Kanyakumari & Madurai

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The early mornings are what we dread most these days. They mean rushed packing and foraging food before getting on to a cramped bus and setting off for hours on some adventurous driving during which no rest is available for fear of cracked heads. But 2 weeks ago we were setting off on our first early morning bus ride. We donned our packs and trudged across the beach, which I might add is pretty hard going in shoes and with heavy bags in the sand. It was hotter than you can imagine for 8am and we were glad to get into the shade at the bus stand. After a while, several buses had come and gone, we realised with the help of a fellow prospective passenger, who luckily was Indian, that the Kanyakumari bus wasn't going today. We needed to get a bus to Trivandrum and then one to Kanyakumari. This didn't seem too onerous so we hopped on the next bus with our new companion and were in Trivandrum in 20 mins. The bus station was a sweaty 15 min walk from bus stop and once there we were told the Kanyakumari bus was 'in doubt' by the station master. The man in charge of getting buses loaded and out of the station was in disagreement with this and after more heated debate in Indian it was settled we'd go to the village of Nagarcoil (snake temple) and get a connecting bus there. This happened without incident and so we arrived at Kanyakumari tired, overheated and definitely not within 2-3 hours on a direct bus.

Thanks to the trustee Loney Planet guide we found a decent room overlooking the main temple, Kumari Amman, on the tip as well as the temple on the Island and the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. We chilled in our room until the sun set and then ventured out to the mainland temple right outside our hotel. After some confusion over wher shoes were to be left and, much to Ade's dismay, the realisation that his top would also have to be removed, we entered the dark temple lit by candles. The ceilings were very low and to go through doorways we had to duck. At the door we'd bought some oil to pour into the big candle in the centre, from memeory it had something to do with women but I can't say what exactly. We asked to go without an official guide but this was not to be as an unofficial guide with very poor english latched on to us and refused to leave us despite many crafty 'duck and run' ploys on our behalf. We learned nothing about the temple from him but we did get red dots on our foreheads much to everybody else's amusement. Unfortunately there are many beggars in Kanyakumari. It is mainly a Hindu pilgrimage site and there were few other westerners so we were easy targets and it did get quite frustrating. We walked away from the general crowd and sat on the wall looking out over the 3 seas and still beggar after beggar came to tap us and ask for money for chai. Eventually we called it a night and went home.

The following morning was the discovery of Ash's unsightly rash. Much to her dismay the intial siting on her inner elbow was coupled with another on the back of her arm which over the next two days spread to the other arm and part of her upper torso. Despite early panic diagnosis of leprosy she was assured it was a heat rash by the doctor and given some hydro-cortizone cream that took time but did the trick (although the doctor's insistence that only a veg diet should be followed was a tad confusing).

We took the ferry from the mainland over to the temple on the island and from it to the Vivekananda memorial. As we disembarked from the boat a group of children, who were lining up to get on, started screaming and waving at us. It took a few moments to realise why they were all shouting and when we did we waved. They all stopped shouting and smiled and waved back. It's such a strange feeling. Up on the memorial a family asked Ash to pose with their daughter in a photo. This was the first time but far from the last! People constantly stare at us and everyone is really curious about where we're from and why we are in India. Can imagine what it feels like to be celebrities! Views of the mainland and out onto the open sea are quite nice but to be honest we weren't over-awed with Kanyakumari in general. We did venture down to the tip on our last night to watch the sunset. There were Indian families splashing around where the 3 seas/oceans meet at the tip and plenty of vendors selling their wares as well as chai bikes and roasted cashew nuts. When the sun started to dip there seemed to be a wave of excitement over the group and we decided to stay here rather than walk to the sunset view tower. Turned out to be a great plan as the sunset was amazing.

Despite our trip to the giant pink and purple train station on the day prior to our departure to Madurai, and their insistence that the train was at 7.30 in the morning and we did not need to buy tickets, we were unable to get on it the following day due to a state wide strike. We were quite perplexed at the seemingly very unhelpfulness of the station master, and of our own hotel proprietor, in the lack of informing us. Getting up at 5.45 is no craic on any normal occassion but when there is no point whatsoever and checking out of out hotel meant we'd nowhere to go till 6pm it is particularly infuriating. After intial curses we checked our bags into left luggage and headed back in to the town. We had two meals in a very fancy pants, air-conditioned hotel and spent a few hours internetting. As it turned out the whole state was on strike and that included trains, buses, shops, tourist attractions etc. Some restaurants were open but only if they had hotels attatched. Our internet cafe was only open because the guy running it was from Rajasthan. He also mentioned that our plans to go to Rajasthan in May are seriously flawed as he can't even hack the heat then. More to contemplate for us! We happened across a barber during our wait and Ade opted for the medium length trim rather than the Bollywood special (although he was tempted). The barber set to work in the utmost of concentration and the results were truly spectacular!

