2nd Weekend Trip: Trichy/Tanjore

Last weekend we travelled to Trichy and Tanjore.  On the way we stopped at Rock Fort Temple.  It is a Hindu temple located on the top of a huge granite rock.  We have been to several Hindu temples which are really neat but this was my favorite.  This one was cool because we climbed 413 steps to get into the temple and the view from the top was amazing. We could see the town from the top- other temples, houses, river, mountains, and more.

 Rock Fort Temple

 View from inside Rock Fort Temple

That night we stayed at a hotel in Trichy.  The hotel was fine but the service was terrible.  I have noticed that service in India is either amazing or awful.  It is only really good when you are in a nice resort where you are waited on hand and foot.  Otherwise like in this particular hotel it is usually not good.  At dinner, all of our entrees were brought at different times and it took over two hours for some people to get their appetizers. Some of the orders were messed up and they would do things like bring 7 Up when you asked for Pepsi as if they are the same.  It was ridiculous but made for an entertaining, funny meal.

The next day we visited another temple.  This was a real experience because we got so much attention for being white.  People stared and followed us around taking pictures.  Other people asked to take pictures of their kids with us.  It literally was like a glimpse into the life of a celebrity.  It was entertaining except for one man who took at least 8 pictures of just me which was a little creepy.  I don't think our group or the Indians paid much attention to the actual temple.  It took us two hours to get out of there because of all the attention and photo requests.

Pictures of people taking pictures of and with us

We stayed at the Ideal River View Resort in Tanjore for the next 3 nights.  The resort was so nice, peaceful, and relaxing.  During the days, we visited several more sights including a dam, a limestone (cement) quarry where we looked for fossils, (l found a cool rock with a sand dollar fossil.) an art museum, and a park with a fossilized tree.  In the afternoons and evenings we swam in the pool, had dinner outside by the river, and played pool and ping pong.  They also had live music, a dance performance, and complimentary drinks at dinner.  We were treated so well there that it was sad to leave.

Pictures at the Ideal River View Resort

One afternoon, Jackie, Eric, and I walked along the river to explore.  We saw a family playing and washing their clothes in the river.  They beckoned us over so we waded across the river to say hi.  They couldn't speak much English but they were so excited to see us and to hear that we were from America.  I asked to take a picture with them and they were thrilled.  One little boy was still playing in the river a little ways away but when he saw us posing for a picture he sprinted through the river towards us.  He fell face first into the river but jumped right back up and kept running.  The other kids laughed when they saw him running over after I said to wait for him.  It reminded me of the scene in Slumdog Millionaire where Jamal jumps into the sewage to be able to get to see the famous person in the village and he sprints as fast as he can.  It was so cute and melted my heart how excited and determined he was. 

 Jackie and me with the family we met on the river