Today in Madurai is all about getting to Chennai. Trying to get on a train last minute in India is near impossible. There are taktal (emergency) tickets for tourists but you should give them 24hours warning before attempting. I was pushing my luck with 8 hours notice. However, the station supervisor (at the time) was very sympathetic. I purchased a ticket and became number 1 in the waiting queue. Go back at 5pm and all should be fine.
Shocked, i left the station and headed for some food and a look at the HUGE temple here. Annoyed by touts everywhere around it. "come see the temple from high!" they say, and would try and lead you into their shop, which is 5 stories high and probably did have a great view from the top. Brushing all of these aside, and ever-persistent tuk-tuk drivers became a chore, and i sat back at the station in a quiet corner. Ahhh! 5pm came and i headed back to the supervisors office, there was now a different man on duty, who flat refused me on taktal.
Plan B was a flight. I called the airport and they quoted me 180 pounds for a last minute flight to Chennai. Whatever happened to cheap last second flights??
Plan C was the dreaded coach. Only dreaded from my last experience. At the coach station i scouted around for a single bed sleeper. They're mostly doubles, meaning if you're travelling alone you share with a complete stranger (they're extremely cosy) or nothing. You can't have a double for yourself, even if you pay for it. I eventually found a company that had a single bed coach spare, for a great price. I snapped it up and waited 3 hours for it to show up. I sat in one of the very dingy (no women allowed) holes at the side of the bus station and had a beer, while all the time being observed by groups of Indian men.
The bus arrived. Very cosy little bed! Fell asleep instantly. I was woken up very loudly in Chennai, in the middle of nowhere and ushered off the bus. Looking around me there were sewers, motorways and dust. Great.
Shocked, i left the station and headed for some food and a look at the HUGE temple here. Annoyed by touts everywhere around it. "come see the temple from high!" they say, and would try and lead you into their shop, which is 5 stories high and probably did have a great view from the top. Brushing all of these aside, and ever-persistent tuk-tuk drivers became a chore, and i sat back at the station in a quiet corner. Ahhh! 5pm came and i headed back to the supervisors office, there was now a different man on duty, who flat refused me on taktal.
Plan B was a flight. I called the airport and they quoted me 180 pounds for a last minute flight to Chennai. Whatever happened to cheap last second flights??
Plan C was the dreaded coach. Only dreaded from my last experience. At the coach station i scouted around for a single bed sleeper. They're mostly doubles, meaning if you're travelling alone you share with a complete stranger (they're extremely cosy) or nothing. You can't have a double for yourself, even if you pay for it. I eventually found a company that had a single bed coach spare, for a great price. I snapped it up and waited 3 hours for it to show up. I sat in one of the very dingy (no women allowed) holes at the side of the bus station and had a beer, while all the time being observed by groups of Indian men.
The bus arrived. Very cosy little bed! Fell asleep instantly. I was woken up very loudly in Chennai, in the middle of nowhere and ushered off the bus. Looking around me there were sewers, motorways and dust. Great.
