Traveling alone

Most people like traveling ,but may not know how to travel alone.These are very generic tips which will help you to travel alone without trouble.

* Find out information about the place from the web .There are lot of information available on Wikipediaand wikitravel.
* Be aware, in some places hotel owners dont give the room for a lonely traveler,since they think that these people have a "potential " to commit suicide.Avoid these places ,or try doing a booking over phone before you reach there.
* Carry a light backpack.Backpacks are easy to carry if you are forced to walk a long distance.
* Dont keep all cash in one place.Carry only one credit card (preferably) or debit card.If someone snatches your purse ,make sure you dont have much to loose.
* Carry biscuits or other "ready to eat" food items and water .If you dont find any good hotel to eat you can have this.Dont drink water from outside.
* Have a light meal and eat lots of banana.Banana will help you to achieve a "stable stomach" and ensures smooth bowel movement.
* Carry mosquito repellent always.
* Wear comfortable clothing (t shirts /track pants/kurtas/cargos/khakis).
* Dont carry expensive cellphones and other gizmos.Carry a basic cellphone .Criminals always nails down a "prey" based on looks and gadgets they carry.Always try or pretend to be commoner .
* Use public transport ,buses and train.Try avoiding auto rickshaws or taxis since they charge horrific rates and may be operated by criminals.
* Dont go walk /trek all alone especially in forest or other lonely places.Try walking along with other groups.Criminals and animals are a real threat.
* Ask shop owners or policeman if you are unsure about a place.They can give very good information on other nearby tourist destinations and good hotels.Avoid touts.
* Manage your time very well.Travel becomes horrible if you run out of time.
* If you want the travel to be memorable, you need to walk or trek and this requires lot of fitness.

@ Kanchi

Sat June 23 Morning

Got up as usual, sipped some green tea and sat idle. For sometime I had a strange desire to go to Kanchipuram and I thought of making a try. After getting fresh, packed my bag with very essential clothes, took a light breakfast, took some cash from ATM and started towards bus stand. When I reached bus stand ,I came to know that there is no direct bus, I need to go to Vellore first and then Kanchipuram. Bus started at 10:30 and it took almost another one hour to get out of Bangalore city. Journey was comfortable due to moderate temperature which was triggered by a depression in Bay of Bengal and well designed roads. It went via Hosur ,Krishnagiri and took a turn towards Chennai. By around 3:30 pm bus reached Vellore and immediately got into another bus to Kanchi aka Kanchipuram, one of the oldest cities in India.

Bus went through lush green paddy fields and seemingly pleasant for the eyes. By 4-45 I reached Kanchi .After having a light snack I followed a sign towards Ekambaranatha Temple .At some point I asked someone the way to "temple", he told me go to straight. Surprisingly I reached in front of Kailasanathar Temple which was built by Pallavas in 8^th century AD. It is a small beautiful well maintained structure with amazingly intense sculptures. I spend some time, took some pictures and this time I walked towards Ekambaranatha temple.

Ekambaranatha temple is one of the five forms of abodes of Lord Siva which represents "earth". The main priest told me that "lingam" was worshipped by Goddess Parvathi and it is known as "Parvathi Lingam". Temple complex is huge, spread over 40 acres, but it is not well maintained. I tried walking inside the complex but seemed impossible since it was getting dark. From there I went to Kamakshi Amman Temple, where I had to wait for some time to get a "darshan". I always envied people who lived near to big temples. I felt those structures and atmosphere has filled their lives with something more than the illusions created by humans recently.

By around 8 pm, I felt like I am tired and asked a police man where I can find a hotel. He politely told me a direction. I walked into a modest hotel and asked for room. Before showing the room, the hotel guy warned me against mosquitoes .I told him I am prepared, as I always include mosquito repellant in my bag while traveling. After having dinner I watched some television program on "climbing Mount Everest" on discovery channel. I couldn't really understand their "resolve" and "determination". Sooner I retired to sleep.

June 24

I got up early at 5:30 am, walked down to café for coffee. Surprisingly the café was crowded and people were really enjoying the morning coffee. After getting fresh, I checked out from room and walked a bit .After that I "negotiated " for a auto rickshaw and asked him to take me to Varadharaja Perumal Temple .Temple was huge and it was built by Cholas in 10^th century .I stood some time in peace and waited till 7am to enter the "inner sanctum" of the temple. When I walked into the interior of the temple I found that "inner most sanctum" is in first floor and can be approached only from a particular way. Ancient temple always presents me a mystery and as usual this didn't disappoint me .I walked a bit to explore the temple, took some pictures. By that time I realized that I need to start towards Bangalore early. After having breakfast I started my return journey.

