Day 47: Madurai

Today was spent mainly traveling. We had to make the long day bus ride from Mamallapuram to Madurai. On our way, we stopped off at a large salt mind. When I think of a salt mine, I think of an actual mine, a huge crater in the ground; however, I couldn't actually picture large concentrations of salt just sitting underground. The salt mine was actually spread out amongst a vast field of shallow water.

After the salt mine, we stopped of at Pondicherry. Pondicherry is a former French territory in India, so if you speak French and are Indian, you are assumed to be from Pondicherry. There is not many exciting things to see or do in Pondicherry. The city has a strong French influence and is one the coast. We stopped in to a French bakery and had lunch, which was much different from the mainly curry based Indian food I have been eating for the past month. We then visited this fortune teller on the side of the road who used either a gerbil or a parrot to tell your future. I was pretty impressed at how the animals picked the cards out of the deck; I would like to see how he trained them. After exploring the French Quarters, we continued the long haul to Madurai.

We arrived in Madurai welcomed with the nights sky and light rain. We didn't do much exploring that night, so we enjoyed the bar and restaurant at the hotel. There is an amazing temple in Madurai that is unlike anything I've seen and I can't wait to see it tomorrow.