Day 8: Fri 17 Nov 17: Thanjavur to Kanadukathan, 105 km - Total so far: 464 km

26 to 34 deg, fine and mainly sunny during the day with a nice blue sky to finish. Warm while in the sun but pleasant while moving.

Brekky at 7am was one of the best we’d had so far, traditional Indian with great coffee.

Got underway about 8:15am, but it wasn’t long to our first stop, a few ks, and it was my “fault”; a puncture. It wasn’t intentional, honestly! We were soon underway, but again a few ks later had to pullover again. This one was Baz, (who had picked up a dose of Delhi belly overnight) he wasn’t up to riding today. Took awhile to summon the wagon, which must have been on another mission, and pick him up.

The ride today was about an equal mix of smooth and rough roads, but everything was interesting. We rode through some very dry and rugged countryside and lots of rich agricultural zones. Less rice paddies today, more sugar, maize, cassava, chick peas and forestry.

The Chettinad region is well known for its 19th-century mansions, whose wide courtyards and spacious rooms are embellished with marble and teak. Construction materials, decorative items and furnishings were mostly imported from East Asian countries and Europe. The marble was brought from Italy, chandeliers and teak from Burma, crockery from Indonesia, crystals from Europe and wall-to-wall mirrors from Belgium.

Many of these mansions were built using a type of limestone known as karai. Local legend has it that the mansion walls were polished with a paste made out of eggwhites to give them a smooth texture.
Originally built by early Tamil dynasties like the Cholas, the temples of Chettinad stand testimony to the spiritual beliefs of local people. Temples are built per Vaastu Shastras and Agamas as the Chettinad wealthy sponsored the buildings and the shilpis after the royal families declined. Traditional houses were also built per ancient text on architecture called Vaastu Shastras.

Each temple has its own tank called oorani where water lilies are grown and used for holy rituals. Even today, much of Chettinad's daily activities are centered around the festivities of the temple. Apparently after the Brits pulled out a lot of the affluent from this region up and went to places like the USA. I’m told a lot kept their mansions here and only return for weddings and the like. But a lot of mansions have sadly fallen in disrepair. Some are so beautiful they should be World Heritage.

If our in-house dinner tonight is any indication the Chettanadu food is superb; such depth of flavours, the chicken curry was particularly nice. We finished with a beetroot / cashew / cardamon dessert, very special.

Another great day in India.

First puncture

Drying maize, on the highway of course

Eucalyptus forest

Morning tea stop


Lovely red soil

Lots of goats

Greeg tunnel



Lunch

Finished lunch


Great road in the middle of nowhere

Our pad for the night

My room


Some of the 100s of abandoned mansions






Cute kid

Dinner





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