Road to Trichy 14th

Another day up bright and early. The trip was an interesting event as the road from Thankuvar to Thrichy was under regular summer construction. Most of the road between Thankuvar and Trichy is being replaced. There are sections of the road that are in great shape and both sides (old and new)are used going both ways. An interesting thing to watch and we are very thankful that we are not driving. Perumal (our driver) is quite adept at last minute maneuvers.
We went to three temples today: Thiruvanaikkoil, Sri Rangam and the Rock Fort. They are all different from each other in different ways. One was its size – 45 acres with 5 out walls, the other has a very tall tower, and the third was on top of a huge boulder overlooking Trichy.

In all there was an elephant, of which we could look at and no longer needed to be blessed, there was the temple pool that the locals used to cleanse their souls and sometimes wash their clothes. In the Thiruvanaikkoil temple, the people were there for the day/week/month/etc and it looked like many had lived there for some there. There were families putting out blankets for family members, groups having political meetings and other stuff that we were not privy to.
We also stopped at the local swimming area on the banks of the Cauvry just outside Trichy, that many travel to wash themselves in the
We then had some time at the local market (Chinna Kadai St) and it was something else. Jack mentioned the one in Thankuvar and this was just as good. The nice thing is that at the local markets, we were not constantly harassed and could take our time and look at things. Jack finally found his elephant!