Kanyakumari

We took the train from Varkala to Kanyakumari, the most southern point in India. We took a rickshaw into the centre of town for 10 Rs. The driver was clearly interested in showing us certain hotels where he could collect a commission, but we told him we had already found a hotel. Since it was almost sunset, we decided to head straight to the water to watch it with everyone who had already gathered. Just as we reached the western coast, we heard clapping...the sun had just set. Luckily we were there for one more night so we could catch it the next day. We wandered around the point and saw a small memorial that was built in honour of Mahatma Gandhi. There was also a statue that was built to pay tribute to the victims of the 2004 tsunami. We met a couple from Israel and asked where they were staying, but it was far and a little more expensive than what we were looking for so we visited some places mentioned in our Lonely Planet guide. We checked into the Mannickan Hotel, then walked back to the main street to find something to eat. We came across a hole in the wall called Idly Shop where there was only one other table of tourists. We ordered masala dosa, idly and Fantas for about 40 Rs and it was delicious. It was getting late so we walked back to the hotel and found that Legally Blond was playing so we spent the rest of the night watching it.

We woke up at 5am the next morning in order to see the sun rise. There were much fewer people than at sunset the previous day, so we were able to get a place to sit where the fishermen dock their boats. The view was amazing and definitely worth waking up at such an early hour. After breakfast, we went to visit the local temple. It was a very different experience from the one in Varkala. There were tons of people being pushed through the building very quickly. We were taken to the front of the line, then we were told to stand to the side so we could watch the people receive their blessings. There was so much pushing and shoving, which was strange to see in a place meant for worship.

We took a ferry to a nearby island which held the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and the Thiruvalluvar statue.

Our next destination was Alleppey and the train didn't leave until the next morning. We walked down to see the sunset, but unfortunately it was too cloudy to see the sun pass the horizon.

The next morning we caught the train to Trivandrum at 5:30am and then took a 4 hour bus to Alleppey.