Train gives you here more comfort then those junk buses. But sometimes the choice is limited. This is a long way around the mountains by train from Cochin to Madurai. There is only a road climbing the range of West Ghats and there are 3 buses per day departing from Cochin-Ernakulam station to Madurai. The ticket cost 162 rupees.
This is semi-deluxe service – it means there is no a/c but there is glass in the windows (it could be hard to close or to open some of them). It took me 9 hours to move by such a semi-deluxe to Madurai. The landscapes on the route are beautiful. And when you reach the pass it is very pleasantly cool there. Is you are overheated it is possible to stay there in the little guesthouses… There are plantantions of the tea and spice gardens.
Before we reached Madurai I saw also many interesting rock formations. When the bus landed at the new bus station on the outskirts of Madurai I found motocycle rickshaw to take me to the center of this provincial (more then 1 million people) city. I can recommend TM Lodge close to the railway station – they charge only 200 rp per clean single room with fan and bath and 340 for twin… But there are no mosquito nets in the windows so I found my very useful… Bring your with you!
