Kanyakumari

We were planning a trip to Kanyakumari for a long long time. It it work out until quite recently. We set out from Bangalore to Kanyakumari by bus , reached there in 12 hours flat . The train usually takes 20 - 24 hours that depends on your luck :) 

The place itself is so so small, the southern tip of India is a charming little village by a fantastic beach :) that is how i would describe the place. I am not too sure how many people live there but I do know this , I saw more hotels than houses there. The place is bustling , the heat and the humidity hits you when you land there. You can see only  blue on all the three sides. 

We checked into the TTDC guest house , the rooms are decent (dont expect 5 star) and the food is good . I dont understand one thing about all these tourist places, why serve that crappy North Indian and chinese food when they dont even know how to make the dishes properly ?? I mean we have a great  cusine on our own , and people who come there should eat the local stuff not the greasy grub you come up with. Anyway the place is right on the beach and it has a great view. 

There are very few things you can do in KanyaKumari , the beach is the most obvious attraction, Vivekananda Rock is another , then there is a temple dedicated to the Goddess Kanyakumari .

Kanyakumar is surrounded by the three mighty water bodies , the Arabian Sea , the Indian ocean and the Bay of Bengal. The water is calm but there are too many rocks so the water breaks on them , good for photography but bad for getting into for swimming. It is downright dangerous. The beach is actually taken over by hawkers , selling everything under the sun , from shells to bondas and teas (which you must try they are delicious ), mirrors to spices anything you need . Let me tell you all you would need is a sun block and a lot of bottled water and sun glasses :). Do not venture out in the mornings , we had no choice since we had a time crunch , we were severely dehydrated and tanned. 

The line to get to a jetty to take you to Vivekananda rock is long and people try to sell you stuff you don't need but when you are on that jetty you feel all tingly maybe because you are on the verge of leaving the mainland , its only 500 mts into the sea but hey you did leave the main land dint you :) ... the water is blue .. really really blue. The rock is famous because Vivekananda meditated to the goddess Devi Kumari (Parvathi) here in December 1892. Devi Kumari is supposed to have meditated to Shiva here on one foot ( you can see the impression of her foot on the rock ). They sell all the works of Vivekananda here . There is a famous Tamil poet - Thiruvalluvar statue right next to the rock. 

The Temple in Kanyakumari is dedicated to the goddess  Devi Kumari and she was supposed to be the most richest goddess until the Portuguese came into town . They say that the diamond in her nose pin was so huge and cut so brilliantly that it used to shine like the sun when the night fell and it used to guide the sailors to shore.  And no you cant see it today ... 

The highlight of out visit was the sunrise, that part is out of the world. It is usually after 6 , we made sure that we were on time. The entire sky is like an orange flame which slowly turns golden , beautiful , mind blowing!! The water looks as if it is on fire and the sun in a red ball slowly coming out of the shadows!! This is one thing that should not be missed.

Shopping in Kanyakumari  is like shopping for souvenirs thats all , you get great shell art and remember to bargain like crazy. 

There are a few palaces and forts scattered around the place we dint have the time to explore but since it is a small place it does not take long to get somewhere , the taxis and the autos con you so be careful when you travel 

All in all it is a great visit, its ok to spend a couple of days looking around , it still has the small town charm so its all good !