After meals it is customary to get a bowl of aniseed grains with your bill. In Bangalore Ade made the hilarious mistake of lobbing a large tea-spoon full in to his mouth. After a few seconds he reached for his napkin and relieved himself of them again but the memory remains. In Kanyakumari we came across the first instance of aniseed covered in sugar which resemble little cauliflowers. He excerises caution now with only one little cauliflower at a time.

We killed the rest our time killing little ants who had invaded our backgammon board (we suspect there may have been an incident of whiskey spilling responsible) and then playing backgammon to an audience of Indian men at the train station. About two hours before the train was due to leave an Indian passenger hopped through a window and went through the carriages opening doors. We got on and secured individual window seats which turned out to be very fortunate as the benches were crowded and men were sitting in the luggage rails and women and children on the floors. In future we'll make sure to reserve seats. At every stop men came aboard selling home made crisps, nuts, bananas, chai and coffee as well as meals such as idly and chappati. And so we arrived in Madurai at 11pm.

The main hotel strip in Madurai was close (5 mins walk) to the train station and the Sri Meenakshi temple (10 mins). The norm is to have a rooftop restaurant and we frequented a few during our 4 days here. One had a dosa festival and Ade enjoyed trying out what they had on offer while looking out over the lights of the city and towers of the temple. Dosas are rice pancakes filled with stuff (commonly potato goo) and covered in vegetable spiced juice (Sambar) and are most delicious - the festival had approx 80 varities of fillings of which chickpea and garlic fillings were both sampled. The restaurant with the festival had no beer for sale as there was a Muslim holiday so we checked at ours when we arrived back. The waiter we asked said unfortunately not due to the mentioned the holiday but another waiter overheard the conversation and conspiritorily advised us the hotel next door was selling beer despite the holiday. With glee in our eyes we marched back down the stairs and up again to the third rooftop restaurant in a row where we had more luck and 2 beers each. This waiter claimed that Ash looked like a Bollywood actress which is hard to believe and chated to us for awhile about life in Ireland/England and his respective life in India. It was quite interesting but ended with a guilty feeling of being very fortunate, he will probably never be able to do what we're doing now.

We visited the Gandhi museum which was really informative about India's history with England from the beginning up until the time of Gandhi and after. We learned a lot but it was pretty grim. There is a loin cloth in a glass display apparently worn by Gandhi when he was assassinated. On the rickshaw ride back our cab broke down and we sat, much to the amusement of the locals for 10 mins, while the driver made some repairs. We attempted to see a light and sound show at an old palace but it was closed for repairs. Deeming new clothes necessary we popped into a huge store across the street and picked up some really nice, cheap shirts and tops so the journey to the palace wasn't a complete waste of time. Also, while we were waiting for the show (before we noticed the big sign saying it wasn't on!) we watched a family of squirrells play with a few rats in a hole in the park outside the palace. Delightful entertainment.

On the morn of our departure we got up early and walked to the temple for which Madurai is famous. It is absolutely massive and can be seen from anywhere in the city if you are high enough. There are 4 main entrance towers and then many in the main compound, including the golden temple. We checked out the view from across the street on a shop roof before entering the East tower sans shoes. We were too late though, as the temple had just banned non-hindus from visiting the inside of the main temple on April 1st, the day of our visit was April 3rd! Never mind, there was plenty to see wandering around withing the walls. We saw a temple elephant accept rupees in return for blessing people on the head and the hall of pillars boasting over 1000 (pillars, that is).

We left the temple to head to the bus stand, first going via the post office to send books home (should arrive some time in July!). The heat had been so over-bearing that we decided to flee for the hills - next stop Kodaikanal, a hillstation at 2000m high.

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Photos

Kanyakumari with dots
Post temple

View from our room
in Kanyakumari

Sunset
Southern tip of India

First train journey
Kanyakumari - Madurai

Temple Elephant
Madurai

Sri Meenakshi temple
Madurai

Comments

[Ms Banana]

Ash and Ade are fabulous
What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning. Sipping coffee, eating breakfast, and being amused by tales of squirrels vs rats, the various bollywood specials, minor cultural mishaps and the eternal quest for beer. You two are definitely my favourites! :)

[Sophy]

Wowzers
Hey Adrian. Just to say sounds as if you're having a fab time. Have a lovely time and will write properly soon. Sophy xxx