Puducherry and Tiruchirapalli

2/27 - 3/1

Puducherry, or Pondicherry, is one of the few places aside from the big cities that actually sounds familiar to me, so I expected it to be either nice or too touristy. It wasn't either really, but seemed a bit expensive and without a lot to recommend it beyond some tasty bread, a strangely clean French quarter and a Ghandi statue that seemed popular with the kids.



Taking a 'Tempo' taxi on the short ride to the bus station we were a little bemused when all the passengers in the back had to stand up to allow the driver to pull up a seat and sloppily pour either water or fuel into various holes. From the station we got a bus to Villupuram and another to Tiruchirapalli. While looking for hotels I wandered into a 3000 Rupee place by mistake and hastily backed out again.

The rock fort or Ganesh temple was a short bus ride away, but we didn't know where to get off and we were wandering along unable to find the place until we tried turning around, then there it was, towering over the town.

 The way up was a bit tricky to find, as despite how ornate this entrance may look it really didn't stand out or look connected to the hilltop structure. After removing our shoes we made our way up and along the surprisingly cool and covered tunnel-like red and white striped stairs.

 Right at the top the steps were deeply grooved and wonky from hundreds of years of pilgrims making the trek up.