South India

South India is a land of blue skies and hill forts. Madras is the capital of Tamil Nadu and has an international airport. The East India Company first landed here in the seventeenth century. A cheap hotel will cost about four dollars for backpackers. The mattress will be very firm of course as are most of the hotels in India. Travellers come to Madras to do their business and get out of there as quickly as possible. The food at the restaurants are cooked freshly each day. The most popular dish in south india is the tali. Use your fingers to mix the rice and vegetable curry and then eat with your fingers. The banana leaf plate is thrown away after the meal so there is no washing up. All you can eat for thirty five cents - what a bargain.

The beaches around Madras are an entertainment in themselves where you can hear music or go for a horse ride with the kids. About a hundred miles south is the town of Gingee which will take you about four hours to get there. Gingee is a typical market town with buying, selling, and gossipping. The poorer Indian people do not have much of a concept of personal space and can get in your face at times. The fort at Gingee is an ancient ruin where films are made using the amazing backdrops of the fort on the hill. Half a day by bullock cart will get you to an amazing temple with monkeys, elephants who represent Ganesh. There are millions of practicing Hindus in India and they believe in reincarnation and daily worship of their particular god.

Shiva's temple is said to be the greatest one in India. The Indian people love to come to the temple when they are feeling bad and it helps them to feel a lot better. A utopian city near Pondicherry called Auroville was set up for yoga relaxation and meditation. They turned waste land into a metropolis dedicated to universal understanding and peace. Some westerners come here by accident and stay for years, enjoying the peace and contentment. Some people give up all their possessions to live in this human experiment. Work here is a means of self-expression or karma yoga.

By early spring the weather starts to get hot and then it is good to go to a hill station like Kodaikanal. The English built their homes here to get away from the heat. Indians are very hospitable and if you are travelling alone they will invite you on all sorts of get-togethers. Younger Indians have the freedom to sometimes choose the person they want to marry. If a marriage has been arranged the bride and groom will hardly know each other at first. Madurai is one of India's oldest cities and has been a city of pilgrimage for centuries. You can buy a drum made by the drum makers or go to the cinema and see a popular movie with the hordes and be entertained by violence, action and love.

Dhosa is a light pancake that is typically South Indian food. The festival at Madurai celebrates the change of season and is celebrated by thousands of people who dance and pull barges across the lake. Quilon is by the sea in the state of Kerala. Varkallai is a relaxing village by the sea where you can get a massage to make you feel better after a harrowing train ride to get there. Kerala is an extraordinary place that has a very good life style. Elephants are very important to Indians and they get looked after very well with baths and feeding. If you ask nicely you may get a ride on one or help to clean his tusks. Each elephant is looked after by its own mahoot who has him for years at times.

The backwaters of Kerala are an unforgettable trip. You can hire a boat for a few days for about fifty dollars a day that includes a boatman and a cook with all the food you can eat. Typical South Indian is a rice dumpling which you dip in the samba and eat - it is delicious. You need a guide because you would easily get lost in the backwater canals. All the men in the backwaters go to bars and drink fermented coconut juice. In these backwaters you can find an ashram of the lady reputed to be the divine mother who hugs all the visitors and gives them darshan or a spiritual current.

Lakshadweep are a group of islands of the south west coast of India in the Arabian Sea. All you do is eat sleep and swim in the ocean. You need a permit to get here and there is hardly any infrastructure for visitors and tourists.

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