United States of America!

I'm currently in the United States of America! Woohoo!!! I just can't believe that I am here...

Being the cheapest option, I took Air New Zealand, which to my great satiafaction, provided an excellent service! I had initially thought of flying with Qantas so that I could sit in the jumbo-jet Airbus A-380, but as a poor student, the price put me off. Nevertheless, I had a glimpse of it in Melbourne Airport...

"One day, I'm gonna make sure I'm in it - just for the experience!"

The journey to USA was relatively a long one - first, a 3h30m flight to Auckland, where I transited for 2 hours before boarding the next flight to San Francisco which took almost 12 hours. I have not taken a half-full flight for a long time and was glad that I could have a whole empty row to lie down and sleep...wasn't too comfortable though.

My first glimpse of the land of the USA from the sky

The plane touched down at San Francisco International Airport at around 1130 on 9th October (when it was already 0530 on 10th October in Melbourne)

Upon arrival, I was delayed at the Customs and Border Protection for almost an hour - was being asked lots of questions. Anyway, I had already anticipated that this would happen, probably because it was my first visit to the US and that I'm a Malaysian citizen. By the time I went to the carousel to collect my baggage, they were already placed on a trolley, ready for me to push through the customs and then exit, where I was greeted by Kenneth, a friend who I have not seen for almost 7 years.

Will be writing more about my US experience later - not too soon as my itinerary at the moment looks packed!

"Stop-over" in Melbourne

I have just arrived Melbourne after a long journey from KLIA – the plane was delayed for almost 2 hours due to technical problems + an hour transit in Jakarta, where I had to remain in the aircraft. I was surprised that I slept quite a bit during the flight...perhaps I was too tired due to lack of sleep for the past few days.

My stay in Malaysia was simply too short – I had a great time there. Nevertheless, it’s great to be home in Melbourne seeing Mummy and my brother and sister, who I have not seen for almost 8 weeks!

Will be here for only less than 48 hours before I resume my vacation...this time in the United States of America for 4 weeks – a country which I really really want to visit since I was a little boy many many years ago! Yes, I’m quite excited although I’m starting to feel a bit weary from my recent travel.

Well, gonna continue unpacking my luggage before repacking it...again.

A very relaxing time

Right now, I am in Starbucks Bukit Tinggi slurping my cup of Green Tea Frappuccino (which tastes just alright) and writing up my elective report - my final assignment of the year, the final task of my undergraduate course!

I initially planned to finish it up in India, but I had such a great time there that I couldn't be bothered sitting down and typing it up.

So far, I have a great time in Klang. I don't have any plans (e.g. travel), but to enjoy the very relaxing moments I have now, when there is nothing too stressful to think about. I love times like this!

Spending time with a few friends who I haven't seen for ages has been fantastic!

• Met up with Joanne for a dinner + Starbucks in Sunway Pyramid
• Met up with Andy & his family at his house for lunch and dinner
• Met up with a few ex-ACSians - Andy, Weng Phoon, Lui, Chin Yong, Chin Teik for a drink...I can't believe it has been more than 10 years since we knew each other in Form 1!

Thanks everyone for the good time - I hope there are more to come!

For some unknown reasons, I am in love with Starbucks - have been spending a bit of my time there 4 times in just 5 days! I wonder what potions it uses in its products that make me go back there almost everyday, hmmm...

Home!

I'm finally back in my dear old hometown after surviving India for the last 6 weeks. It is a great relief that I am now in a familiar place, where I feel comfortable and with family and friends, who I have not seen for ages! At this moment, I am home alone until Daddy gets back from Melbourne on Wednesday night.

Thanks to Venkates, an ex-schoolmate who I met in Chennai on my last day in India – he knows a person who works for MAS in Chennai and hence, my return economy-class ticket was upgraded to a business class – something totally unexpected! What a superb way to end my Indian trip...lots of good food in the air (which I eventually had to refuse); cosy seat with roomy leg space; great ambience; and even sitting beside a Malaysian diplomat in India!

With Venkates in Chennai

Thanks to Sue Kor and family too for coming to the airport so early in the morning to pick me up.

It’s Ah Mah’s birthday on the day I arrived and the family gathered that night at Ah Mah’s home for dinner – great way to catch up with uncles, aunties and cousins who I last saw almost 4 years ago. After 6 weeks of Indian cuisine, the authentic Chinese food was just simply scrumptious!

