Delhi, starting in a misty … Continue reading
After breakfast we left the backwaters again; first by boat to Alleppey. From here we should have taken a public bus to make it back to Kochi – however with buses going unusually infrequent and always full (presumably due to some trains, that had gotten canceled earlier on), we ended up on private transport back to Kochi … where it all had started two weeks earlier.
Six of us (including myself) made it to the airport early the next morning to catch a flight up to Delhi – for the second part of trip up North …
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We had some time to freshen up and relax in our homestay, before heading to the ferry and meeting up with the others for a guided tour around the village and an introduction around many aspects of living in the … Continue reading
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On arrival in a Kerala Backwater town we changed to a small boat and continued following the rivers and canals to a small village for our backwater homestay.
We left Thekkady, heading back towards the coast. The route did bring us through the Cardamom Hills – with more great views … and back into tea country.
This evening we had the opportunity to go for a Kalari perfomance.
Kalari is the traditional martial arts of Kerala; the word Kalari translates to battle field.
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From the hustle and bustle of Madurai we made it back into the mountains and nature, the small town of Thekkady with the nearby Periyar Tiger Reserve being the destination. In the morning of our second day we enjoyed a … Continue reading
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This morning saw us heading for the Meenakshi Amman Temple – clearly the highlight of all temples, I have seen in India. To put the perspective right, to me this place felt like the Hindu equivalent to what the Vatican … Continue reading
We left Pondicherry after a good breakfast in French bakery; first an hour by private transport to Villupuram and then continuing by train to cover the 300 km to Madurai – a train journey of a good five hours.
We made it into Madurai in the late afternoon; after a bit of freshening up in the hotel, we had an orientation walk to get glimpse of what was ahead of us tomorrow.
The walk finished at a cinema, where we had the opportunity to see Lingaa and as such get an introduction into Kollywood cinema. The film – of course – was in Tamil with no subtitles provided … one could follow the story, but obviously did not get the details on all the discussion. For my taste the film has been far too long (at nearly three hours), the story could have easily been told in less time …
