Auroville is a city just North of Pondicherry and was founded by a French woman known as Mother and a man named Sri Aurobindo. The city was founded on the idea of making a universal city that would belong to no single nation. It was to be a city where money was not a factor in daily life and where all the residents accepted and surrendered to "the divine power". In the1970s, when the city was founded, the land was arid and not much could be grown. With the persev...

Pondicherry, aka Puducherry, was a trading place for the Romans over 2000 years ago. In 1521, the Portuguese arrived to trade followed by Dutch and Danish traders. In the late 17th century, the French purchased the town and stayed until 1954, leaving behind a strong French influence. The city is also home to the Ashram dedicated to Sri Aurobindo, one of the founders of the not too far Auroville. The city is filled with Europeans who come to visit and end up stayi...

Madurai is a city filled with temples. During the 4th century, it was the capital of a kingdom that ruled over much of southern India. Since then, the city has been ruled by many dynasties and today, it is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu. The city is built around the main temple, the Meenakshi Temple. We arrived in Madurai during the evening and once again, started looking for a guesthouse. We took a rickshaw to the main tourist neighborhood where all th...

Kanyakumari, aka Cape Comorin, is at the tip of India, where the three bodies of water surrounding India meet. There are many pilgrims who, every morning at sunrise, after a ritual of songs and chants, jump into the water. They believe that this sacred water will wash them of their sins. From Kovalam, we took a train to Kanyakumari where, at the train station, we met Tino, a German traveller also in the city to see the famous sunrise ritual. We set off together...

Kovalam, with it's three beaches, has been a popular destination for beach goers since the 1930s. Lighthouse beach, where we stayed, is the southern most beach, with Hawa beach in the middle and Samudra beach in the north. About 15 km south of Kovalam, is the small beach town of Chowara. Here, the beach is made of fine white sand and is lined with cliffs. Chowara is also the home to renowned Ayurvedic doctor, Dr. Varghese Franklin. Ayurveda is a type of medic...