My mouth was just watering when I looked at this!

Happy Birthday Ah Mah!

Mahabalipuram

Dear Matt, Thukirtha and Louise,
I feel blessed that you all accompanied me to Dindigul to send me off – glad to have known you all. I believe we had a fantastic time in the pub in Parsons Court Hotel. Thank you so much – greatly appreciated!

I finally bade farewell to CFH, my ‘home’ for the last 5-6 weeks. A bit sad to leave, but looking forward to be back home! However, a trip to Mahabalipuram should not be missed.

After taking the overnight Kanyakumari-Chennai Egmore Express train and a 45-minute bumpy bus ride from Chengalpattu Bus Stand, I am now in Mahabalipuram (since yesterday morning), a small town about 60km south of Chennai. One of UNESCO world heritage sites, it is famous for its ancient rock carvings.

Once I had checked in at Siva’s Guest House (which is a great accommodation), my little adventure around the laid-back town began.

First a visit to the Shore Temple...

Then to the Five Rathas...

Along with many other beautifully carved stone sculptures scattered around the town...

As well as the Krishna’s Butterball...

Not to forget Mahabalipuram Beach...

Overall, a good trip although it was really hot and I was wearied from the constant hassles by the shopkeepers, trying to sell me tourist goods.

Will be leaving soon for Chennai to meet an ex-schoolmate before taking the flight HOME!

Final week!

This is it......final week of rotation 6; final week of my elective at CFH; final week of me here in India – before a proper ‘full-blast” 6-week holiday begins, which I am really looking forward to.

***
What a great way to start the week – Mondayitis!

I locked my key in the room this morning. For the 2nd time in 5 weeks, I had to ask someone to break the lock.

“What a nuisance!”

I was very tired after the weekend trip that I nearly dozed off during the ICU ward round.

“Who needs a lazy-bum like him here?!”

Perhaps I’ll be kicked out first, before I’m due to leave......

Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin)

There are so many famous places to travel in South India: Mumbai; Hampi; Goa; Allepey; Madurai etc. However, it isn’t called a South Indian trip until one visits Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin), a small town in the southernmost tip of the Indian sub-continent. There was where I spent my last weekend in India, with my fellow elective student friends – Matt, Anna, Thukirtha & Louise.

After buying a few medical books from Madurai Medical College (which were really cheap), we left for Kanyakumari in the evening. It was a very long journey – almost 7 hours! Travelling in a crowded old rickety government bus, I obviously felt very uncomfortable and became quite exhausted & grumpy during the ride. Nevertheless, I never regretted making the trip there – we all had an awesome time!......

From watching the sunrise early in the morning at about 0610...

To island-hopping, visiting the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and Thiruvalluvar Statue, the latter dubbed as India’s Statue of Liberty;



To enjoying the breath-taking view of the vast confluence of 3 great seas surrounding India: the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal & the Arabian Sea;

To swimming in a nearby beach, not too far away from a wind-farm with thousands of windmills;

To visiting the Gandhi Memorial (picture not shwon) and the Kumari Amman Temple - where guys have to be topless to enter the temple;

...And after a long tiring day, having fun in a pub.

Certainly, one of my best trips here! =D

Almost There...

Time flies! Last night, we bade farewell to Alex (my roommate from the UK) at Dindigul bus stand, after having a great time in a Dindigul pub.

I have been here, in India, for 5 weeks already and it feels like I had only arrived here yesterday. In 5 days time, I’ll bid my farewell to the wonderful doctors and nurses who I’m fortunate enough to have met; and in exactly a week from today, I’ll be leaving this incredible country.

This week has been terrific. I returned to the dermatology clinic on Monday morning and the experience gained was rewarding. In just under 4 hours, I’d already seen a wide range of diseases – more than what I’d encountered so far in my almost 5 years of MBBS course. Unlike Australia, the prevalence of skin malignancy over here is low – haven’t come across any yet. And I have finally met a patient with leprosy!

Attending surgeries has always been fascinating. Again, I got to scrub in, assisting the surgeons in a few surgeries – appendicectomy; amputation of 3rd right toe (under LA – patient was shrieking in pain – OUCH!) and removal of a lump in the head, which turned out to be an inclusion cyst.

