Since Kanyakumari was only a two hour trip by train, and all three of us were keen on experiencing sunrise and sunset from the same point, we set off in the morning with great anticipation. Besides being at a location where three oceans converge (Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal), AND it was possible to see both sunrise AND sunset, it would also be SO cool to say we had been at the southernmost tip of India!
Well...as we all know, having high expectations is a dangerous pitfall! You will soon see how--though there were certainly great moments to this adventure-- it was, by and large, not truly worth the effort involved. (I know Johanna and Patricia would beg to differ! When I was their age, I had more of their exuberance as well... and was able to put up with a lot more than I am willing to now!)
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Windblown and full of enthusiasm, these two young women thoroughly enjoyed their very first ride on an Indian train!
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I confess that I too have always enjoyed trains... the Indian ones are pretty basic and not at all luxurious, but there is still a romanticism and sense of nostalgia when riding them. Plus, one often meets and converses with some interesting and friendly people.
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After we arrived and got situated in our shared hotel room, I rushed off on my own to experience the famed Vivekananda Rock Memorial-- a temple in honor of the famous saint on an island off of the coast. It was necessary to take a ferry boat over to the island...being a Sunday, there were huge throngs of people waiting in this long queue to board the ferry. However, there were many boats coming and going, so I only waited about an hour before I was able to board one myself.
Sign on the dock, on the way down to the ferries...
YES! OF COURSE~ But... Why is it even NECESSARY to post such a sign, for God's sakes?!?!? And...most likely the sort of people who will bother to notice it--like myself-- wouldn't even DREAM of such an atrocious act as to pollute the lovely ocean! Truly, a sad commentary about India... and the mentality/unconscious behavior of so many of its inhabitants.
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The queue finally made it to the dock, and we approached the ferries...
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The skyline behind the bay where the ferries were docked... not especially attractive. The city of Kanyakumari itself was nothing to speak of... really rather ugly, in fact!
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One of the newer, more attractive boats at the dock. To the right, you can see the huge crowd of people waiting to board a ferry.
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I do believe I was the only westerner in this huge crowd! Clearly not a regular tourist atraction for foreigners.
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Yes, I was amazed by the throngs... as if we were waiting to get into Disneyland or something!
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Our ferry, named after the saint, Vivekananda
A bit of insanity ensued as everyone scrambled to get the requisite life jackets to put on! Life jackets for a FERRY boat ride, you ask? How bizarre! Why??? you will soon see...
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Why are we not surprised at the lack of order here?
There was a total, chaotic frenzy as people
snatched up the life jackets from this massive bin!!
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| Finally onboard... |
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We pull out from shore, another ferry passing us heading in...
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Then the FUN begins!!! NOW I understood why the life jackets! There were HUGE swells out in this ocean, rocking the rickety ferry wildly from side to side! It WAS "Disneyland" after all, and the Indians were LOVING the crazy, rocking ride! (As was I, but of course!) Amazingly, I didn't see anyone get seasick and throw up off of the side...but then it was only about a 10 minute crossing to get to the island.
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Witnessing the Indians enjoy the ride was the best part of the entire journey!!!
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Brahmin man and boy, enjoying the wild ride as much as everyone else!
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| Pulling up to the island, looking up at the monument/temple in honor of Vivekananda |
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| The steps to ascend... and, typically, NO photos allowed inside the temple!! So of course I could not get photos of the more beautiful and interesting aspects of this monument, containing a large, gilded statue of the saint. I thought about sneaking and trying to do it anyway, but there were guards stationed with watchful eyes, AND large signs posted, stating thousands of rupees fines for anyone taking photos. Clearly not worth breaking their temple "law". What a shame. |
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| Apart from the temple and one smaller shrine, there was nothing else to see...so after a 10 min. visit, back into the maddening crowds...yes, yet another long line to get on the ferry going back to the mainland! |
After arriving back on the mainland, I made my way to the beach that is the official dipping point for the southernmost tip of India. I encountered a wild scene: masses of people dipping themselves--mostly fully-clothed--into the turbulent waters. These beach goers were a serious mob and I was not tempted to linger... I walked out to the farthest point along some rocks, inadvertently soaking my shoes in the waves crashing on the rocks, and got one fine fellow to take the photo of me that you see below:
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Besides the turbulence, it was incredibly windy as well. Someone mentioned that all this was the product of the cyclone out at sea somewhere.
fab selfie of me and my wild hair, no?!
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The crazy mob scene at the beach... bottom end of India may just as well be the end of the world!
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Next: a stroll along the beach "boardwalk". Not what you would imagine, to be sure... it was really a road--very dirty--chock full of walkers, motorcycles, vendors hawking every imaginable assortment of plastic, worthless junk and equally bad junk food! Then, there were the very strange transvestites/transexuals--yes, in sarees, no less!-- begging for money, most of them large and rather intimidating! I hurried through this crazy throng, on my way to meet Johanna and Patricia, and catch sunset at a lookout point on up the road.
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Yes, sadly, this was our "sunset"-- simply a slow darkening of the sky. It was WAY too cloudy and stormy to see the setting of the sun... most disappointing!
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The beach and lookout point... nothing to "look out" at! But one did have to look DOWN when navigating this dirtiest of all dirty beaches: bits of human excrement were everywhere! Yes, truly disgusting and disturbing, to say the least!
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Still, bus loads of people were there... clearly hopeful--like us--to catch a real, magnificent sunset! C'est la vie...
| Two good parts to the ending of the day: the first, a decent meal in a nice, calm restaurant we found (with piped in American Musak, a la 60's folk music! really bizarre... so I sang along to such oldies-but-goodies, like "blowin' in the wind", "500 miles", etc.) ; the second, meeting this adorable "devil" swami (a true oxymoron, yes?!) and getting the photo with him!
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| Exhausted, and feeling a little sick (had already had a scratchy throat for a couple days), I was glad to retire back to our hotel room, make myself some hot tea and crawl into bed. However, I had trouble sleeping.... I shared the bed with Johanna, who tossed and turned, then turned the fan on (Patricia had the AC on earlier, and I was chilled as a result) and then my sore throat morphed into a full-on head cold. Yuck!!!) |
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| Outside of our room: the "indoor, pseudo-colonial style "courtyard"--all rather surreal. The hotel was brand new; the family running it, incredibly kind and friendly toward us. After we came, they began floating lily pads in this "pond". They told me the fish will follow soon! |
Next day, Dec. 19th
Part two of the presumed "magic" of Kanyakumari: After witnessing the sunSET, witnessing the sunRISE, from the same point--opposite direction, of course--the following morning.
ALAS! You guessed it: Still cloudy. I awoke sick, sleep-deprived, and terribly bummed to be up SO early, only to NOT witness the actual rising sun... still, it wasn't a TOTAL loss: the light on the clouds was ever-changing and lovely. We watched from the roof of our hotel until the sky was filled with the light of day...then it was time to head back to the train and return to Lighthouse Beach.
One other redeeming feature of this excursion to Kanyakumari: The lushness of the Kerala countryside. It was really nice watching it pass by...both in the rickshaw to and from the train station, and from the train coming and going. It truly IS a pretty area of India... (assuming you can overlook the trash everywhere!)
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| Johanna and Patricia posing and saying "farewell" to our wonderful hosts at the Orion Hotel: Vinod and Anandu. The ladies left that same night for Thailand! So... I said my "farewell" to them at the same time. I will truly miss them!!! |
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