Visiting Tirupati was never in my plans. I’m only here because it was the only way I could find to get closer to my departure airport.
My train arrived at Tirupati around 8:30 am, only half an hour late even though it left Hosepete almost two hours late. Somehow they had made up for most of the delay.
I found an available tuktuk and showed the driver where I wanted to go using my cellphone. As is common in India, he wiggled his head. It’s a standard gesture throughout India that’s means OK. (They don’t nod.) Unfortunately, as I have learned repeatedly, indicating OK doesn’t mean he understands me or has any idea where I want to go.
He stopped next to some other tuktuk drivers to ask for directions. I showed the other driver the hotel name and address on my cellphone. This stop and ask process continued every few kilometers until one of them pointed to the hotel.
Not surprisingly, my room wasn’t ready this early in the day. I used the men’s room to change into fresh clothes. (I just slept in what I was wearing. ) I left my luggage with the front desk and went for a walk. I brought only the absolute essentials: cellphone, cash, and a bottle of water.
Purely by accident, I found a place called “Jungle Book Bio Park”. All I found were paths in the woods with signs about the birds and other animals that can be found in the park. There is probably more to it but I wasn’t interested in climbing the hill. Admission was 10 rupees (about 13 cents).
Next door was the Divyaramam Park. It was a relatively quiet city park, located next to a busy four-lane road. At least it was full of trees, something I rarely see in India. Saw lots of couples taking a stroll in the park. I found an empty bench with shade and a gentle breeze and took a nap.
The weather out in the countryside was oppressively hot. Here in the city, it is worse! Tirupati is by far the hottest place I have been this entire trip. Forecast is for a high of more than 100° F every day this week! Even napping in the shade in the park was too hot for me. By 11 am I was severely over heated and returned to the hotel.
Official check in time at this hotel is noon. At 11:58, I approached the front desk. He said it was too early to check in. Sigh. I waited five more minutes.
My first action once I got to my room was to wash my dirty laundry. Whenever I plan to be at the same hotel for more than two nights, I get my laundry done. Often the hotel staff arranges to get it done for me. They use very hot water, put it in a dryer, and iron it. They even iron my socks. My high tech clothes don’t like that treatment. At home, I only use warm water and hang them out to dry.
This time I decided to do the laundry myself. After years of practice, I have developed a standard procedure. I start by filling the sink with warm water. I add one thin slice of laundry soap (available at most camping supply stores). I wash one batch of clothes by hand. Then I refill the sink and rinse them. Next, I take one of the bath towels and lay it on the floor. I wring each piece of clothing and place it somewhere on the towel. My next step is to roll up the towel and step on it. The result is reasonably dry clothes and a very wet towel. At this hotel there wasn’t enough towel rack to hang them up, so I strung out the clothes line that I packed. It’s quite small and light, basically parachute cord with tiny clothes pins. I unroll the towel and hang up these clothes. I repeat this process until all my dirty laundry is hung up.
By morning, in this hot and dry climate, my clothes are reasonably dry and wearable. If they are not completely dry and I have other clean clothes to wear, I give them another day. By the second day, everything is always dry.
My second action was to start the tea kettle. All of the hotels provide one liter (quart) of bottled water, either one large bottle or two small bottles. At home, I drink 3 liters per day. In this heat, I drink much more. Problem! All of the hotels also provide an electric tea kettle and tea bags. Filling the tea kettle and turning it on provides lots of boiling water. By the next morning, I have plenty of safe water to drink. Problem solved!
My third action was to figure out how get to my next stop. Checking the train schedule, I find only one train with any air conditioned cars. It leaves the station at 3 am. Not appealing.
Taking a bus mid pandemic would be a bad idea. Taking a plane would require too much time at the airport for such a short trip.
My only remaining option was to book a taxi, which I did.
The Kapila Theertham Temple is visible from my hotel and is only a two minute walk. It’s a popular pilgrimage site with a sacred waterfall.
With this incessant heat, I’m not motivated to do much sightseeing. But a two minute walk was within my tolerance level.
The temple signs indicated many rules with pictures. The descriptions were in several languages, including English. Masks are required but no one is wearing one and it’s mostly outdoors. No cellphones but everyone had one. No photos and no cameras; so, I didn’t bring my camera.
Two rules I had to break. No tshirts and no shorts. Everyone else followed those rules but I couldn’t. The only clothes I have with me are tshirts and shorts. Even if I could wear a long sleeve shirt and long pants, I would pass out from heat exhaustion.
The final rule was strictly enforced: no shoes or sandals. Prior to leaving my hotel, I carefully checked my feet for any cracks or wounds. All of the blisters from earlier in this trip had fully healed. I was OK to go barefoot.
Outside of the temple I took off my sandals and looked for a place to store them. I couldn’t find one and held my sandals up to someone official looking. Answer: anyplace. Not satisfied with that answer, I walked to someone sitting on the ground with some type of supplies for blessing. I indicated that I wanted to leave my sandals near him. He wiggled his head (OK).
Getting to the temple required navigating through a throng of beggars. I have learned to avoid eye contact. I had noticed several of the same beggars outside my hotel previously. Several had decorated cows. One beggar had a cow with a fifth leg growing on its back, which presumably is considered to bring good luck. I have no idea why.
The famous waterfall was totally dry due to this being the dry season.
The temple itself was very old and in bad repair. I followed the line of pilgrims as we snaked past each of the shrines within the temple.
After passing through the temple, I returned to where I had left my sandals. I gave the man 100 rupees as a Thank You. He placed some colored powder on my forehead as a blessing
That was enough sightseeing for me. I returned to my room and hid from the sweltering heat.
