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Published: February 20th 2010
The tip of India, that is, though in places India is just one big tip.
We went to a travel agent in Madurai on Monday and asked about trains to Kanniyakumari, the Southernmost point of India. "Sorry, the train today is full" "But we want to go tomorrow" Trains only on a Monday". OK, what are the alternatives. "You can get a bus. It runs overnight, about 6 hours. 250 Rupees each" (Thats just over £3). "Where do we get the bus?" "It will pick you up from your hotel about 9:30 pm". So we booked for Tuesday night. Madurai was 'exciting', but if you told a Scot you were planning to go there, he would probably reply "Mad you are; aye".
Tuesday night we checked out of TM Lodge, and sat waiting for the bus. 9:30 came and went. 9:45 came and went. About 10pm, a young guy came in and told us the bus was at the top of the street. Off we headed, and there was a rackety old 19 seater, with about 8 people already in it, and the back crammed full of boxes and packages. We got a couple of seats, and seconds later off we went. Pretty efficient ey? Well, not really, because after about 200 yards, the bus stopped, the driver switched off the engine, and strolled off into the night. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. After about 10 minutes, a couple of the passengers got off, and also disappeared into the night; we never saw them again! After about half an hour, soemone got on and started to rearrange all the boxes in the back - by moving them immediately behind us. One of them, which weighed about 100 kg, was balanced precariously above our heads. I pointed this out to him, and he obligingly adjusted everything - then we couldn't recline our seats! I pointed this out, and with much muttering, he moved everything again until we were satisfied. By this time, we had been sitting there, about 200 yards from where we started, for about 1 hour. But then Baska noticed the driver was back. Well, he was back, but he was standing in front of the bus blessing it with many Hindu incantations! Not quite what you want to see before a long drive through the night. As the driver got back on the bus, a new passenger who had arrived decided he wanted to buy some food for the journey, so off he went! And on and on and on. I won't even tell you about stopping for petrol after about another mile, and losing 3 more passengers for about 20 minutes.
I slept pretty well on the bus. Baska would have done if the guy who had adjusted all the parcels had not stuck his feet in her face while he slept!
At some time in the night, we stopped at a level crossing, and waited for a train to go through. An old guy on the bus decided he was going for a pee, which persuaded a number of other passengers to do the same. Baska went with them, but it was a brightly lit spot, and the guys just pissed in the road, while the women looked on enviously. Baska tried to find a more private spot, but before much success, the train came through, the gates lifted, and Baska and another woman just managed to jump on the bus as it set off.
Well, we eventually reached a hotel somewhere at about 4am Wednesday. The bus stopped, and we were told we were in Kanniyakumari. We got off, and walked off down the street. We got into the town proper (not a big place), and met some Latvians who were just leaving. They recommended the hotel they had been staying at, so we went there. We got a room with a sea view, pretty clean, a reasonable bathroom, a nice big ceiling fan, and cable TV for about £5 a night. We jumped at it.
We walked down towards the beach, and in a little square were amazed to see lots and lots of people, small children immaculately dressed, women in beautiful saris, men in Indian clothing, sitting on the ground in front of an impromptu altar! It later dawned on us that it was Ash Wednesday, but even so, 4:40am?? And while the Catholic mass took place, the Hindus started worshipping their gods just down the road. So as the sun rose, the noise was impressive - Hindus chanting, and the Catholics appearing to sing the soundtrack to lots of Bollywood movies! Just before the sun came up, we crept away to get a vantage point to see our first sunrise over 3 different oceans. And impressive it was.
The Indians love sunrise and sunset in this place. They go mad as the sun appears, or disappears, cheering, and jumping in the water, fully dressed.
Once it was light, we walked off along the beach away from the town, and found some absolutely delightful little villages, very poor, but some gorgeous houses, and hand-carved front doors. And everywhere, we were greeted so warmly. "Hello", "What is your name?", "Where are you from?". And huge smiles. Such lovely people.
More later about this really lovely place.
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Andy Simms
non-member comment
Worst pun ever
Even for you "mad you are aye" is a pretty bad pun. Looking at the map I see you still have to Goa long way. If you feel Baska deserves better than being carted around in the back of a bus with someone's feet in her face, you might consider a detour to one of the former British Hill Stations, e.g. Ootacamund and Kodaikanal. Ooty may be too touristy for you but Kodaikanal is a pleasant place to rest up from the madness down below (or was back in 1981 anyway!). Andy.