Singaar International Kanyakumari

... bars on the window, with their square houses with the flat roofs and external stone staircases like square building blocks put together, or tall roofs with coconut leaf thatching, all different colours, most walls covered with advertisement painted on in oil paint.
We arrived soon into Kanyakumari station and got off the train, which had about 50 carriages to walk into the station, where we were set on by rickshaw drivers wanting to take us to a hotel. We got in with one who would ...

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And to put an end to my stay in this state, I have decided to head to the southern most part of the Indian subcontinent where the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal waters meet (someone told me the color of the waters is slightly different but I don't seem to see the difference). Like anywhere else in this country, an important geographical feature such as this has to be dotted with at least a couple of ...

After about 3 hours of train (including a nice talk with an Indian about place of women in society, marriage, ..) I rushed into a mototaxi to throw my bag in the nearest hotel (let's say: lodge..) to the ocean and see the sunset over the 3 seas: Arabian sea, Indian ocean and Bengal gulf. This happen to be the southern point of the Asian continent. Hundreds of Indian here ...

... stops, and it is here, at Kanyakumari, the end of the line. This isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a picture postcard town but it has become a kind of pilgrimage for Indians and travelers alike and has a certain charm that I can't quite put my finger on. The town is buzzing with people, crowded with stalls selling cheap tack to the Indian tourists and locals plying their wares to the travelers. The morning after we arrived I woke early and ...

... very religious for Hindus. We tried the approach of having a general wander to get away from the madding crowds but unfortunately ended up on rubbish strewn beaches and hassle from sunglass salesmen...a strange place all in all. It also introduced us to Tamil Nadu's approach to room service. Lots of people doing nothing in particular but keeping an eye on you and either offering you all services under the sun or ignoring you totally...which is better, only time will tell...

March 15- There isn't anything interesting to see in Trivandrum, so I only stayed there one night to break up the trip and I was back on the bus the next morning. After 3 more hours south I was in the town of Kanyakumari which is on the southern most tip of India. 400 meters off the tip of the mainland are two small rocky islands. On one island ...

... looks destinctively like Joe Pesci trys to help you, just tell him you can manage yourself. You'll save yourself a lot of bother arguing over the exorbitant rates they want you to pay for a 'super-deluxe' bus, which is actually one of the state buses, and the extra 40 rupees he wants for you to put your bags on board, which is free... And don't give his fat friend anything for showing you the way/following Joe Pesci. He's clearly not starving despite the hand to mouth food gestures ...

... and a big breakfast, we went to the Gandhi memorial where his ashes were kept before being scattered in the ocean. Located on the water, along with everything else in town, the building is an interesting fusion of Hindu temple and memorial sight. It's basically a temple built to honor the man. We stood on the roof of the temple and enjoyed the sights for a while and noticed that there was a man ...

... journey I have been on; however, in this case, south India has also been a pilgrimage in the usual sense as well. Beginning in Chennai and traveling down the coast-to Mahabalipuram, Chettinand, Ramashwarm and too many places with unpronounceable names, which I can't just now recall-I've visited temple after temple and along the way seen uncountable pilgrims on my same route. Indians from all over-from north and south and ...

... seemed permanently shut. Heading back to Trivandrum tomorrow morning on my last bus journey in India for a while & then flying out to Sri Lanka on Tues morning & I can't wait!!! My next entry will be from Sri Lanka as there's really nothing much to write about Trivandrum! It's just a big city a bit further up the west coast in the very south of Kerala.