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Published: October 29th 2008
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A big sightseeing day today. Up early and set off to Kanyakumari - the sourthernmost tip of India after enjoying an Indian breakfast of egg curry and noodles (a kerala special).
A brief overview of what we saw (I wont bore you with the detail - you'll have to put up with the photos when we get back!!!). We started off at Padmanabhapuram palace, on to Suchindram temple and then Kanyakumari.
Things that stood out for me in the course of the day were:-
Indian visitors get charged rs25 to visit the palace - 'foreign tourists' get charged rs200 - bit of a rip off me thinks given rough guide says its rs50...My efforts to haggle were to no avail however with the ticket office simply saying 'government change to charges'.. Pete almost refused to go in but given we'd made it there I paid and stomped in - I'm glad we went but I have to say it was nothing special - pete reckons the good stuff (furniture and paintings etc has been made off with - they tell us its upstairs but surprise - we're not allowed to visit those floors!!!! - I'm told the Taj Mahal
is similar in that it about rs50/100 for an Indian to visit and about rs600 for a tourist...ah well we're not going there so we'll not know....
We were continually 'papped' throughout the day and am strating to feel like a minor celeb! I'm quite perturbed by the number of family photos albums we will appear in... One family asked us very nicely if we would pose with the, - so we obliged and they took several photos of there 'new friends' arms around pete, holding my hand etc - we got a photo of them too...
The temple was much more enjoyable - absolutely stunning and I could of stayed for hours wandering around but it woudnt be right to do so given people are praying and we're being walked around by a guide. The architecture and the details in the statues was amazing and i think pete and i both felt humbled by the experience. There was a pillar made of solid granite but when tapped in a certain way it made a beautiful sound. Pete's attempt wasn't quite as succesful as the guide's but better than mine (I couldn't get a note - was tapping
wrong!!! How many ways can you tap?)
There was also a statue of Hanumaan (it was 16ft!) and overwhelming - surrounded by stalls selling oil, bananas and other offerings.
I immediately recognised Shiva and that room was stunning - adorned with numerous colourful paintings and a beautiful statue. there was one area in the temple that reminded me of Blackpool!!! It was where they store the items used in processions - huge colourful objects to be carried through the streets in celebration a bit like the depot where i did my management training!
Oh yes, Pete had to take his shirt off to go in and was greatful when I was relieved of the camera so i couldn't capture his T shirt tan on film!
The monument at Kanyakamari was huge - I hadn't realised that about 6000 people were saved during the tsunami because they were visiting the monument when it hit the mainland - the island was just far enough out not to be destroyed - the people were subsequently rescued by the coastguard...Pilgrims already make there way there to get close to the vive kananda and thiruvalluvar statues but for me it was
inspiring that so many people were saved that day and I'm sure people have onemore thing to pray thanks for when they get there.
I have to say that i was disappointed that I couldnt see where the 3 seas met - I dont know what I expected really - there was never going to be a big sign was there!
It was a long day of sightseeing then back to our hotel which is brilliant - staff are attentive and have good senses of humour (or perhaps I just think they're funny when they're trying to be really professional about things)- its filling up now as well so the season here is starting. We're heading back to Varkala tomorrow - I wonder how many of you guesssed that was going to happen - its so peaceful there and we both need a bit more time to chill out before we get on the real tourist trail! I've just started to be able to stop thinking about work - its actually been harder than I thought!
PS - Pete spent 1 hour on this the other day uploading photos and got 2 on - not sure that there'll be too many making an appearance!!!
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bev stewart
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catching up
Hi there kiddo, just catching up am at work at the moment doing the cleaning overtime could do with some sun we've had SNOW!!!!! love bev xxxx