Madurai marks the end of our time in Tamil Nadu, and a visit to one of the most important sites - the Meenakshi Amman Temple. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu goddess, Meenakshi, and we again had the opportunity to hear some fascinating stories about Hindu mythology from a local guide on our city tour. Another star site, the Thirumalai Nayak Palace was mostly indoors and a nice reprieve from the heat and sun, so we spent a good couple hours wandering through the cool, open hall. Islamic styles are incorporated into the architecture, and felt reminiscent of some of the sites we visited in Turkey several years ago.

Madurai is also a big and busy city, but traffic both pedestrian and otherwise seems to co-exist fairly peacefully and we enjoyed exploring the bustling streets. India has an abundance of English second hand bookstores, which Clare has been excited about, and was amused when the first book a shopkeeper tried to press on her was, "The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck". And yes, we have seen cows strolling slowly through the streets, seemingly unbelonging to anyone, but looking very sweet with their silky, soft coats. Clare would like to buy some Indian clothing but is completely baffled by the choices of styles and materials in the stores, and will undoubtedly leave this task to the last minute, probably at the airport upon leaving the country.