Best of all, I finally managed to do some suturing – closing up the wounds using different techniques. But it wasn’t an easy task – partly due to the very large and blunt needles (as the hospital reuses them) but most probably because of my inexperience (as I haven’t done much) – it was so hard to pierce the patients’ skins. One of the doctors kept on correcting my techniques – I was afraid that he might get frustrated and I nearly gave up. But, he insisted me on finishing them and with his continuous support and encouragement, the wounds were closed beautifully; although the initially curved needles had now become straight...OOPS!

Gotta go now...will be leaving for Madurai and Cape Comorin for the weekend, this afternoon after lunch.

A weekend in the hospital

I was alone last weekend – well not quite...Anna was here too but she had her own plan. Alex, Matt, and the 2 Danish elective students (Thukirtha and Louise) had left for a houseboat trip in Kerala, which I had already enjoyed in my 1st weekend here. I could go somewhere, but I didn’t want to – preferred a rest from trips, all which had made me thousands of Rupees poorer each weekend.

Saturday (12/09/09)

If I were to undergo a surgery, say a hernia repair, please give me a full general anaesthesia. Not spinal anaesthesia – I can’t bear the thought of lying awake throughout the surgery, thinking which parts of my anatomy are being incised, burned, gripped, stitched etc by the surgeons. And definitely not local anaesthesia – it’ll be just too painful, although it shouldn’t hurt, well theoretically.

Poor old man who, for some reasons, had a left inguinal hernioplasty under local anaesthesia; being widely awake and aware of his surrounding; moaning and wincing from the agonising pain in his groin for at least 15 minutes before given a light sedation with benzo. And in under a minute, snoring sounds were heard...ah, the pleasure of being in dreamland, not bothered that he was under the hands of the surgeons.

So, I spent the day in the operating theatre with the surgeons. It was a long tiring day: the first incision of the day was made roughly at 8am and the last stitch was sewn at approximately 8pm...12 hours of surgery on a weekend; my back was killing me from the prolonged standing! But it was worth my effort....

• I got to observe a few different surgeries for the first time.

• I got to scrub in (right-hemicolectomy; laparotomy for suspected tuberculous abdomen, instead we found a huge faecolith out of his gut, multiple abscesses and a perforated appendix; trans-tarsal amputation of a diabetic foot, which was quite gross – the surgeon was just like a butcher!).

• I got splattered with a patient’s blood on my forearms – we weren’t fully gowned.

• I got my glove and right middle finger accidentally scraped by a surgeon – thank God the patient was viral negative!

Oh...what a day! But it was a great one!

Sunday (13/09/09)
Morning: My bag was packed. It was very hot outside. To go to Palani or not? Nay, best to stay indoors, in the computer room.

Evening: It rained – for the first time in CFH since I arrived 4 weeks ago! Love the pleasant cool change.

Night: Another power failure – room was dark & hot; my torch didn’t work. The weather was a little wild...flashing lightning which brightened up the whole room; roaring thunder; and more drenching rain. Electricity was back, but it was very feeble – light bulb was flickering; fan wasn’t rotating at its maximum speed...and soon it was gone again (No!!!), only to fully return about an hour later (Yes!!!). Ah, finally I could catch some good sleep......

Mix and Match

On days when I didn’t attend village clinics, I did various things – rocking up at different places around the hospital, as if I’m the owner. Highlights include...

• Gynae surgery: observed a few procedures including perforation of imperforate hymen

• Orthopaedic surgery: first time attended one, so everything was interesting and they were indeed quite brutal – poor little old lady’s leg was twisted at odd angles and yanked with sheer forces when the surgeons replaced her hip

• Dermatology clinic: was told that it’s the best to see leprosy cases; haven’t seen one yet – probably because I didn’t stay long enough – might attend again

• TB ward + clinic: as the name implied, saw lots of patients with TB, not newly diagnosed ones but follow-up to ensure they responded to the given medications – found out that patients had to pay a deposit of Rs400 – 500 to ensure they came back to the clinic and completed their course of antibiotics

• ICU: who dare to say it’s boring? – have seen many fascinating cases including a rare disease which I was told that I’d only encounter once in my life

Village Clinics

I was supposed to spend 3 days this week to attend the village clinics, but only managed to attend 2; missed the 3rd one due to some miscommunication. It didn’t bother me too much as it would be much similar to the others that I had attended earlier.

