After been on the road for a couple of weeks with an out-of-town visitor, probably time for a couple of catch-up posts…

Tranquebar

One of the first stops on this trip through Eastern Tamil Nadu was Tranquebar (or Tharangambadi as it is known locally). A former territory of Denmark’s, Tranquebar took a bad hit from the tsunami of 2004 with hundreds of casualties.

While much recovered, there are still occasional of the hardship that was here. The old fort and much of the old city has survived though.

Traquebar Doorway

Traquebar Fort

Traquebar Fort

Traquebar Fort

Just up the road then from Tranquebar is the Pichavaram Mangrove Forest. It was shockingly hot the day we there mind – it was good to get into shade in the swamp – our boatman needless to say hardly broke a sweat…

Thanjavur

Enroute to Madurai, we paid a visit to Thanjavur – home to the thousand year old great temple – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yep, it’s impressive…

Madurai

And finally, after a few weeks on the road, back to Madurai – just in time for the full moon…

We also took the a chance to hike up one of the small hills around the city. It probably takes a special kind of madness to go climbing with temps in the high 30s, but the view was worth it.

The hill as it happens overlooks the temple at – a fairly important Hindu temple to the deity Murugan and had at its top an Islamic Dargah (Grave shrine) of an Islamic saint.

Next stop Kodaikanal – got to get out of this heat…