Pondicherry to Madurai

Another year, another day travelling!

We met up with the group at just before 8 (hangover free!!) and boarded the minibus. First stop was a bakery for breakfast. The pain au chocolate was very tasty and the coffee was good too! We also picked up provisions for lunch as we would be on the train.

Back on the minibus we headed out of Pondicherry to Villapuram in order to catch the train to Madurai. The train was a little late and we ended up leaving the station at about 12pm for the 5 hour journey. The train goes all the way from Chennai to a temple town in Kerala and takes over 20 hours so we were in a sleeper carriage rather than the seats that we'd had on the first train. We spent the time eating some food that we'd bought at the bakery, dozing, reading and watching the world go by.

We arrived at Madurai at around 5pm and walked the short distance to our hotel. There was a cycle rickshaw arranged and we left immediately for a tour of the city. The men pedalling were ancient! Halfway through the tour we stopped and walked through the banana market.

After an hour or so, we arrived at the end and had some delicious street food and a coffee/marsala chai. We then went to a shop which sold all sorts of crafts and where you could have clothes made overnight! After a couple of the group had made some purchases we walked back to the hotel and had a chance to freshen up before going to the 7th floor rooftop restaurant for dinner and drinks! The chicken tikka kebabs were delicious! After dinner and some drinks it was time to head to bed!Read more