CFH runs various village clinics, which is basically a community outreach program. The concepts of these clinics are practically similar to general practice in rural areas: to provide primary care to the villagers who otherwise may have difficulties in accessing to healthcare services at CFH (due to various reasons like ill health and transportation problems) and at the same time to reduce the workload burden at the extremely busy hospital.

Thumichampatty – Monday (07/09/09)

Thumichampatty is a village about 15 minutes bus ride from the hospital. In the morning, I spent time with the nurses doing home visits. The aims were to identify sick patients who need to be seen by the doctors; to ensure that patients were compliant to their medications, whether they required further prescriptions or not; overall to ensure the well-being of patients and their families at home. T2DM and hypertension were the 2 most common problems I encountered. Most of the villagers were welcoming; offered me a seat on the chair instead of the floor (which I politely refused); and seeing me as a foreigner, enquired lots about me (in a good way) from the nurses. I learnt a bit of Tamil from the nurses and tried to converse with the villagers, only to find out that I articulated the language in a very funny way!

Most of the homes I visited were small and very basic – an almost empty lounge room with no couch or table save for a little old TV set in the corner of the room; 1 or 2 bedrooms – some with beds without mattresses, others without beds at all; a kitchen; and a bathroom/squat toilet, some outside of the house and drained directly into little gutters. Many of the houses were erected with bamboos, the walls made of woven coconut leaves, covered with huge leaves. Yet, these people were very grateful to have shelters over their heads.

Thumichampatty village

In the evening at 1500, after having lunch at the mess, I accompanied the doctors back to the village for the clinic, which was held in a church building. Patients were already queuing to be consulted, the nurses sang hymns and the doctors immediately started their work. Most of the cases encountered were primary in nature: coughs and colds; headaches; fevers; repeat prescriptions; long term management of T2DM and hypertension etc. Consultation fees were charged at the discretion of the doctors according to the patients’ socioeconomic status; drugs were dispensed carefully as many patients could not afford them, some received a significant discount. The clinic ran until 7pm, when we then packed up and made our back to CFH.

Church building where the clinic was held

Gandhi Nagar – Tuesday (08/09/09)

Another clinic today, this time in the village of Gandhi Nagar which was about 10 minutes by van from the hospital. There was no home visit; instead it was a full day clinic, run by a registrar and a consultant, who had recently returned from Melbourne after spending a few weeks there for work. The cases I saw were not dissimilar to the ones I had seen yesterday. I was totally surprised that almost every 2nd patient who I met had T2DM, many with its horrible complications, especially nasty diabetic foot ulcers. I thought I would see more exotic diseases of India but was told that they were more prevalent in poorer areas which were mainly in Northern India.

I asked the consultant why T2DM was so common here: poor diet and sedentary lifestyle were the leading factors. With government subsidy, 1kg of rice only cost Rs1 (i.e. 35kg for Rs35 = AUD1) – how cheap is that! On the other hand, 1 kg of vegetables costs about 30 times more. Obviously, being the much cheaper option, rice is eaten in huge quantities here. In fact, some have rice only, nothing else – they are contented as long as their stomachs are filled up. Rice, if taken in large amount is bad given its high GI value; that is, it is digested much faster, causing the blood sugar level to shoot up quickly and the poor pancreas has to overwork to secrete more insulin. Over time, the pancreas wears out and no insulin is produced to control the blood sugar level; hence diabetes develops.

Kodaikanal + Indira Gandhi (Annamalai) Wildlife Sanctuary

Friday (04/09/09) – Kodaikanal

“Kodaikanal is a stunningly situated and easy-going hill station on the southern crest of the Palani knolls, some 120km northwest of Madurai. It’s surrounded by wooded slopes, waterfalls and precipitous rocky outcrops and the winding route up and down is breathtaking”

Lonely Planet

Alex and I left the hospital on Friday morning at 0630 to catch a bus to Bathalagundur (which took about 1.5 hour) where we then changed another bus for Kodaikanal (located in the Western Ghats; elevation 2100m) – the 57km journey up the mountains took another 2 hours.

After having a quick breakfast and checking in at Hilltop Tower, we walked around the little town and then pedalled a boat in Lake Kodaikanal. I have never imagined a place like Kodaikanal in India – the view was stunning; the weather was pleasant (+cold) and the town wasn’t very busy at all. It is akin to Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands. Although there wasn’t much to do there, it’s an excellent area for relaxation and escapism from the intolerable heat in the lowlands.

