The last few days....

So, against our initial thoughts and drive to be comfortable, we took the overnight bus from Pondicherry to Madurai (further South- Mr. Yost:)). As I mentioned my concerns were that Ang would fall directly asleep and I would be wide awake. Not far from the truth. The bus wasn't AS bad as expected- but honestly, India just continually amazes me. I have taken to saying "that is one way to do it"- whenever we see something that nearly shocks my socks off. The bus was no different. The seats had numbers above them- however, they had also been renumbered at least 4 times with a pen- crossing off the previous 'seat numbers' and renumbering them. Ang and I tried to figure out why this would have happened 4 times....how do you have to renumber the seats 4 times?...is it done when someone doesn't like their seat number? or a new driver starts driving the bus? Just another interesting, chaotic fact about India.

The bus ride was fine- I was up a lot listening to my Ipod and watching a country that NEVER sleeps. There were people up the entire night on the side of the roads, some resting, some selling stuff, some warding off the wild pigs that were in the garbage. There was also a man snoring SO loudly on the bus- that I could not believe we were not on candid camera. They could have popped out at any moment and I would not have been shocked. I even made Ang try to move him several times...which only led to him stopping for less than one second and restarting the droan of ridiculousness. Picture the loudest fog-horn-filled-with-liquid you can....and that was the music of the evening.

On the bus ride.... I definitely was sad about the poverty and had too much time to think about everything going on around me. It is heart-breaking....and then when you know nothing different- you can also be happy- which is amazing! The people here are so great! I will keep saying that over and over....because the smiles, the questions, the requests for pictures of us (or sometimes the request that we take a picture of only them- "one photo ma'am").....is beyond heartwarming.....I have now had moments of loving traveling again...if not yet India.

We arrived at Madurai at 5:30 a.m. Took an auto-rickshaw to our hotel and were told we couldn't check in- surprise, surprise. So, we headed to the temple in Madurai, which is the main point of attraction. The temple was beautiful- and again (surprise!) there were lots of people there worshipping. We milled around the temple and at one point- a man was telling us that these 9 statues were the planets being worshipped. So, following in the Indians footsteps we bought 9 candles and could tell that we needed to walk around the statues with the candles...you know.....when in Rome. As Ang started to walk around the statues all of a sudden the Indians (who were also walking around the statues) were right on her tail...and I quickly could tell she was walking too slow. So...I did what any best friends would do and fell back behind the Indians...watched as Ang realized she was going to slow...and watched her panic stricken trying to move quickly being "chased" by the Indian men, while holding 9 candles on a plate...I just giggled the whole time as they eventually lapped her. I know, I know...not the holiest temple experience.

Since we had been up most of the night and then been at the temple for a few hours- we headed to our hotel, checked in and then slept for some of the morning. Besides the temple, there wasn't much to do in Madurai- so we walked around and as usual were eventually shuttled into a shop to "look, just look"....and soon we were knee deep in being sold carpets. The guy selling to us (and no we didn't buy carpets...yet) was Muslim and it is Ramadan right now- so he was fasting until the sun went down. Not surprisingly, we were still there when the sun went down and had the very cool opportunity of breaking the fast with the other Muslim men in the store. We sat on the floor with them, and Ang shared some of their food. I wasn't feeling great that day- so didn't partake. But the conversation was cool- and a very unique experience!

The next day we headed on another bus- this time during the day to Kanyakumari the most southern tip of India to watch the sunrise over the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian ocean....the point where they all converge. The bus ride was long...but seemed shorter because we were on the bus with a 11-15 year old boys Field Hockey team that were SO much fun! With limited English, we had so much fun communicating with them....they ask a million questions (how much do you make? how much is that necklace you have on? what do you do for work? is this your first time here?) They were also VERY interested in any gadgets we had...our Ipods, camera and even water bottle (from Costco- no less). They were chatty the whole time and wanted us to take lots of pictures of them!

Arriving in Kanyakumari in the late afternoon- we knew we were just there to watch the sunrise so had dinner and walked around a bit. The sunrise in the morning was beautiful and many people were on the beaches to watch it. This is a place of pilgrimage for many Indians to worship the God of the shoreline. This is also an area that was hit badly by the 2004 Tsunami.

Yesterday we hired our first driver to take us to where we are now...a little oasis...Kovalam, India. We are now on the West coast of the Southern tip. It is AMAZING here and much needed after a rough week in the south. The first part of the trip we have done has not much of a 'travellers trail', which makes it harder for us as tourists. Since Ang and I both like the semi-easy way out- we prefer a place that has some tourist activity.

And Kovalam is it! We really like the place we are staying- minus how wet everything feels all the time- including the sheets)....and we like sitting at the beachy restaurants and enjoying the breeze. We are staying here for at least one more night and even met some travellers.

All in all, we seem to be getting used to some of the chaos of India....and enjoying our time!