Travel Day 982 – Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA
It was funny but after my friend had no energy yesterday to do anything, today it was reversed and I found myself unable to get past the hammocks on the rooftop of our guesthouse…
Garden Restaurant in Tiruvannamalai
Of course, yesterday had been a long and hot day, but even after sleeping-in, I wasn’t able to fully wake up or motivate myself to do anything. Since my friend had this condition yesterday, we were told that the holy mountain Arunachala would have these kinds of effects on people, while either giving them energy or taking it away from them. Well, I definitely found myself on the taken away side today…
At least I managed to get up for lunch and crawl back to the garden restaurant where I met some of our new friends from yesterday and spent quite some time just talking before I had to retire back to the rooftop and the hammocks. But the main thing I couldn’t get my head around was what all these Western people were doing here in this little sleepy town of Tiruvannamalai that seemed not much to offer from my perspective…
Rooftop in Tiruvannamalai, India
Since it was off-season, all the people we met were staying for weeks or even months at a time in Tiruvannamalai and they rented houses, drove scooters and were leading a somewhat normal life. The only thing that seemed strange was that there was actually nothing to do in this town. Yeah, there was the Ramana Ashram, but I wasn’t too impressed by it yesterday and there was the mountain Arunachala which people normally circumnavigate on bare feet as some sort of pilgrimage…
Well, we drove around the mountain on scooters, which didn’t quite count and I had heard about some caves where Ramana used to live. Also there was the big temple in town which was the main attraction for local people after the mountain and that too I wanted to see. So there were a few things left to do I thought and I felt I should give it a little more time before I would pass my final judgment and leave Truvannamalai. But I also needed to regain some energy…
Hammocks in Tiruvannamalai, India
So after spending most of the day on the roof and in the hammock, we finally ended up making some music again with all the people we had met yesterday. And it was no real surprise that once we were kicked out on the roof that we teamed up again and drove to the other side of the Arunachala Mountain to visit the same chai shop we had been to yesterday. It all was fun and good, but I still didn’t quite get why people would actually live in Tiruvannamalai and do the same thing for months at a time…
Hello! Do you remember the name of your guesthouse? We are tonight and tomorrow night in tiruvannamalai. Best regards
Carine
Hi Carine,
We stayed at the Dreaming Tree in Tiruvannamalai, but I can’t quite remember if that was the name of the hotel or just the rooftop restaurant. Either way, it’s the same building. Rooms were cheap and clean plus the rooftop seemed to be the best palace in town to hang out.
Enjoy your stay in Tiruvannamalai!
I am a regular visitor to Tiruvannamalai and stay at seshadri ashram which charges Rs200/- per day. It’s a comfortable place with the attached restaurant which serves good food.Can you give the cost of the place “Dreaming tree” and its location, so that I can use it as alternative. I have started reading your blog, they are very informative.
Thanks and Good luck in your travels.
Dear Srinivas,
When you walk into the small street directly across from the ashram and follow the right bend, you should be getting to the Dreaming Tree after about 5 minutes of walking. It’s the top floor of a taller building on the left side. For the room prices you might have to ask, but I think we paid something quite similar to what you are mentioning…
Thanks for reading my blog and enjoy Tiruvannamali!
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