After a 13-hour night bus ride I arrived at Kanyuakumari, the southernmost point of India and the meeting point of three great seas – the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea. Keeping in mind the lessons of Pondicherry, I found a suitable guest house incredibly fast, in less than five minutes. The location was perfect too – close to the beach, to the market, to the main radio with shops, to the bus stop, and to the temples. Besides, my room was on the roof, from where I could enjoy the nice panorama. After taking a shower with enormous pleasure, I kicked off my next day in incredible India.
This time the post will be a series of pictures with commentaries below.
A view from my lodge to the sea and to the two most famous points of interest – Vivekananda Memorial Complex and Thiruvalluvar Statue. Swami Vivekananda is considered one of India’s greatest spiritual leaders.
The place my usual portion of tea with milk at a street food kiosk. My attitude towards street snacks evolved within 3 days as follows: avoid, consume with caution, enjoy. This place was crowded as it was raining, so many locals stayed inside sipping their tea. Among them was a nice Canadian couple who was also on a tour across Southern India, but in the opposite direction.
Exploring the neighbourhood under my umbrella. Encountered nice Christian church. There is a relatively high number of Christian Indians in the area.
The whole square is full of Christian attributes.
The church at a closer look
Colourful houses around the square
Unusually quiet and clean street
Another colourful house among many
Religion and Animal Planet
In the afternoon I visited the two sights on water displayed in the first picture. Standing in the long queue to board the barge.
Men and women are boarding separately.
The barge is rusty, so safety first.
View at the Statue from the Vivekananda Memorial
Nice white elephants
Cute dustbin
No entrance with shoes on
Looking up the Memorial.
Kanyakumari is left behind
White stripes are very helpful in summer as it gets incredibly hot, and white colour absorbs less heat.
Lions guarding the entrance
A closer look at the Statute at the neighboring rock
Our rusty barge used for transportation between the rocks and the mainland
Nicely decorated door
The Memorial
Box for spitting
Black elephants this time
Another beautiful piece of decoration
Sunrise calendar. Didn’t figure out how to read it.
The calendar at a closer look.
You don’t need your watch here. Unless it rains as it did today :).
Some lady asked to take a photo with her after I asked her to make mine. Why not? By the way, I didn’t see anyone but Indian people there. Indian tourists come there from all corners of the country. I talked to some, and there people even from as far as Delhi.
Some rock seen from the other side of the Memorial
At the second ride the barge took us to the island with the Statue.
Both rocks seen from the mainland
To be continued in the second part…