The town of Kodaikanal

Picturesque views of the Western Ghats

We visited Bryant Park and later headed to Manna Bakery (as recommended by the Lonely Planet) for lunch, only to find out that it was closed as the owner had returned to the US for good. Since we were already out of town, we proceeded to the nearby Shola Bear Falls, which was a great disappointment as it was dry (due to the recent drought) and the area was strewn with rubbish – yuck!

We were back in town for a late lunch at Astoria before I made my way to get some souvenirs from the row of stalls along Lake Kodaikanal. At night, we had a buffet dinner at Silver Oak Restaurant in Carlton Hotel, the most prestigious hotel in Kodaikanal. The food was impressive: leek and thyme soup with bread as starters, various salads, mains (which were predominantly Indian) and desserts + a bottle of Sprite...all for Rs500+! By far, it was the most expensive meal I have in India!

Saturday (05/09/09) – Pollachi

After checking out at 0900 and making a short visit to Coaker’s Walk, it’s time to bid farewell to Kodaikanal. The 3.5 hours downhill journey towards Palani on a government bus wasn’t comfortable at all and a little terrifying. The winding road was narrow with multiple hair-pin bends – if the driver wasn’t careful enough, the bus could easily fall off the steep cliff. I prayed hard – prayed for a safe journey. We eventually arrived safely at Palani – another typical hot bustling Indian town; and immediately changed another bus for Pollachi, which was about 1.5 hour west of Palani.

A heavy downpour greeted us upon reaching Pollachi at 1500. We took an auto-rickshaw towards WWO, hoping to get an accommodation that night at Topslip, but it was fully booked weeks ago! Given that all the better hotels in Pollachi had been booked out, we had no choice, but to stay at the hotel which Alex had reserved days earlier, Hotel Vijay – the worst hotel I’d stayed in India thus far...the receptionist wasn’t friendly, treated us as if we were invisible; the room wasn’t AC; there was no shower; there was power cut; it took ages for the blankets to arrive etc. Looking from the positive side, it was only Rs400 per night. We just looked forward to flee the next morning.

Sunday (06/09/09) – Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary – Top Slip

"Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary – one of the three wildlife sanctuaries in the Western Ghat along the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, this cool, misty mountain park covers almost 1000sq km of mostly teak forest and evergreen jungle"

Lonely Planet

It was 0545 and we were already at the bus stand to catch the bus towards Top Slip, which departed at 0615 and arrived about an hour later. I hoped the rain would stop falling that day – it didn’t happen – the rain came and went, came and went......We joined in a jeep safari with a large Indian family – I was hoping to spot at least a tiger, but that didn’t happen. Well, at least there were a few elephants in the training centre deep in the forest.

Elephants!

After the 1 hour safari trip, Alex and I decided to go for a 3-hour jungle trekking. I vividly remember the only 2 occasions I did this – first in 1998 (immediately after my UPSR exam) at Outward Bound School in Lumut, Perak and second in 2002 during a Prefects’ Camp somewhere in the forest of Pahang.

For Rs150, the friendly and knowledgeable guide took us into the forest, showing us the wildlife we encountered – hornbills + other birds, squirrels, wild-boars, monkeys and best of all, a wild elephant! I was out of my mind, still hoping to spot a tiger, but unfortunately (or rather fortunately) that didn’t happen. Given the recent wet days, it wasn’t an ideal situation to trek – the path was filled with puddles of mud, making it very slippery. I was very cautious to avoid falls and almost always had to look down on the path, to avoid soaking my shoes and feet. There were leeches on our shoes, trying to hook to our skin and suck the fluid of life out of us. Alex and I became a bit paranoid, flicking them away and checking on our shoes and legs every now and then. It wasn’t so lucky for our guide who only wore sandals – sandals for trekking? Unbelievable! Overall, it was a great unforgettable experience!

Deep in the forest where we did our trekking

We were back at the headquarters at about 1200, had a rest in the canteen before starting our journey back to CFH, with the government buses, which again was a nightmare. We were glad to be back at 1700 and found out that another elective student, Matt also from the UK had joined us in CFH.

Surgery - Operating Theatre

As part of my surgical rotation, I spent a day in the operating theatre where the surgeon invited me to scrub in for the first surgery – a left inguinal hernioplasty (i.e. hernia repair).

