I must help you, as you are in my country

Heading from temple to temple across Tamil Nadu has been an amazing experience, from the largest temple in India in Trinchy, to the tallest tower in Tiruvannamalai, to the sacred Shiva temple of fire to the Shriva temple of water in Trinchy, there's 5000 temples here to explore and that is why I chose here to travel. This is my 6th time in India and it's a place that you either fall in love with and want to come back again and again, or it overwhelms you and you will never return. It is a hard place to travel, the chaos, the crowds, the dirt, the extreme poverty, but take these all in your stride. India is magical, welcoming and open to the adventurous! I got a bus yesterday from the main temple in Trichy to the important Water Shiva Temple a few kilometres away. I asked a woman in the queue if I was waiting at the right stop and she said "I must help you as you are in my county". She guided me to the right bus, popped me in a seat behind her and her friend and then quizzed me about my travels through India. To most men I say I am travelling with my husband, who is back in the hotel with a poorly stomach. In absolute contrast, to most women I declare that I am travelling alone, which brings an equal reaction of anxiousness and amazement. India still is a male dominated and women are culturally and religiously ruled. Sure there's huge exceptions, within a country with such a wide disparity of wealth and opportunity, but a woman travelling alone is an exception. I remember on my last trip in the north I was waiting for a train and a woman near by struck up conversation. She was with her brother in law and father in law and told me that she couldn't even leave the compound where she lived unaccompanied by a male. This really made me thankful to be able to be independent in ever sense!