before i start with that. i just wrote this really long entry and the stupid computer shut down and i lost everything i wrote and it was the computer guys fault and he wants me to pay for it. i don't think so ugh.....
so, for the first time in 10 days i feel totally normal and we had such a fun and exciting day. we left pondicherry last night on the overnight train to madurai. we didn't have a room booked because we were told we wouldn't be able to find one because of this huge festival... so we were ready to leave our bags somewhere for the day and wander.. but no this was not the case, we got off the train at 6am and the first hotel we went to had a room for us. thank god... we rested for a couple of hours, had some food and took off for a full and fun day of adventure.
last night at the train station, some indian men told us of a huge bull fight festival taking place in a village near madurai. so, we decided to go. we hopped on the very very crowded bus and arrived in the very very crowded (with men only) village and wandered to find the arena. we (the foreigners) got to sit in the box covered seats (best view point too) to watch the very decorated bulls let loose for the young men to try to hold on to. the festival is a fertility thing, the strongest man wins. if they can catch the bull and hold on, they win a tee shirt, gold coin and a radio... it was so thrilling. there were over 100,000 people there and i was so energized by the whole thing. it was cool. if someone got injured, they first of course received their prize and then were carried off by many men to the medical area, which we did not see..
we left to go back to the bus, which entailed walking through huge crowds of men. my favorite sight was the man sitting on the dirt ground getting a tattoo.... omg... can you imagine??? it was soooo dirty. i even tried some sugar cane for the first time. it was ok...
we made our way back to the bus and had to totally push our way on to the bus that definitely had more than 100 people on it... it was so crowded.
we got back to madurai to rest and eat and then do what we came here for. to see the most amazing amazing amazing temple ever. there are several temples in this complex, and each has intricately carved and painted statues. we walked through the corridors and it was so beautiful and breath taking. the energy was so high because of this festival and there were so many people...the temple complex has over 33 million statues. can you believe that???
we wandered around there for a long time and took it all in, there is a nice market area and small streets with vendors all over the place. we took a bicycle rickshaw back which is so pleasant...
so now i am going to the hotel room to shower and get ready for our overnight train to trivandrum...madurai was a stop over we did it american style, super fast. i could stay for days and days though. it's very cool... and the bull fight was soooooooooo cool. photos will be coming soon.
i am so glad i feel normal again. i feel like a person who has energy and can start enjoying this journey...yah...i hate trying to replicate my last entry, it was so much better, but that is how it is..oh well