A Passionate View on All Things Bali

Last month after counting my last nut and bolt, and tallying my final profit and loss, I finally found the courage to quit my job.

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

My whole life has been about planning and calculating and weighing out pros and cons. I was getting a little tired of what I’d become – a staid, tight fisted pencil-pusher.
Inspired by Ian Wright’s backpacking exploits on the travel channel, I impulsively booked a flight on AirAsia to Tiruchirapalli. There was no particular reason for choosing that destination, to be honest. It just sounded unfamiliar and difficult to spell. I didn’t even book a return flight. I thought I’d just keep moving until the money runs out. My parents thought I was blinking mad but I told them a travel guide I once read said as long as I always carried a towel with me I’d be fine.

Much to their dismay and incredulity, I set off for South India.

I couldn’t believe it myself until I buckled up for take-off when I realised there was no chickening out. In spite of barely sleeping the night before I couldn’t catch any shut eye during the flight. I was OD-ing with adrenaline and alternating between feelings of trepidation and eager anticipation.

In my attempt to disperse the nervousness I befriended the passenger seated beside me.

Johnny’s has been wandering around Southeast Asia for roughly a year now. Suffering from backpacker’s fatigue he’s hoping India will serve up a few shocks to his jaded senses.
Turns out that we were both headed for the same hotel in Trichy which was brilliant because that meant we could split the cab fare into town.

Trichy, I am told gives an authentic experience of Tamil Nadu. Dusty and relatively underdeveloped, bullock carts, TATA compacts, bicycles, and rickshaws honk and swerve their way amid the haphazard traffic. This time of the year, the breeze can be quite pleasant except for when the occasional wafts of dung emerge to remind you of the large population of goats and cows in this town.

Trichy’s star attraction is the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple – no shoes allowed and cameras can accompany their owners for Rs 50. If my (rather dubious) Rs400 guide got his facts right, five different dynasties including the great Cholas who extended their empire through to Southeast Asia, had a hand in shaping Sri Rangan. Spread out over 256 hectares with 21 towers and seven complexes, this is a sprawling monument to Vishnu the protector. Only certified Hindus are allowed into the centre of the temple where Vishnu lies sleeping on his side but there is plenty to admire around the outer walls where Brahmin priests sit in shrines to offer blessings.

The most amusing part of the tour was the most adorable elephant. Obviously well trained, you place a donation of a few rupees on its trunk and Iittle Dumbo will “bless” you with a swift tap on your head.

A footnote on Hinduism is probably worthwhile at this point and I must confess my ignorance of the religion prior this visit. I still don’t comprehend it completely but it goes something like this:
There a numerous deities in Hinduism but they are merely manifestations of Brahman, the source of everything in the universe. A bit like the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end; everything comes from Brahman and will return to Brahman. So Brahman is typically represented by Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer.
Vishnu himself has 10 incarnations, as I learned on the tour of the Sri Rangan.

The 1st being in the form of a fish; the 2nd a tortoise; the 3rd a hog; the 4th a lion; the fifth a young boy called Varmana; the 6th he is Parasurama and wields an axe; the 7th he is Rama the blue-hued prince in the Ramayana epic; the 8th he is Balarama; the 9th as Krishna an amorous one with 60,000 lovers ; and the 10th of which Hindus await his manifestation, he is Kalki, by which time the world would have been faced with its apocalypse.
It’s only been my first day and I’m loving India already.

Find out how to win goodies from Maryann's adventure right here via AirAsia's "What's Your India" contest :) and more pics from Trichy at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=198490&id=18801397386 or http://www.flickr.com/photos/airasia/sets/72157623376827608/. Stay tuned for more adventure pics from India coming soon!Read more »