Yesterday morning we loaded up in our trusty van once more and visited the Big Temple in Thanjvour. We had an amazing guide with us Rotarian P Praksah Laising was raised in the area so he knew a lot about the temple and was able to tell us stories about the temple instead of just showing us around.
After spending time at the temple we went and visited an art museum. Having visited many art museums in the states I found it interesting how low the security was. These pieces date back to the 11th century and I am sure are worth more than Degas’ paintings but there they were…just sitting there. Most were in a glass case (that looked like it might fall apart) but some were just sitting out with a sign that said “Do Not Touch.”
After the gallery we loaded up in the van for our next city. I’m not really sure how far we traveled since I slept but I think it was about a 2-hour drive. Once we reached Kumbaonam we meet our host families and got settled. Paul’s host mother had a baby the day before so there was a little bit of switching around. We then visited a artisans’ workshop and a jewelry shop.
The view of the jewelry shop from outside was incredible!! The walls were COVERED with Huge Gold necklaces!! A few of the salesmen and one of our host started to load me up with jewelry and the ending result totaled up to 30,000 US Dollars!!! I would have loved to keep it all but unfortunately I have a feeling Joe wouldn’t have been to happy to get that bill….so I gave it back J
After a brief dinner at a hotel owned by another Rotarian we once again went our own ways to get a good nights rest in our host homes.
I am having problems getting pictures to load for some reason tonight so hopfully I will be able to get them up for you all to see tomorrow night :)
Kari Daniel
