You Nearly Killed Me, But You Missed Again

Wrapping up our truly fantastic India trip, with a few final memories. Friday morning, we said all our goodbyes to the group. Different vans were departing for Chennai, Trichy, and Madurai, so this was our last chance to see everyone. What a fantastic group of people Anna and Jay brought together for their wedding – smart, friendly, fun, and low drama. I hope we can keep in touch in the future.

Our van was headed to Madurai and we chatted on the two hour drive. We made it to the city around 1pm. We’d booked a no-frills hotel in the city, which (though rundown) did have one frill – every room came with a massage chair! Kat couldn’t resist giving it a try.

Madurai is a midsized city of around 2 million people, with a huge temple complex at its heart. We set out for a wander, just to get a sense of the place. It was definitely busier and more intense than any of the places we’d been – lots of scooters, tuktuks and cars, plus the occasional cow or goat. Even though the streets aren’t nearly as busy as some of the places we’ve traveled in Southeast Asia, the traffic feels a bit more chaotic and less predictable, so crossing streets is still a bit tricky.

Around 2:30pm, we got word that a few of our tour companions were going to head to the palace museum in the city, so we walked up there to meet them. The palace was built in the 17th century by a king from the Nayak dynasty. Many of the structures in the palace compound are gone. The main courtyard, while impressively grand, doesn’t have a lot to look at. We still dutifully strolled around, then took a car over to the temple area.

The lines to get into the temple were lengthy and intense. We were mindful that earlier this week, six people died in a stampede at a temple in a nearby town, and opted out of waiting in line. Instead we just strolled the pedestrian only streets around the temple, explored some shops, and then parted ways around 4:30pm. We had to get back to our hotel for a food tour!

It’s been a while since a food tour tried to kill us. There was one in Barcelona, a few in Malaysia, and a memorable one in Bogota which didn’t try to kill us with food but instead by riding bikes through rush hour traffic. Our tour with the Madurai Food Mafia definitely tried to kill us though. But like, in a good way.

Ahamed picked us up at our hotel for our tour, and we went on a series of stops. This was a tour done by car, since we were going to some more distance locations. After one stop in town, we headed south east to a temple lake which has a nightly food trailer lineup. We don’t know the right names for everything, and there was so much food that I can’t do a full play-by-play, but here are some highlights.

• Fried dough balls with palm sugar molasses
• Heart of a coconut tree
• Cotton seed tea
• “Bread omelet” with fried chicken (fried chicken on a slice of wonder bread, all wrapped in an omelet)
• Afghan “fast breaking” soup
• Kari Dosa (local specialty – a thick dosa with mutton)
• Paratha with stewed chicken

That’s not an exhaustive list. Even taking small bites would have been overwhelming, but Ahamed was insistent about not wasting food. By the time we reached the paratha, we were struggling. We wrapped up around 8pm, and basically just flopped around the hotel room suffering for a couple hours.

Saturday morning, we got up and took a cab to the airport. The Madurai airport is small – three domestic gates and three international gates. Getting through the check-in process was a series of “go here,” “go there” exercises, but we made it eventually. We used our last rupees on snacks and tea at the gate, then took our Spicejet flight to Dubai.

Since we had nearly 12 hours to kill in Dubai, we decided to head into the city. We were most curious to see “modern” Dubai, so a local friend recommended heading to the Dubai Mall. We took the metro in to the city and as soon as we were out on the street, we started getting a sense of the Dubai-ness of the place. Within a few minutes, I’d spotted multiple Bugatti Chirons (500 worldwide), a Bugatti Bolide (40 worldwide), and an endless assortment of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and so on.

The Dubai Mall is, among other facts and figures, about 300,000 square feet bigger than the Mall of America back home. So, it’s not small. We didn’t have a specific goal in mind, so we just wandered around. Eventually, we got some ice cream, and later some noodles in the “Chinatown” section. I bought a USB-C rechargeable electric razor at the Xiaomi store – I’d been eyeing them online, but they’re not officially imported into the US, so this was a great chance to get one and avoid shipping.

Throughout the day, we really marveled at the diversity of the city – people from everywhere, brands from everywhere – as long as you’ve got some money, you’re welcome. Clothing ranges from conservative Islamic dress to very un-conservative Russian Barbie-dolls, all walking (well, riding the moving walkways) side by side. I also loved seeing all the brands we can’t get in the US because of Freedom Tariffs and other geopolitical complexities.

Around 7, we got back on the metro and went further south so I could visit Al Ain Class Motors. Among other things, Al Ain Class is the Koenigsegg dealer for Dubai. I’m familiar with it from years and years of visits by car YouTubers like Shmee150 or Stradman. Even though I’m sure they don’t love having random car nerds wander in, nobody said anything and we got to wander the showroom. I won’t bore you with all the details (a Jesko Absolut! three P1 GTRs!), but it was a great stop.

From the car showroom, we walked about a mile and a half to the beach. We weren’t sure what we’d find, but it was a really awesome scene – the beachfront is full of food stalls, playgrounds, and walkways. The young folks were out in force, giggling in groups, riding bikes and scooters, or just strolling. It was great to experience that side of the city, and we walked until we ran out of beach.

Eventually, we got an Uber back to the airport. Our flight got delayed from a 2am departure until 3:15am, so we’re just trying to stay awake in the lounge and catching up on emails.

We’re both so thankful we’ve had the opportunity to go on this trip – to see a part of the world we’d never seen before, to meet so many new friends, and to share in a beautiful wedding. Sets a pretty high bar for any future destination weddings.