DAY 79 AND 80 – KANYAKUMARI
Day 79 – Monday, 13th Jan 2014 and Day 80 – Tuesday, 14th Jan 2014
It’s Sunday evening, our train Guruvayur Express from Madurai to Nagercoil is pulling into the train station by 9:40 pm. Nagercoil is not the Southern tip but almost there, it is just 22 kms from Kanyakumari and a major railway junction.
train route to Nagercoil
Outside the railway station, some auto rickshaw and taxi drivers surround us but we shoo them away. We briefly mention that we need to go to Kanyakumari but will take the bus. An immediate response from these people is that there are no more buses at this hour and we will need to take a taxi. We choose to ignore and continue our walk to the bus stand. Along the path, we find out from a few people that the bus stand is 1 km from the railway station. Oops! Dragging all that luggage in the night, not a good idea probably! As we turn back, we see a taxi driver has followed us some distance. He speaks in plain English and says that – ‘Sir, I am a local taxi driver from Kanyakumari and need to get back there. I can drop you to your hotel and will charge you a nominal fare. You can ride with me if interested.’ He seemed genuine from his talks and charged us Rs 250 for a 22 km journey. We accept his offer and reach Gujarat Bhavan on Kovalam Road by 10:15 pm.
Kanyakumari is famous for the amazing views we get for sunrise and sunsets. We kept an alarm for 5:15 am the next morning.
It’s 5:15 am Monday morning, Khyati and I freshen up, pack our cameras, torch light and head out towards the Sunrise point in the dark. On our way there, we see the Lighthouse and few other people on the street heading towards the beach. We reach the Sunrise point by 5:45 am, the sun is supposed to rise by 6:30 am so we had some time. We sit on some of the rocks with waves lashing strongly against them.
Vivekananda Rock at 5:45 am, covered by a string of lights.
As it approaches 6 am, we could see the day break as darkness began to fade away. The feeling was amazing as we saw the sunrise. By now, a lot of people had accumulated around us and on the nearby buildings, we could see people on the terraces.
Sunrise
It’s 7:30 am, we are back to our hotel and plan the rest of the day. Some of the key points of attraction in Kanyakumari are: Vivekananda Rock, Thiruvallar Statue, Devi temple, Vivekananda Life museum, Gandhi Temple, Sunset point and Sunrise point.
It’s 10:30 am, we are at the main jetty stand and wish to go to Vivekananda rock island. The lines are huge, over an hour long and we have no choice but to patiently wait. It’s noon by the time our turn comes and we head in the boat jetty to Vivekananda Rock island. (A thing to note – normal ticket prices are Rs 34 pp and premium ticket prices are Rs 169 pp). You can evade the lines if you purchase premium tickets. We didn’t know about these tickets as there was just a small board near the ticket counter which gave this information. What a shame!
The boat ride is 5 minutes and we arrive on the island. Swami Vivekananda meditated on this island during his India tour. Story has it that when he arrived in Kanyakumari, he saw this barren island and immediately found solace and wanted to go there to meditate. There were fishermen who were offering the boat ride for a small price but Swamiji didn’t have any money to pay them. So, Swami Vivekananda jumped in the ocean and swam to the island, not fearing about any fishes, whales or sharks in the ocean. Such was his determination and will.
We spend an hour on the island and marvel at the vast ocean. South of the island, we can see two different water bodies – one has a greenish tinge and another has a bluish tinge to it’s color. This is the confluence point of Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. I have tried to capture the sight in this image and video, hope you can see.
MVI0071 from Paras Mamania on Vimeo.
confluence point
We take the boat jetty again which goes to the nearby island of Thiruvallar. Thiruvallar was a famous poet and a huge 92 ft statue has been erected in his honor. We enjoy our visit to both these islands and head back to Kanyakumari.
Vivekananda Rock island in background
Thiruvallar statue
It’s 3:30 pm and we have some filling lunch at a local restaurant. Post that, we visit a museum on the life of Swami Vivekananda and his travels and teachings. From there, we visit Gandhi temple. It’s the only place I have heard of which has a temple for Gandhiji. Gandhi is the father of our nation and he helped us in India’s freedom struggle but a temple, why?
Gandhi temple and spinning wheel symbol
It’s 5:30 pm and we head to the Sunset point. In Kanyakumari, they have built a 5 storey building called the Sea view Tower which is solely to view sunsets as you get an unhindered view of the ocean and the setting sun. Entry is just Rs 10 pp.
We enjoy the gorgeous sunset and our time here.
Sunset
It’s 7:30 pm and we head back to the hotel and relax in our rooms. We call it a night around 10 pm.
Tomorrow, we head to Trivandrum but our train isn’t till 10:30 am so we don’t miss another chance and head to the sunrise point again on Tuesday morning. We are glad we could see the gorgeous sunrises two days in a row in Kanyakumari.
It’s 8:30 am, we check out of our room and take a bus to Nagercoil railway station. Our train – Ananthpuri Express to Trivandrum is on time. The journey is short – 75 kms and we arrive in Trivandrum by 1 pm.
train route to Trivandrum
In our next post, please read about our visit to Kovalam Beach, Golden sand beaches at Poovar and Trivandrum city.
Hope you enjoyed this piece on Kanyakumari, the Southern tip of India. Now we begin our ascend from the West Coast of India towards Mumbai.
Stay tuned with us,
Best wishes,
Paras