Tricky Trichy

We arrived in Trichy at 2am, and all the guest houses near the bus station were packed for weddings (December is wedding month) so we "trusted" a rickshaw driver with 100 Rs to bring us supposedly 2 km away to a place he said was cheap. It was just behind the street we were in, 400 meters by rickshaw, and he said the rooms went for 250 Rs... 

It wasn't a room, it was a prison cell. It was scary and dark; the blocked toilets were outside, and the shower - well, we didn't even dare to have a shower. We used the toilet only out of extreme necessity.

This picture just makes the place look pretty. In reality, it is one of the saddest things I'd ever seen... except for one room in Kolkata that looked like a good place to die.

We woke up early, just so we could get out of the room. We wanted to get out of Trichy as fast as we could so we also rushed through breakfast and asking for the bus schedules to Madurai.

This is a traditional south Indian  breakfast of idly and gravy,
served on a banana leaf that you fold either towards you or
away from you depending on how you like the meal.

Good thing the main attractions of Trichy can be done in one day. The most popular place to visit is the Sri Ranganathswamy Temple which rises out of this very modern city like a mountain, with stairs going up to the sky.

There's a part where you can climb one of the lower gopurams, and admire it from close up.

The temple complex is so massive that we got temple fatigue by noon.

Guess we were not the only ones...

We had lunch at a veg restaurant that was so popular, we had to finish in 15 minutes or less.

On the bus, we had a problem with the bus conductor who charged us more than needed and a nice elderly gentleman tried to help us - but he misunderstood the whole situation so he wasn't really able to help. Feeling sorry, he followed us out of the bus and bought us coffee (THE BEST COFFEE YET!) at a place he frequents near the Rock Fort. He was so sweet and from the beginning, he reminded me of my dad, who was always helpful in the jeepney :)

Then we parted ways and went to the Cathedral, which has impressive stained glass. But it doesn't have seats, and you have to leave your shoes at the entrance just like in mosques.

Then we went across the street to Rock Fort, which has a temple dedicated to Ganesh perched 83 meters above Trichy.

You have to leave your shoes at the bottom and walk all the way up through small stores and mini temples along with pilgrims.

And the view is amazing!

We finished sightseeing by 4pm and left on the earliest bus to Madurai. We couldn't stay one more night in the lodge from hell!!! To stave off hunger, we ate the leftover cheese and bread from Pondicherry; and by 8pm we were in a new city. It was our shortest stay in any city, but the sights were definitely worth the short detour.