Today was the last day of the tour. After breakfast we set off on the bus for a whizz around Trivandrum (which now goes by another very long and complicated Indian name that I cant spell). First stop was the Puthe Maliga Palace (Palace of Horses because of the 122 horses carved into the brackets of the walls), a beautiful, old wooden building that is now a museum. It was the palace of the Maharaja of Travencore. We walked around the magnificent rooms that are full of beautiful antiquities including stunning carved ivory, an even more stunning carved ivory throne and a crystal throne which was also beautiful…and much much more but what people are most likely to remember is the heat/ humidity…we were all bathed in a pool of sweat so much so that people were feeling quite sick.
Anyway it was really interesting and very gorgeous. Next to it is a magnificent Tamil / Hindi temple, The Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple intricately carved in white stone and the richest Hindu Temple in the world. Only Hindi people are allowed inside but the outside is a joy to behold.
The third ‘sight’ was the Napier Museum. Again in a most beautiful wooden building with a superbly carved roof. And again with amazing objects of finely carved ivory, intricate, bronze statues and carved marble and stone statues. That was good but again there was an awful lot of sweat involved.
We then went to two places for people to shop but I didn’t find anything I liked. Linda (my friend) got a severe case of the trots and had to find toilets in a very big hurry a number of times!!
We then came back here to the hotel. Sally went to bed for the afternoon again so I went down to the pool…the rest of the group were packing to get on their planes tonight, so it was just me indulging myself in multiple dips and a pina colada to boot. Sally is still in bed so I’m down in the lobby writing this. We’re all going out for a final dinner tonight. Then most of the group head off to the airport (I wish I was with them) and a few of us come back here to spend a few extra nights.
More later…Back from dinner now having farewelled the group heading off to the airport. Its a strange feeling after 30 days with the same people, it is weird when suddenly they’re not there…I have to say I didn’t love everyone but it was an incredibly harmonious group without frictions overall. Fortunately for me Linda is also staying on for 3 days so all is not lost!! Aji has also gone and we are now definitely unhinged from the mass. When we got back here Linda and I went for a wander (Sally went to bed…at 8pm!), browsing some shops and sitting by the pool having a drink before we came up to our rooms.
More tomorrow. Only 3 more sleeps in India + 1 on the plane…so looking forward to getting home now. XXXXXXXXXXXX