Today we were gutted to be leaving the sea and heading inland to Madurai where we were informed that it was going to be a lot hotter. We had some breakfast... Steven his beloved masala dosa and me porridge and pomegranate.... I had attempted to peel the fruit and the result was a pink splatter all over my freshly laundered tee shirt.... grrr!! not impressed.

We set off about eight o'clock on our new bus in the direction of Pondicherry, the journey was going to take about two and a half hours so we chilled out and listened to music and caught forty winks.

On arriving in Pondicherry we parked up near the seafront by the Ghandi statue and had a small wander around the more French part of town. We then headed to the Sri Manakula Vinayager, a Hindu temple just south of the famous Ashram tucked down a backstreet. The temple is dedicated to The Lord Ganesh (the Hindu elephant god) and the temple is incredible... It has hundreds of pictures and sculptures of Ganesh in various forms and poses. It's always quite something to witness the locals and pilgrims worshiping as it is such a complicated and intricate process. We walked around and took in the amazing sight and the smell of incense that wafts around giving the most relaxing and spiritual aroma. I find the temple trips so nice and fulfilling. They are crazy though.... Loads of people chatting, ringing bells , chanting and praying. There are people lying full front on the floor, holding ears, crouching and clasping hands together.... It really is a fascinating sight.

After the temple we heading towards the Ashram.... This place couldn't be anymore different. The Ashram was founded in 1926 by Sri Aurobindu and a French women known as 'mother'. It is a beautifully quiet and calm place that is filled with flowers and scented plants. We took our shoes off and walked around in silence, which is requested. The ashram seeks to synthesise yoga and modern science and all around the central flower filled Samadhi are people meditating or sitting and enjoying the quietness. We sat quietly for ten minutes or so and it really was lovely and calming. We then wandered into the library to flick through hundreds of books on yoga and spirituality. I found the whole place fascinating and vowed to find out more about the place when I got home.

After the spiritual calmness of the Ashram, we were soon thrown back in to the spicy noisy chaos of india as we hit the Main Street. We headed in the direction of a lovely French hot bread shop and proceeded to buy some food for the bus... It was a long way to Madurai. We bought a lovely warm vegetable quiche and a vegetable and cheese bread, which we munched in the bakery. We also bought some croissants and sugar doughnuts with for the bus. In this time Cliodna and Rhys were buying saris for a friend... i had suggested the day before that we all chip in to buy Ravi's wife a beautiful sari to say thank you for the wonderful meal she cooked. They returned with a stunning pale pink cotton sari which would look perfect on her.... Shame we wouldn't be there to see her face! Ravi was very touched though.

We climbed back onto the bus at approximately twelve ish and set off. The journey was long... The first time since arriving in India that I wanted it to hurry up. It was warm and I had little interest in what was owing on outside the window... Instead we rested back and read our books. Steven is still ploughing through 'game of thrones' and I started 'a life of Pi'. I thought what better book to read as I pass through India. Five hours later and I was sixty percent through and pulling up at the hotel. We had stopped briefly on route for various toilet stops and to see the odd temple or rice field... Also passed the salt marshes.

We arrived at the 'Star Residency' at approximately five thirty and headed up to our room. The hotel is lovely and even has a Christmas tree in the lobby along side a nativity scene. Ravi was keen to take everyone to a Bollywood movie but we were tired and wanted to shower and relax. The hotel is pretty cool providing us with tooth brushes, toothpaste, a shaving set, comb, toiletries and even a washing line. I then had the most amazing shower and then washed my pomegranate stained tee shirt and some underwear.. Leaving it on my new washing line to dry... Steven meanwhile was sitting in the corridor attempting to chat to his mum... With some success eventually.

We then headed up to the roof terrace to join Josie and the mossies for dinner and enjoyed the view while eating our vegetable curries.... Before heading back to our room and falling in to bed for a wonderfully restful sleep on our massive bed with two pillows each.... Amazing.