Treasures of Tamil Nadu - Road Trip Oct 2022

Two families, two set of twins, two cars, set out to explore - Tamil Nadu this time. Why? Dhanushkodi was on our wishlist for long. With the solo bike ride to Leh Ladakh, Tejas had ticked off one of the long pending item from his wishlist. Why not tick off the other too! Get - set - go.. 

Family 1: Dr. Shruti Jayasurya , Abhinav Raj; Kids: Srishti and Smriti (5 yrs)

Family 2: Prachi, Tejas; Kids: Vibha and Viaan (7 yrs)

What was our travel agenda? To explore things that give an identity to the location which includes food, people, culture, landscapes, flora, fauna, weather and so on. Tamil Nadu being the Temple State of India, we did visit a few of them. Most of these temples have interesting history, geography, architecture, sociology  elements which one can study irrespective of whether one s a believer or not.

Journaling my thoughts here about the travel, the happy, the not so happy experiences.

The Rotue: While the destination calling us was Dhanuskodi, we decided to slow it down and stretch it further south to turn it into a week long road trip. Srirangam - Thanjavur - Karaikodi - Rameshwaram - Kanyakumari - Madurai - back home 

Total travel days: 7

Planning Stage: A week before the travel, kids were involved in the planning, to find out the distance involved where to stop, what to see, where to stay. A little bit research on the places we were visiting, what food to explore etc. This was a part of our unschooling project- Trip Planning and packing.

Day 1: We set off  fairly early, as the drive till Karaikodi was a long one. Tamil Nadu, being the 'Land of Temples', we decided to visit the prominent temples en route. 

• Our first stop was Srirangam. Beautiful and huge temple dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu. The long queue and the system of special entry for a price exists here. We entered the normal line, as 'bribery' didn't sound right. Well, not a very wise decision practically as we ended up losing a lot of time here. If you have kids/ senior citizens with you or are short on time it is better to go for the special paid queue
• We then stopped at the Thanjavur Brihadeeshwara temple dedicated to Hindu God Shiva. Beautiful, clean, serene temple. Inspite of huge footfall, it was peaceful. With the lights, cool breeze, live bhajans and moon in the background, it was a divine experience. We also shopped for the Thanjavur dolls here which are made out of fiber/ paper mache which are durable, low cost, pretty and low maintenance at the same time.
  
  
  

  
• We then reached our host family home at Karaikodi- Mrs Jeyalakshmi. Jeyalakshmi is a Snugbub mom and had got in touch when she started her babywearing journey. 4 years later, we connect as unschooling moms, and voila we have a plan! She welcomed us home with a wide smile, even at odd hours. Passionate about her roots- the Chettinad region, we spent hours knowing about the little-big things about its culture and more.

• A special mention of the 'Kanji' which one can find literally at each corner in Tamil Nadu! This fermented drink is made out of rice/ millets etc and can be eaten with pickles/ papad on the side. It is filling and can easily be had as breakfast.
  

Day 2: Exploring Karaikodi, reach Rameshwaram

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  Karaikodi exploration with Jeyalakshmi was truly a 'back to roots' experience! Relishing the local food, appreciating, how effortless people there can run hotels that are zero waste and sustainable! Visited a few palaces (don't go by the name, each house of the locals there is referred to as 'Palace' for its grandeur and majestic structure) and the first question that came to my mind 'Gosh how did they maintain these'. We then went to the local 'Athangudi' tiles factory. On request, the workers there gave us a demo on how the colorful tiles are made with hand. Kids also got an opportunity to make one themselves! The hands on experience was cherry on the cake.
  
  
  
  
  
  We also got to visit a handloom factory where cotton sarees are weaved - shopping was just a complimentary action! 

• We then head over to Rameshwaram enjoying the buttery smooth roads (unusual however, that's how highways are supposed to be!). The land and rail bridges that connect the island with the mainland are worth experiencing. Hundreds of ships lined up in the calm ocean, a delightful sight in itself from an ariel view. 

Day 3: Dhanushkodi, Rameshwaram

• Early morning start and we drove straight to the 'Ghost town' Dhanushkodi spotting some peacocks on the way- . That part of India which is closest to Sri Lanka. Observe both the sides of the road, one side is Bay of Bengal, chilled out, peaceful. The other side is the Indian Ocean, playful and wild (and something here felt very relatable with the little humans in the car :P) Spent the morning at the beach, playing around, building castles, doing some yoga and sunbath.
  

  
  

• Pool time- no looking at the watch here. Swam till we dropped- rather swam till we got nicely 'sun roasted'
• Evening at the Rameshwaram temple: The temple is dedicated to Hindu God Shiva. The temple was not too crowded. We did not opt for a special ticket (good decision). Enjoyed an early dinner at Gujrati Bhawan. Simple and delicious Gujarati food at very reasonable rates - the washroom need some serious attention and cleaning though.

