Insanely last minute Tamil Nadu trip - leaving shortly...

Cachaca

Hi all

I work in Delhi and am diving down to Tamil Nadu for this holiday weekend.

I fly this afternoon, arriving tonight in Madurai.

My rapidly thrown together itinerary is:

tonight - Madurai
Friday - Madurai a.m. Tricky p.m. Trichy night.
Saturday - to Pondicherry. All day / night there
Sunday, at some point up to Mamallapuram
Monday - Mamallapuram
Veyr, very, vereay early Tues a.m. - taxi to Chennai airport.

Madly high speed I know. Rationale behind above itinerary - go from more hectic sightseeing start to gradually more chilled and finally totally relaxed last day.

Living in Delhi I am not keen to spend much time other than first day in big cities (hence skipping Chennai).

Is skipping Tanjore unforgivable? How couldI fit it in?

Any accomodatio tips?

I leave in 2 hrs!!

Will do a rapid forum hunt now too, but thought I would throw this up. Apologies for lack of research done to now.

snonymous

tonight - Madurai
Friday - Madurai a.m. Tricky p.m. Trichy night.
Saturday - to Pondicherry. All day / night there
Sunday, at some point up to Mamallapuram
Monday - Mamallapuram
Veyr, very, vereay early Tues a.m. - taxi to Chennai airport.

Whirlwind trip but doable. I presume you are renting a taxi for the entire trip.
Start very early on Friday - visit the Meenakshi temple but dont spend too much time there as Trichy's Srirangam [Ranganathaswamy temple] is much more splendid architecturally and from an ambience point of view. Try and reach Trichy as early as possible. You can climb the Rock Fort for a beautiful sunset / sunrise view.

If you have not had enough of temples by this time, you can pop in at Tanjore's Brihadeeswara temple en route to Pondy. Take the country road from Trichy along the Cauvery river via the 2000 year old Grand Anaicut dam, it is very scenic.

If you do not have any specific agenda in Pondy, skip it and go through to Mammalapuram, considering how little time you have.

Have a good trip, and do post your feedback.

Accommodation - Try the Hotel Tamil Nadu available at Madurai, Trichy & Mammalapuram. This is a long weekend so you may have to scout around. You will get something.

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Cachaca

Brillaint. Thanks a million.

Haven't hired a taxi for whole trip - what I usually do is grab cabs (and occasionally buses) from place to place - with time optimisation taking priority over cost concerns. Bit of a seat of your pants approach I know, but it has always worked until now!

Accomm is my main concern being a holiday weekend. Will get onto that now!

hermetic

I have done a similar trip planned at the last minute, brought back fond memories :-)

Mahabalipuram,Pondicherry and Cauvery Delta

Cachaca

All,

Many thanks for the helpful tips.

Had a great time. Pretty much stuck to the schedule I suggested above.

Flew into Madurai on Thurs night and stayed at Sri Temple Hotel, right by the main temple area (mid range place). Nothing special as a hotel - just a place to lay my head, but perfectly located for an early start next day to explore the Temple.

Had a pleasant late evening explore of the surrounding area. Quite easily to lose ones bearings thereabouts, but always enjoy late evening wanders - always a lot of working activity happening in the cooler evenings. And no-one ever expects to see westerners still wandering around late at night, so responses are always amused and friendly.

Friday - first thing round Sri Meenakshi. Fabulous architecture of course. Make what you will of the camels and the elephant. Some highly comical monkey moments (nicking the milk of an outaged local woman). No shorts allowed. Handy I was staying so close to the temple to nip back and change!

Quick stroll around and bite to eat at cheap local eatery and then hopped on bus at about 11.00 to Trichy. Buses easy to catch and leave every few minutes.

Got to Trichy about 2.30. Stayed at Mathura, simply because it was bang next to the bus station therefore optimal for swift arrival and departure. Again mid range and uninspiring, but was a purely location decision.

