Godly Museum on Chamundi Hill
In the morning, Tricia and I took Shobhana to Chamundi Hill. We also took the opportunity to visit the Godly Museum there, which the guide had skipped. This museum advocated a particular kind of Hindu vision that was quite interesting.
The Tightrope Walker
On our way to the train, we happened to drive by some street performers and stopped to admire their act. The star was a little girl who walked on a tightrope. Her mother and brother provided musical accompaniment. The girl was amazing!!! Here are two videos of her performance. Note how she casually chewed gum the whole time.
The Train Ride
Once at the train station, we hired two porters for 300 Rupees (less than $7) to carry our bulging suitcases from the curb to the train. This meant walking a fair distance, and navigating two long staircases. The guys were amazing! They just loaded the suitcases onto their heads and headed off.
I was intrigued to experience an Indian train, since I love European trains and have spent so much time on them. Our train was India’s top of the line. It was quite pleasant inside – not as new as the equivalent European train would be, but quite comfortable. Where it excelled was in the meals! We kept being served food every couple of hours, more like business class on an airplane than anything else.
The main downside of the train was that it moved veeeeery slowly. It took over 7 hours to go from Mysore to Chennai, and once we were underway I understood why! It was the anti-Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train).
We arrived in Chennai at about 10 p.m. and drove straight to Shobhana’s mom’s house.