but we're picking it up and it's almost as good as our Turkish and
Swedish now.
We arrived in Madurai on Monday morning after our first train journey
- overnight from Kochi. That was a bit of an experience.....! Finding
the right carriage was the hardest part - the train was about 3 miles
long and we were at the wrong end of the platform. There was quite an
incentive to sprint down the platform, difficult though it was with
our heavy backpacks, as neither of us fancied cramming into the
luggage compartment for a 12 hour ride. Sarah wasn't really feeling
that first class was exactly spacious though but she has readjusted
her expectations in order to avoid further disappointment on the next
journey (18 hours on Saturday night.....can't wait!). Sarah was woken
by someone wafting a tray of curry in her face. Sarah also visited the
toilets and decided she would rather wear a nappy next time. She
didn't like to complain though.
Madurai was bloody mental - it was in the mid 30s when we got off the
train, it was incredibly busy and smelly and the streets are unpaved.
Not quite sure why Lonely Planet describes it as being like
Manchester.....?! Maybe Manchester 100 years ago?! Anyway - we were
craving anything non-curry so we had something that claimed to be a
pizza in Madurai's only fast food joint. We then headed to see a
palace, we didn't really establish what this palace was but it was big
and impressive and had shady areas and hundreds of school children who
all wanted to shake our hands. Luke started to feel that it was time
to visit a bathroom again so we we went back to the hotel.
Now we were starting to think that drastic action needed to be
taken.....we couldn't spend half our time in India in bathrooms and
hotel rooms. Luckily they don't call Sarah a genius for nothing. It's
hadn't been suggested by any of the medical advice which we have
sought but Sarah felt sure it would work......we have booked into the
Gateway Hotel which is part of the Taj group (basically the Indian
version of Holiday Inn, Google it if you don't believe us). And that's
where you find us now - in our white cotton dressing gowns getting
ready for dinner with BBC World News in the background. Luke has been
like Lazarus, he has made a remarkably speedy recovery....... Sarah
has never seen him so happy. It is an old colonial building which the
CEOs of JB Coats Ltd used to live in. We have played tennis and drank
tea and the attentive staff serve Luke gin by the pool and move
Sarah's lounger around as the sun moves......
In all seriousness........! It has been a wise decision! They have a
special Monsoon deal (the hotel is practically empty) and so it hasn't
broken the bank. We also couldn't have really relaxed in Madurai
itself, the noise, heat and smell was just too oppressive. And......we
feel better! Touch wood.
On Thursday we are spending the day visiting temples and on Friday we
are flying to Delhi.
Healthier and happier love,
Sarah and Luke x
P.S. Monsoon news: the monsoon only affects prices in Tamil Nadu -
it's cheap to stay here, but absolutely no rain!
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