Tamil Nadu, India: Chdambaram and Thanjavur

We left Pondicherry bright and early in the morning and headed to Chidambaram to see a temple dedicated to Nataraja.

This was the most crowded place we went on the trip. It was overwhelming for some of us, but I really liked it. It was the most I felt like I could understand the meaning of the places we were visiting. When we went to the central part of the temple, I could barely move and it was tough to stay together. It was loud and there were lots of incense burning. The sun was bright and I was also trying to get a peek at the main statue hidden away behind columns and working monks. It was a sensory experience to be sure, and I absolutely loved it. I really wish we could have stuck around. It was so interesting to watch all the people in there.

After the very hectic visit to the temple, we drove to Thanjavur.

That evening we visited the palace in Thanjavur. It was really nice. The exhibits were sub-par, but the architecture was gorgeous, if a bit run down.

The court room was the most magnificent. The detail of the painting brought out the architectural detail and was absolutely stunning.

We were there just before sunset, which made everything look more romantic. The place was also closing soon, so there weren't that many people there. 

At the palace, as we were walking around, a group of young girls came up to me and in very good English asked me where I was from and my name. I told them and asked them their names. They were so sweet. They were clearly so excited to meet me because I am foreign. They ran away and a few minutes later they came back running with a couple more friends trailing behind. The oldest girl asked me "shall we take a selfie" and it was the cutest way anyone has ever asked me to take a picture. Having lived in China for four months already, I am no stranger to this kind of thing, but it is memorable when people are really nice or funny about it. 

Then we drove to our resort, which was just outside of town. I finally managed to get a picture of the ox-driven carts that were absolutely everywhere. Even in big cities and town centers you could occasionally catch this method of transportation clogging up the narrow roads.

When we got there, we went to the patio, where we would eat dinner. It overlooks a river (mostly dried up, unfortunately), which also gave us a nice look at the sunset.

That night, we ate dinner and hung out a bit in the open-air common space. It was absolutely lovely. I honestly could have stayed at that resort forever.