Given the hospital’s limited resources, almost everything are re-used here...even surgical caps, masks and gloves! Everyone enters the operating suites not with shoes, but with the slipper provided in the changing room! Imagine doing that in Australia......one will be grilled by the Occupational Health and Safety personnel.

I didn’t do much during the surgery, but to hold the instruments (e.g. retractor) so that the surgeon could use both his hands. To be honest, I didn’t find the surgery too interesting as I had observed lots of hernioplasty early this year. Oh, another interesting fact...2 operating tables in one room – 2 inguinal hernioplasty (but on different sides) happening simultaneously. I really enjoyed being in the OT, as it is the only part of the hospital (I think) which is air-conditioned...great to be away from the heat outside!

Other surgeries that I had observed included removal of sebaceous cyst, haemorrhoidectomies (removal of haemorrhoids) and positioning of an exposed testicle – this man has an interesting history – he presented to the hospital almost 2 weeks ago with an abscess in his scrotum (right sided) secondary to untreated cellulitis. The skin appeared gangrenous and the surgeons had to debride it, leaving the right testicle exposed. This time, the surgeons attempted to position it into his right thigh, but thankfully he had enough skin flaps so that both testicles were in the right place albeit in a more confined space.

Surgery here is quite interesting. I may consider spending another week with the surgical department again.

Surgery - OPD

This week, I am attached to the surgical department, where most of the workload occurs in the operating theatre (twice weekly) and in the out-patient department (OPD); not so much in the ward even for junior doctors.

Attending the OPD has been a very interesting experience. It is held for the whole day 4 times each week, in a small room occupied by 4 doctors with their patients, all who are in close proximity to each other – again, I wonder if confidentiality is an issue here. At least 100 patients are seen every OPD day, sometimes up to 150+!!! The waiting room is always packed with patients and their families until late in the evening. As for the doctors, they hardly stop working (well, apart from lunch break), continuously consulting one patient after another. Some patients would just simply walk into the room and stand in front of the doctors, even though they (the doctors) are still busy consulting other patients. Some would just hand me their OPD-notes, hoping that I would consult them. Great! I would be very happy to do it – but it’ll be a conversation between a chicken and a duck! The room subsequently becomes crammed and noisy – it is not surprising that tension can be high.

Given the high workload, consultations are usually quite fast. Despite that, the doctors perform their duties efficiently and the patients (some who travel quite far to CFH) are very appreciative even for the few minutes they spend with the doctors. All consultations are carried out in Tamil; hence I find lots of difficulty to comprehend what’s going on. Although they are very busy, the doctors kindly explain to me certain situations and allow me to examine patients with remarkable clinical findings – many patients here present late and hence the pathology is gross! In half a day, I’ve already seen lots of lumps and bumps (often huge ones) in the neck, breast, limbs, back, groin...everywhere! Extensive gross foot ulcers where deep tissues and bones are exposed are not uncommon here – seeing so many in a day is enough to put my appetite off.

The OPD is definitely a good place for the junior doctors to improve their consulting skills, where history and clinical examination are heavily relied upon, not investigations (as they are limited and add costs to the patient). However, given the language barrier, I believe it is not beneficial for me to spend my time there every day.

Madurai

We spent a day in Madurai en route to Oddanchatram.
We arrived here on Monday morning at 0530 – again, too early to travel around! We rested at the lobby of Hotel Residency, where I went to the rooftop and discover this marvellous view...Sri Meenakshi temple against a sunrise backdrop. With 4 main gates/towers (NEWS), it is apparently the largest temple complex in South India.



After breakfast at the hotel, we made our way to the temple, only to find out that we were there on the only day of the year it closes for religious function!!! What a coincidence! So, we spent the morning walking around the temple and did some shopping – tried to hunt for the shop which sells cheap medical books...but, without success.

Sri Meenakshi Temple

Then, we took a taxi to Hotel Taj Retreat, on a hill 5km west of the city. Being the most luxurious hotel in Madurai, things don’t come cheap. I refused to pay Rs300 for a swim in the pool; instead I spent the day napping, reading My Sister’s Keeper and walking around the posh hotel.

Madurai from Hotel Taj Retreat

In the evening, we returned to the city for a dinner on a rooftop restaurant before we caught a bus back to Oddanchatram, which took about 2 hours.

Dinner on a rooftop with the temple in the background

Upon arrival, I found out I have a new roommate for the next 3 weeks.