Day 4: Rameshwaram to Kanyakumari

• This day was not about the destination, but the journey. Our first stop was at the salt pans. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Kilometers of salt pans on both sides of the road, makes one wonder if we are in snow (open the windows of the AC car for a reality check :P). We spotted a few workers and stopped at the salt pan. After some touch and feel, some hands on help, we sat down to understand more about the salt pans and their working. Apparently the ground water itself is so salty that it is sufficient to produce tonnes of salt each month. A typical cycle to get salt is 25 days. We got to know that chemicals are used to make the texture of salt powdery and should be avoided. We instantly picked up a few packs of salt!
• Our next stop was Theri Kadu the hidden gem. Acres and acres of red-black sand dunes, its a pity to see it being utterly littered. The adventurous souls managed to get our 2*2s on one of the sand dunes! After rolling, running and walking in the sand, everyone started feeling hungry. Tejas and the butane stove to the rescue, we managed to cook some maggi for all. Under the moonlight, on the banana leaves, maggi in the cold breezy evening with music, was anytime worth than hunting and having food at a restaurant!
  
  
  
• After watching thousands of windmills swoosh by we reached Kanyakumari!

Day 5: Kanyakumari

• The Vivekananda Rock Memorial: After the hours of standing in queue (even at special rates of Rs 200 pp- cash only), getting into the overcrowded ferry which took hardly 10 minutes to take us to the other side this experience seemed overrated! Yes it is a good place, yes it is the southernmost tip of India, yes it is a historically important place, yes the Vivekananda rock memorial is good- all this would be better appreciated with better management for sure.
• Pool time again! To drown the morning frustration, haha.
• Vivekananda Kendra: Clean campus, polite staff, multiple exhibits, book stores this place is worth visiting. We visited the Ramayana Darshan museum and the Bharat Mata temple. Both are wonderfully designed and maintained.
  
  
  

Day 6 & 7: Madurai

• Started off the day at the beach, watching the run rise, collecting shells and playing with the beach dogs and off to Madurai. On the way we took a quick stop at the Chandra Halwa shop at Thirunelveli. This was the one place, where we had sooo many things to do, but not enough time (thanks to Krishna Priya Praveen and Jeyalakshmi). Managed to shop for the Madurai special Sourashtrian Sungudi sarees in record time, 10 sarees in 15 minutes at Ranee Sarees! These sarees are pure cotton, beautiful and reasonably priced. 
  
  
  
• The evening was the much awaited unschoolers meet up organised by Jeyalakshmi at the Thalir learning center. Sharing thoughts, meeting like minded people, kids meeting more kids is always something we enjoy doing. 
  
  
  
• Madurai stay highlight was also the food trip we were on. From Jigarthanda, idiappams, Paal paniarams, kolkattai, elneeru halwa we relished the local delicacies!
• The Madurai Meenakshi Temple: Again a classic example of a lovely place which can be 100 times better managed for a smoother experience for all! If you plan to visit 'The Courtyard of Meenakshi', just dress up in traditional full length clothes, carry some cash in your pocket a water bottle and get into the queue. Inspite of having a special ticket at 6.30 in morning (decided to go for it looking at the queue), we were stationery for more than 30 minutes, not knowing when we would progress. Feeling for the littles with us, we simply backed out from the queue. The temple no doubt is beautiful beyond words, can really spiritually touch ones soul if managed better.
• And thus we started off our journey back to Bangalore, with lot of learnings, memories, questions to ponder upon. With a thought- Where Next? :)

Some Challenges We faced and navigated:

• Kid one down with cough
• One day later kid 2 down with viral
• All kids wanting to be in same car ;)
• Some being okay with photos, some detesting them!
• Rising early after a long day
• Managing washroom breaks on the go and at odd place!

But as we have experienced and observed, a little bit of pre planning, getting kids involved in the planning, traveling often, helps everyone evolve to the situations and find solutions. Easy availability of child friendly and homely food, also was a big advantage.

How the kids amazingly steered through these rough patches and yet managed to live the journey joyfully was an experience beyond words.

Some questions to ponder upon: If you have any answers/ thoughts, I would be happy to have an open discussion :)

• Vedas do not discriminate based on caste, races etc, then why some temples specify entry to Hindus only?
• How does one identify Hindu? Because Hindu word was used to refer the people staying at the Indus valley which is now loosely used.
• Some temples allow Dhoti but not Lungi. Why so? 
• Prasad is what one gets as a blessing from the temple. Why does one need to pay for that? (Yes its fair to ask for a price if one needs more than what's offered). And if temple needs fund for its maintenance, a uniform ticket is a better idea clearly stating why is it being asked.
• Elephants in the temple bless people only when they are offered money. Why so?
• If God is for all and does not discriminate, isn't this system of buying special temple tickets clear cut discrimination? Why not have special queues for disabled/ pregnant women and women with children instead?
• When the policies and Government are stressing on e-money, why do these places which are visited by thousands daily, not offering e-payment option? And why are not they being questioned?
• If Tamil Nadu can have roads which are actually roads, why other states are struggling with this important infrastructure element and present us only potholes and speed bumps?

Something to conclude: Travel, travel with like minded people, meet people as you travel, synergize- cos that's when you multiply experiences, joys and solutions!