Looking back it was a amazing weekend

Pictures

Some travel

Well, traveling all alone is not that easy. Well I thought about it ,finally decided to put me through this. From first week of December I started looking at couple of websites to find out places I should cover .I am always fascinated by historic temples ,which have some amount of peace and architecture .After doing some amount of research ,I rounded to Chidambaram ,Thiruvarur ,Thanjavur ,Rameshwaram and Madurai.

Preparation

Searched the internet for a local map to find out where to start with.I wanted to start from North and move towards south and eventually to my home town ..Based on that I made a bus reservation to Chidambaram from Bangalore .I prepared a list of things to be carried (t shirts ,cotton pants, undergarments,soap,rubber sandals ,towel,moisturizer ,biscuits ,medicines etc).Moreover I emptied CF card of the camera and charged the battery .

Dec-15 evening

Came back from office early ,got into a store brought the things which i found missing from the list. Ironed the clothes and put it in my trekking bag. I brought some biscuits in case I didn't find anything while traveling. At around 8 o clock I got out from my home and went to near by hotel and had a light dinner. Took some cash from ATM and put some part of that in my purse and some I put in a cover and kept that in another pocket. I reached the bus stand at 10 but came to know that bus was late by 45 min. At around 11 pm bus arrived ,it was a air conditioned sleeper .I got into that and immediately retired to sleep.

Dec-16

When I got up I came to know that bus was passing through Pondichery. Initially I wanted to start from there to visit Aurobindo ashram and Auroville ,but I had to drop that due to time constraints. Bus was almost empty after Pondichery and it moved via Cuddalore and finally it reached Chidambaram .I told the bus guy to stop near to the Nataraja Temple. I got down there at around 9 am and I saw one of towers of temple .Chidambaram is a modest town with basic amnesties. At first I walked into a hotel and asked for a room ,he said it will "take time".Then I had to take room in a nearby lodge. The room wasnt that great but manageable .My initial thought was to stay at night and move to Thiruvarur .After getting fresh, I went to temple. Even though it is a famous temple ,I couldnt see much crowd there. Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram is one of the panchaboota temple which represents "space" and it stood on a vast area guarded by four majestic towers .Lot of waste, graffiti and ill maintained structures really dampened the look of the ,one of the finest abodes of Lord Shiva. But it has the energy ,serenity and peace required for any person who is looking for .When I approached the "santum santorium" I saw the famous "Nataraja" statue which is unique to this temple. I stood in peace for sometime and tried to encompass the energy there. I paid for a special ticket and got closer to the idol .The main priest removed a curtain near to the idol and tried to explain to me which I didn't understand. Well I came to know that it represents "space".Since temple is running short of funds ,they were persuading me to pay money for "prasad" which they will send me by post. I spent some time walking realizing that our fore fathers had a great sense of aesthetics while designing structures. Then I went to room and to take my camera and tried capturing those things through my lens.

Well after spending time till noon ,I felt like I can cover Thiruvarur temple by today itself. I asked the lodge owner and he told me there is no direct bus ,but I can take a bus to Mayapuram from there to Thiruvarur .After having lunch ,I got into bus to Mayapuram. Bus went via green paddy fields and buildings which seems to me as historic. After reaching Mayapuram I had to walk 100 meters to get another bus which will take me to Thiruvarur. At around 5 pm I reached Thiagaraja temple at Thiruvarur. This temple is considered one of the oldest and it dates back to 9^th Century.

Like all other temples at Tamilnadu, it has majestic four towers and have finer pieces of architecture interwoven. These days some people tried to solve issues without looking at the bigger picture,thats what is happening at most buildings. Some buildings were built with great aesthetics ,craftsmanship and architecture ,but these days people are free to try new surface paints ,wire freely with electric cables and add some worthless structural additions to these buildings. This really shows how much we are disconnected with the past !.I took some pictures and spent some time there walking around. When sky became dark ,after having a light and refreshing snack ,I started to Thanjavur.
When I reached Thanjavur bus station it was really dark and I was thinking where to go. I saw one internet cafe where I sneaked in and checked my mails. After that I asked shop owner where exactly is the railway station and the great Brihadeswara Temple. He told me I need to go to old bus stop and temple is on the way. I got into the bus and sooner I saw the glimpse of the tip of a big temple my eyes eagerly followed that. As bus neared that,I got down ,and I started walking closer to the temple. When I saw the first glimpse of the temple I felt like "Oh my god I haven't seen anything like this in my entire life ".Since it was around 8:30 pm ,security was asking everyone to leave .Reluctantly I moved out and ran into a medical shop and asked him "Where can i find a descent hotel",he pointed a direction and gave a name which I followed .Hotel was good and after having dinner ,I immediately retired to sleep.

