LAST BLOG ENTRY - India Part 7 - Madurai, Thanjavur, Puducherry and Mamallapuram

Spectacular temple in Madurai

We travelled to Madurai to visit the astonishing Sri Meenakshi temple, which has an abundance of colourful, intricate carvings.  The temple was busy with pilgrims and as usual we met lots of excited Indian tourists.

Receiving a blessing

Next we travelled to Thanjavur to visit Brihadishwara temple, which was built in 1010 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.   It was so hot here we thought we might melt!

This huge bull (Nandi) is 6m long, 3 m high and weighs 25 tonnes

Magnificent carvings

Friendly pilgrims

Nic receiving a blessing

Our final Indian train journey

Our final destination in India was lovely laid-back Mamallapuram.  We spent our days hiding from the heat in our a/c room (it was 38 degrees outside), paddling in the ocean, hanging out in the restaurants (watching 20/20 cricket) and visiting the nearby temples.

Krishna's Butter Ball - immovable but apparently balancing precariously

Stunning Arjuna's Penance, which has carved scenes of Hindu myth

Joining the school trip

On Friday 28th September 2012, 3 years and 2 days after leaving the UK, we flew from Chennai airport to Manchester. It's impossible to put into words how wonderful the last 3 years have been.  We've visited 13 countries and have had the time of our lives.  We've experienced so many incredible things and met so many inspiring people.  We spent a third of the time travelling by bicycle, a third in a motor home and a third with a backpack.  We do not have a favourite country, as they are all so different, and we fell in love with every country that we visited and had a great time everywhere we went.  The biggest disaster that occurred was me coming off my bike and breaking my elbow but luckily the accident happened in Thailand where we had access to a good hospital. 

We're now enjoying being with our wonderful family and friends and slowly getting used to being settled for a while and living in a developed country again.  The streets look so clean here and the cars drive in a straight line!  It's great to be home but we miss the chaos, the brown smiling faces and feeling like a film star wherever we go!

We hope that you have enjoyed following our escapades on the blog and that you will follow us in the future, whenever and wherever we decide to go next!