Temples and Shopping!

After breakfast we headed out to see the Ancient Sacred City of Kanchipuram it is one of the 7 sacred cities of India. It has over 125 shrines and temples. The Hindus worship at either Vishnu temples or Shiva Temples and they are different. In this city they are enormous and very old and still in use.

The ride through the country side to the city is unbelievable. India is a country made up on hundred of thousands of villages and some major cities. As you drive through the villages you are transported back 1000 years at least. The people live a very primitive life style. The primary transportation is walking, bicycles, motor bikes. In addition, oxen carts are everywhere, being used to transport goods.

During the ride our guide spent a lot of time trying to give us an overview of the Ramayana. This is an ancient Indian legend that goes on for thousands of pages. Apparently all Indians would have some understanding of it. Presented as a legend it explains the gods, their reincarnations, their loves and their travails. Out of this legend the Indian Culture is borne. It teaches lessons of faithfulness, truthfulness, etc. We know she only skimmed the very surface of this unbelievably complicated story, but even at the level she explained it, it made our appreciation of the temples more vivid.

No matter how poor the women are dressed elegantly in Saris or Salwer-Kameez a kind of pants suit. They are extremely colorful. The men are often seen in white clothing always clean. It is amazing.

The traffic is like a Disneyland “E” ride. I know understand that the honking serves a real purpose. They use the horn and lights to signal there constant passing of trucks and bullock carts and other vehicles. It is a very intricate dance. The main highways are only 2 lanes wide and there is constant congestion. In addition at one place the highway was completely covered with rice that had recently been harvested. The country people use the weight of the cars driving over their rice to husk it.

We had never seen wild monkey’s before, and large ones were climbing up the temple sides. You can’t wear shoes in the temples and we originally walked in sox. That became impractical as there was a brief but intense rain storm and we were barefoot from that point on. Unlike the very clean Buddhist temples we have been to in Japan, here you have to walk thru water and dirt to get to the temple.

We went to a lunch that had been prepared for us. Most Indians don’t eat with forks and knifes but with the fingers of their right hand. We had a large lunch with many different vegetables, rice and chicken. The food here is served on a fresh banana leaf. Cliff dove right in and ate the whole meal with his hands. Kind of a reversion to child hood.


We had our first Indian shopping opportunity and will soon be seen in appropriate wear. Dinner at the hotel tonight with the group and check out in the morning for our next adventure.

We returned to the hotel and had wine by the pool. It is amazing to be staying at a luxury resort complete with fast internet Wi-Fi access everywhere, and to be able to drive just 15 minutes and observe thousands of people with no electricity, no running water and farming like their ancestors did thousands of years ago.