thiruchy junction

Got back from a one day trip to Trichy to attend a wedding.
it was a day of many pleasant surprises.
the first was the A/C waiting lounge at the station.
it was not crowded and fairly clean - at least when we got there. could get a quick bath and get ready.
all for a very nominal fee. surprisingly the lounge was not very crowded.
the next surprise was the auto. found out that they are the same pretty much everywhere these days - trying to make a quick buck, mostly from persons who are new to the city or town. a 4/5 km ride cost more per km than an AC limousine!
it was an early muhurtham - and so had an opportunity to visit a couple of temples - with a lot of history.
the huge and intricate temple of Akhilandeswari and the 'appu' or water lingam - one of the five special lingams dedicated to the five elements in south india. the temple was very clean - and, surprisingly, not crowded.
we were not rushed and could get a close few minutes with the deities.
next was a visit to the 'uchchi pillayar' temple - one of the few hill temples for Ganesha, rather than Karthikeya - in this region.
the thayumanavar temple about three fourths of the way to the top has had a few recent make overs - with paintings and flooring - and is clean!
back at the railway station, had close to 4 hours to kill.
the AC lounge was even less crowded and much cleaner now - as there were persons cleaning it very frequently.
the station was also well maintained and not crowded.
except for the traffic on the roads - which seemed very chaotic, possibly because of two visiting politicians that day.
the last surprise for the day was that there was NO curd rice available at the restaurant or with any of the vendors; as well as no fresh fruits at the station - every shop only had packaged food.

would like to go there more leisurely sometime.