December 17

I got up early really excited ,got fresh and went directly to temple. What a sight ...Even though I visited few countries ,I haven't seen such a majestic building anywhere . It was built by Raja Raja Chola in 10^th Century whose empire (Chola dynasty) stretched from Orissa to SriLanka .The architecture of the temple is different from the usual "tamil nadu" style .The main tower is about 65 m in height and its "shikaram"(crown) weighs almost 80 tonnes. Shiva's mount or Shiva linga there is considered to be the tallest and it should be more than 12 feet. I went around and around and tried to understand and capitulate to that majestic effort took by our forefathers who built it around 1000 back. Since it is maintained by Archaeological Survey of India ,it is very much infact and looks very fresh.

After spending few hours there ,I reluctantly went to Thanjavur Palace supposedly built by Marathas .It is not a luxurious or "well kept" palace but it hosts a wonderful museum. It showcases some ancient bronze statues ,artifacts and jewelery starting from 8^th century AD onwards .I spend some time just like another curious onlooker .

After having lunch and thought of starting towards Rameshwaram. Well I assumed that it would be directly connected by bus and that was a mistake. I had to take bus to Pudokottai ,then to Karaikudi ,then to Ramanathapuram and finally to Rameshwaram .Travel from Karaikudi to Ramanathapuram is something anyone should avoid if possible due to bad state of road there.Well travel wasn't that bad ,I went on talking with a student who was with me till Ramanathapuram. When I reached Rameshwaram it was almost 9 o clock at night I had to travel around 8 hours from Thanjavur and I felt like I really underestimated the time.

Rameshwaram is island town connected to the main land with the famous Pamban bridge which is almost 2.3 kms. I had to struggle a bit to get a room because hotel owners feel that "lonely" travelers mainly come for committing suicide. With a bit of luck I managed to get into a good hotel. After having a good shower and food ,I slept fast.

December 18

I got up early at 4 am ,got fresh and went to famous Ramanathaswamy Temple. According to legend Lord Ram worshiped Lord Shiva by creating "Shiva linga" out of sand to absolve of his sins committed during war against Ravan ,the demon. I had to purchase a special coupon to avoid horrendous queues .While I was standing in the queue I looked at the beautiful paintings which narrates the story of Ramayana. When I was a small kid ,I used to climb up to the table to hear stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata from my great grandfather while he was having his breakfast. All those memories suddenly gushed into my mind .Temple was crowded since it is considered to be holiest and it is often visited by people from North India . After having "darshan" I had my breakfast and walked around that area. Well I thought of visiting neighboring place called "Danushkodi" but somehow I didnt like to move around there. Crowd ,dirt and stench didn't keep there for long.

After lunch I got into bus which took me to Madurai. I have been to Madurai before ,but this time it appears to be very polished. I had to get into another bus to reach the famous Madurai Meenakshi temple .It was almost 5 in the evening and after placing my sandals outside I walked in .Security was tight ,people need to walk through metal detectors and they opened my bag as well .Madurai Meenakshi temple is obviously one of biggest temple in South India and even considered for "seven wonders in the world". It is really majestic but I am not sure whether recent "modernization" has gone well with the aesthetics of the temple .I feel that lot of people have made a temple as a "commercial center ".I walked around and it was getting dark and I felt like I need to come again to understand the place.

After collecting my sandals I didn't have any clue how to go back home from there. Another bus travel will be a disaster unless I stay there overnight. Well I thought of checking availability of train ticket and casually walked into railway station .I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the availability of berth for the same night itself. I took the ticket ,had dinner and got into the train and I couldn't do anything further for that day.

December -19

Next morning to my surprise, I found that train actually goes to a station which is quite near to my home itself. I got down there and walked towards home.

When I looked back I felt something good about myself.

Pictures