Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin)

Tuesday 25th January

Asked for a seat for the 3 hour train trip today to Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin), which is more expensive than a free-for-all ticket. They said I could sit anywhere in the non-AC sleeper carriages. Which was fine, except all those seats were occupied and lots of people were standing. But after an hour or so, lots of people got off and I had heaps of space. The hostel I planned to stay at had no dormitory (renovation) and only expensive rooms. Found this place, still a bit expensive, but ok. I am here a few days so will see what else is here.

Kanyakumari is the southern most point in all of India. Its only a small town, but I have four days here before making my way north; so I am trying save the sightseeing for later in the week. So I just had a wander round the bazaar, had some good food then came back to watch Eat, Love, Pray on my laptop.

Wednesday 26th January

Australia Day and India's Republic Day. Got up, earlyish, and did my washing in a bucket in the room. It took a while, and certainly needed doing. At first I hung the wet clothes in my room, trying not to draw attention to it as sometimes hotels don't want you to do your own washing....but it didnt seem to be drying so I took it to the end of the external corridor and hung it over the balcony, directly in the sunlight. Perfect. I sat there reading my book, with an ocean view and clean clothes.

Went to the tourist information office which was 'closed' but someone was there and I asked him if there would be any celebrations of Republic Day and he said no, though I am not sure he completely understood me. (He just gave me a leaflet about the town - which was gratefully received, and I will use, but didnt answer my question).  But here in the state of Tamil Nadu they do not necessarily consider themselves part of Inida and some would quite like to be seperated, so perhaps there is no enthusiasm for Republic Day.

In the past few weeks I have found myself being a bit impatient with, and rude to, the locals when things don't go smoothly. Once I realised this, I didnt like myself for it and have been trying to get back to happy-go-lucky Pete from before. Such behaviour may also be part of the Indian experience, ups and downs. I have definitely been better in recent days. Here is an everyday example of how things can be frustrating, things that normally I would happily get through, but had been bothering me recently.........

I thought I would try a locals diner for dinner, rather than the touristy places, as I often do. They had a list of dishes, including veg curry, in English, on an A-Board outside, so I sat down and asked for veg curry. A tall guy leans over me and just looks blankly at me as I repeat my order. "Banana" he says. "No, veg curry and rice, please". I think he said banana again before pointing at  the fried fish and chicken out the front. "No, vegetarian. Curry. Rice, no meat". If you are going to advertise that you serve veg curry then surely you need to be able understand when someone orders it! Now, all this is written from my point of view of course, I expect he and the other staff watching have a whole different perspective on it.

Anyway, so he steps aside without making it clear whether he has understood, which is frustrating. They don't indicate whether or not they understand, but its just a cultural thing......a few seconds later another guy stands over me and I repeat my order a couple of times and they get it. Anyway, the rice wasnt very warm, the sauce was very spicy and there were not many vegies.

Indian people don't generally say "Please" or "Thank you" or "here you are" to each other, in shops or restaurants. Sometimes just a small wiggle of the head to acknowledge what they have given or received. I think I had started to think that if they don't use courteous words, then I won't bother either. But this was just making seem grumpy and insolent so I have gone back to being polite even if it does not seem important to the locals.

After dinner I walked down to the water and got chatting with a tourists driver. His English was good and he was friendly. But he kept asking why I had not been to certain places, without giving me the chance to say that I can't do everything. Anyway, he was cool. He had his bonnet open to catch the cool evening breeze off the sea, after a long days driving. He also confirmed that there is no celebration here for Republic Day.

Stop press.....except there were a few fireworks later, let off from the back of a hotel. People stopped to look but there was gathering.


Thursday 27th January

Checked into a different hotel this morning. Its a bit cheaper and the guy was more friendly, but only a bucket shower. Did the sightseeing in Kanyakumari, the southern tip of India that runs into the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. So in theory I could swim to Perth from here.

The Gandhi Memorial is a playful bright marshmallow-pink with not much inside. I walked past the fishermen unknotting their nets and past the small, coloured village houses, to the white Catholic church; there was a wedding on. The bride was wearing a sari and a white veil and there was no seating, the small congregation sitting on the floor, the bride and groom on plastic chairs. The music was 80's synth pop with Hindi/Tamil singing.

Next I queued up and caught the beaten-up old ferry 400 metres across to the Vivekananda Memorial. Surprisingly, they gave us life jackets, which were a bit old but would have been better than nothing as the sea was quite choppy. Vivekananda was a swami who spread his moral message overseas. Not bad, the locals seemed to like it. There is also a huge statue of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, though you can't visit the island he is on.

Went to the Kumari Amman Temple. Men have to remove their shirt as well as shoes to enter. It was dark inside and it felt like being underground. You enter in stages and there was some waiting around; I got my first Indian paint spot planted on my forehead. There are signs saying 'silence' but the locals ignore that and talk and shout as if they are at the market. We went into a second chamber and there was a bit of a squash and I couldn't quite see what was happening, but I dont  think I missed much. Any chance of a spiritual experience was lost in the chatter and pushing.

Had a cat nap in the afternoon then walked a couple of kms to sunset park where I read for a while. As often happens, the sun went behind a cloud of haze long before it would have gone over the horizon. Oh well, there were lots of Indian tourists hanging around too. I walked back and found some kiosks and resturants I hadn't seen before. Got dosa masala. An Indian Christian family asked me what religion I am "Hindu?, Christian?" and they laughed when I said "no religion".

Not a great night's sleep, with the very loud Indian music blarring from the street around midnight and at 6am. And the noisy torrent of water from the cistern competing with the music.


Friday 28th January

Lazy lie-in. Dipped my feet in the sea, the same as I did at the southern most point of Africa. After lunch, went to the train station to book a ticket for next week. The trains are getting booked out far in advance so although I don't like to plan ahead, I have to if I want to see all the things I still want to see before my visa runs out.

I walked on up the road to an ashram to the Vivekananda exhibition. We had to wait an hour before it opened (I kind of knew that before I went). Met Elsa from Taiwan and we sat outside chatting until they let us in 20 minutes late. Vivekananda was a swami and in the 1890s he toured India spreading his spiritual and moral message. He then meditated on the rock here, just off Kanyakumari and decided to spread his message to the world. He went to New York to a gathering of world religious leaders, and, apparently, took the place by storm, winning lots of respect, partly because he said that no single religion is more important than any other, and that the west should concentrate on spirituality rather than material wealth.

Elsa and I walked back into town and walked along the pier made of rocks out to sea, then had dinner and sat near the beach.  I hadn't spoken much in the last couple of days as there are only a few tourists here, so it was good to have someone to hang out with.