Down South!

Time to get moving again!!! Trivandrum is only around 100km from the southern most tip of India and will be about as far south as I go, where this country is concerned anyway. Not far from here, in late April, nature gives onlookers a great show. If you travel down to Cape Comorin, which is the southern most point of India, you can see the sunset and the moonrise at the same time. Unfortunately ive arrived here a couple of weeks too early and by the time this starts happening, I hope to be on my way up to the famous caves at Ajanta and Ellora.
Trivandrum is rather a strange place. Its almost as though it wants to be a city, yet it feels simply like a large town.
You can instantly tell that this is a town of education and learning, several impressive university and college buildings lining the larger roads.
It is also home to a large and relatively impressive Zoological gardens and a large temple called Sri Padmanabhaswamy (try saying that after a few beers). As a foreigner, your not allowed inside the temple, but the outside is still very impressive and of course you always seem to eventually get directed towards the glut of stalls selling tacky plastic effigies of Krishna, Ganesh and the other 133 million gods that Hindus seems to revere so much. I found a small alleyway that led around the side of the temple where 2 guys sat and carved Hindu gods out of sandalwood, now this was much more like it. I sat with them for a while, just watching. I never ceased to be amazed by the craftsmanship and pride that goes into everything that is handmade here, and of course I never ceased to be amazed when after a few minutes they start trying to sell you things at hyper inflated tourist prices …….its at that point you know its time to just take a couple of pictures and get the heck out of there!
This city, which is Kerala’s capital doesn’t pull any punches. Its back to the hooting of traffic and the constant background noise, however, you don’t seem to face the constant verbal hounding from taxi/rickshaw drivers and salesmen as you do in most other places. That said, i’m sure I’ll eventually be proved wrong!!! In many ways, Trivandrum doesn’t feel quite as oppressive as a city as Mumbai. There is a lot more in the way of open spaces here, the buildings, although beautiful, are a lot less pretentious than in many other places I have been to. It’s almost as though Trivandrum was created to calm you rather than stress you out. Nipping down the many side streets also gets you away from the hustle and bustle of the main drag that is centred around Mahatma Gandhi Road.
You can always take a stroll around the market which is towards the end of MG Rd and browse the abundance of fruit and spices on sale here....and if you can handle the smell, then you can always make your way towards the fish market at the rear.
Perusing the shops quickly reveals that you are back in shopper’s paradise. Clothing shops abound here, especially where women’s clothing is concerned. I could think of a few women in particular who would love the opportunity to be set loose here. I’ve been checking out women’s (and no im not confused about my gender thank you) saris, tops and shawls, grinning at the silly price tags and shaking my head in disbelief at the quality and beauty of the products that are being offered for sale.
In India, there are a group of guys called the Hijra, who are basically a group made up of transvestites, some being gay, others simply cross dressers. While of course there are more complex reasons behind this issue than simply clothing, when you do actually see the colours and the beauty of the women’s clothing available in this country then its not hard to understand why they don’t mind or even enjoy dressing up in it!!!
Men’s clothing is also very reasonable, quality shirts, often made of silk or a silk blend being offered for just a few pounds. The longer you spend in this country, the more you become tempted to buy things, its just getting harder and harder to resist. The easiest way to get around this is to buy toilet paper in bulk and fill your rucksack up with it …… well you never know when you might need it!!!
The Zoological gardens contain all kinds of wonderful plants and trees, most of which have had me drooling. Plumeria and Hibiscus are all in flower, the wonderful blue of Jacaranda Mimosifolia needs to be seen to be appreciated. I wont even start where the palms are concerned, all I will say is that its great to actually see these trees being grown as they should be, in a warm tropical climate, especially Cyrtostachys Renda, which in my eyes is the most beautiful palm in the world and hopelessly tender outside of the tropics.
Fortunately, today has been grey and overcast, keeping the temperatures down in the high 20s, and you cant really ask for better weather when you want to spend a few hours walking around outside.
There are of course animals here. They are kept in open enclosures, so that they are made to feel as comfortable as possible. There is even a reptile house where you get the chance to see some of this continents most dangerous reptiles up close without having to make a trip to the hospital afterwards although its very difficult to see them let alone take pictures as the glass isn’t kept as clean as it could be ………
Im not really a great fan of zoo’s, especially when animals and birds are kept penned up in small cages, however, here most of the wildlife does get to roam quite freely, maybe with the exception of some of the birds of prey who did look a little peeved off …….
So anyway, ive had 3 days here and its time to move on again …. Next stop is Madurai, where I will hopefully get to taste some of the famous yummy South Indian curries etc.

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