The Rains Have Come...by Patricia Loomis

The rains have come. The ones everyone's been talking about but we've been lucky
enough to have missed, up until today. We've arrived in Pondicherry (a little
ahead of schedule), this is after about 21 hours of travel, including the
journey from Ernakulum to Madurai on an overnight bus where we arrived at 5am or
so, tired but with a new attitude toward our welcoming committee. Now, we very
graciously thank everyone who offers something to us--most often a rickshaw--
"Oh, THANK YOU, thank you ever so much. We really appreciate the offer but we'll
walk. But really, thank you. You're very kind." It's amazing how it both turns
us around and catches people off guard (for better or worse).

We stopped in Madurai, specifically to see a temple (see, we CAN see the sights
and be good tourists! and you all thought we were just sitting around drinking
coffee, chai, and chatting...) We took a bicycle rickshaw from the temple to
breakfast, a train from Madurai to Villapuram (in unreserved chair class,
crowded but very cheap! it took only two hours longer than we were told it
would). As we arrived at the train station, we--unfortunately--had to burrow
into the very bottom of our packs to find our rain gear. (Tonja, we've been
trying so hard to channel your organization skills and efficiency over the last
few days, often stopping to ask, "What would Tonja do in this situation?" "Why
does this take us so long? If Tonja were here, she'd be showered, packed up, and
halfway to the bus station by now." It's just that before now, it's been nothing
but sunny and hot so my poncho migrated from the easy access part of my bag to
the least accessible part.) The scene we created looking for the raingear was
priceless. In short order, between fifteen and twenty children (and some adults)
were gathered around us, watching as we pulled stuff out, digging through our
things. They were just hanging out on the platform, so we provided some
wonderful entertainment. I have a picture of all of them, watching us in awe.
Not really an "experienced traveller" moment, but we moved on...

This was followed by a local bus to Pondicherry, you know, the kind where the
driver slows down so people can jump off (I got on while it was moving, with my
backpack, poncho and all!)... and finally an auto rickshaw to the hotel. We've
experienced lots of modes of transportation over the last day or so. And it was
just yesterday that we were on a ferry between Ernakulum and Fort Kochi and
earlier today we were wishing we could see the top of the temple from a
helicopter.

So it's pouring outside, I have a nasty cold, and you'll likely hear more from
Julio about how we caved in: a shameless dinner we just had. The beautiful thing
is we have a room with a view of the bay (of Bengal, to be exact), about six
minutes of hot water, (for the equivalent of about $10/night) and several days
in this town so there's no real reason to get up early tomorrow morning.

And we're in India experiencing the tail of the monsoon season. Not at all bad.

"Into the Woods to Find the Giant..."
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