On the next day we tried to get to Madurai. What a balls-up. Because i was feeling a little anal and self-conscious about my pre-planning (the others have done none!), I let aaron figure out how we were going to get there. We ended up travelling the entire day in a skit that would not have been out of place in some cringe worthy british sitcom.... I had wanted to take the night bus, but steph wanted to travel in the day. So under aarons direction we went..
Auto rickshaw to the train station - we had missed the only train to Madurai for the day
Auto rickshaw to the bus station - there was only one bus to Madurai and it was at night
Bus to Villipuram, and hour away
Auto rickshaw to Villipuram train station - we could not get on the train as we had not prebooked at least a day in advance
Auto rickshaw back to Villipuram bus station - we almost missed the bus as no one could tell us when it left or where it left from.
Luckily, we saw it pulling out and ran after it, managing to catch it. I swear they saw us earlier, but we just looked like such a funny sight that they kept driving...
Then the 8 hour bus trip stretched into 10 hours, and i think i ended up giving myself a bladder infection :)
It was a lesson to us all in patience, and an introduction (that would be continued the next day) into Mother India's fickle nature.
Very funny in hindsight!
What is also hilarious is the sight of us and our bags in the Auto rickshaws... These things are tiny, and have been our modes of transport ever since that first taxi. Aaron in 6ft, 4inches and you know how tall Steph (do you know? shes about an inch taller than me) and I are. When you add about 60kilo of bag, it is a wonder that these little things with their two stroke engines manage to move at all... We have developed a very complicated but well rehearsed system of packing ourselves in so that we all fit. Steph and aaron sit in the back with their two big rucksacks between their legs and then mine over their laps. You can just see their faces poking out over the top.
I then perch myself delicately next to the driver on his tiny seat, riding almost side saddle to avoid any unneccessarily familiar contact. :) Its hilarious, I have to get someone to take a photo next time so you can see it. :)