Eschewing buses I luxuriated in an autorickshaw to head up to the base of the Rock Temple. Found Rock Temple a touch of an anti-climax. Nice walk up, but not quite the great slog I had anticipated. The Rock Temple itself is not the most stunning of edifices. The view over the city is a good one, though I wouldn't say "view over Trichy" is an Indian panoramic classic.

Mote autorickshaw luxury up to Sri Rangan. This place I loved. Fabulous range and mix of views and architecture and felt very atmospheric. Actually preferred it to Madurai (monkey deficit aside). Great viewing spot over the whole place (will be eagerly pointed to you by locals, guides and all as you arrive). The whole place just felt interesting, more relaxed and in a pleasant setting. Had a lovely long explore.

By the end of this Temple fest I was fairly weary so just plopped back to my hotel and ate at the restaurant below the hotel (nothing too exciting).

Up Sat morning to catch 8.30 bus to Pondy. Again the bus station was simple to navigate - no vaguely comprehensible signs of course, but there are many helpful conductors and such like milling around happy to point you min the right direction. The 5 hour bus journey took closer to 6 as the bus driver decided to celebrate Independance Day by taking particularly long driving breaks.

At this point I decided stuff it. I work hard. I'm 34. I've earnt the right to a swankier hotel now and again. So I stayed at the Annamalai, which is out of the old French colonial area, but does have a pleasant rooftop pool.

Rest of the day doing some general pottering and exploring of Pondy. In the evening, various celebrations around the Gandhi statue, including various local musical performances which were enjoyable.

Overall found Pondy a pleasant, leafy and peaceful place (at least in the small colonial area) but ultimately a bit limited after a few hours pottering. Once you've enjoyed nice leafy colonial streets, there isn't much of a plan B to revert to (other than strolling the promenade, but that's more of a variation on Plan A).

Had a bloody marvellous night's sleep. And a very refreshing swim next day. Felt very smug about my pay more for a hotel decision.

About noon I hopped into a cab to Mamallapuram (a cab! the extravagance!). Again decided on a nice hotel spot with pool so stayed at Sea Breeze. Again that bit pricier, but really pleasant stay with excellent pool (I do enjoy a relaxing weekend break swim to unwind). Sunday afternoon I went exploring all the various local sites.

Must say I absolutely loved Mamallapuram. For the relaxing weekend traveller, it's just perfect in its easy simplicity. Every is in simple walking range and nearly all the various ruins, temples etc are located within a sort of open plan park with plenty of sloping stones, boulders and inclines to scrabble and leap around.

Sunday late afternoon is generally not the best time to be seeing the sights there though - all the weekend / day trips from Chennai and around are rapidly trying to squeeze in the Mamallapuram sights. Five raithas was as packed as Alton Towers as school trips clambered about. I leisurely waioted for the herds to pass and in late, late afternoon (5 raithas and Shore Temple close at 6) the crowds thin out as the tour parties disperse. Shore Temple, also in very short stroll range, was another pleasant though not show stopping sight (perhaps mild temple fatigue was kicking in by them).

Monday morning. It rained. A lot. Read a book.

Monday afternoon, back into the open park area and went back up to my favourite spot of the previous day, atop the highest of the stone hillsides by one of the Mandapam's and opposite the lighthouse. Great view out over the whole area from here, watching slightly uncertain goats pottering bambi like around the rocks and becoming close friends with the local monkey population. Spent an inordinate time here just taking the view in.

Evening just chilling out. having some fresh king prawns by the beach and another relaxing swim.

Awoke at 4 this morning to get a cab back to Chennai airport and catch my flight home. Cab takes just over an hour from Mamallapuram to airport. Driver was insane though.

Apologies if no searing new insights above. But it was the perfect paced weekend to relax I wanted - hectic first cultural day or so, followed by relaxation and slower pace.

Thoroughly recommended as a break from Delhi life!

snonymous

Interesting write up Cachaca. You did manage to fit in all those places quite well in your limited time slot!