Sastry's Corner on the Web: Kanyakumari Trip

I cannot get over Kanyakumari.
The beautiful ocean view lingers in my mind
The thriving waves echo in my heart
The colors of the ocean paint my vision
A voice from the nature calls my soul

And this post gets delayed forever. My life has become hectic. I am not sure about what to give priority. Naturally, the one that does not pay but gives satisfaction got a backseat. It is around 12:50 in the night of a weekend. I am in front of my computer, staring at windows and suddenly got that urge to write with a delusive imagination that there definitely will be atleast one future reader : myself :-) And I am not sure if I will be able to complete it this time either.

And again a fortnight later, another attempt to add more details.

Introduction
Well. We had been planning for the kanyakumari for a long time. That beautiful image of southernmost tip of India used to linger in our minds. Finally, we decided to jump and go on a travel mission. This, we decided soon after we came back from Pondicherry.

Planning for the Trip
We looked at differen options of going to Kanyakumari. Naturally, two prime ones were by bus and by train. After some thought, we decided to go by train. Next was the search for the trains available. The train that we found was Kanyakumari. We went ahead and booked the tickets.

The Journey
I must say that Kanyakumari express is one of the slowest train and it can be extremely boring. The train left the Bangalore Central station in the night around 9:30 p.m. And it reached Kanyakumari only the evening of the next day. But the scenery of the journey is awesome. All over the journey were scenes of backwaters. What a heavenly sight it is.

At Kanyakumari

Stay

We reached Kanyakumari around 6:00 p.m We had a booking at Vivekananda Ashram at Vivekananda Puram. We heard that it is a simple and inexpensive place and yet pretty good. So we wanted to try that out rather than a usual hotel. After getting down at railway station, we headed out for Vivekananda Puram in an auto rickshaw. Cost us Rs. 20. The station is around 2 kms from the Vivekananda Puram.

Vivekananda Puram

We stayed in a small 2 bedroom accomodation. I must say that the room is pretty ordinary and like a hostel. But who cares? I didnt as loong as the environment is good. And we were not disappointed. The campus is awesome. It is quiet, simple and full of greenery. There were museum, temple, canteen etc. Even they have their own beach area.

Sunrise

Vivekananda puram folks have their own beach from where sunrise could be enjoyed. So we woke early in the morning and walked through the nice garden of Vivekanandapuram and waited for the sun rise. I must say the sea was ferocious. The sunrise view was brilliant.

Vivekananda Rock

There are ferries that take people to the rock. It feels like meditating here. The ferries take Rs. 20 per head to go to Vivekananda rock. It started raining as soon as we were about to catch the ferry. But thankfully, the clouds cleared. And we could enjoy the beauty on the rock.

Other Places of Interest : Kumari Amman Temple, Wax Museum et al

Kumari Amman Temple is right on the shore. You have to drop off your cameras outside, open your shirts and then go in. Wax Museum is a place recently opened in Kanyakumari and hosts the wax statues of some celebrities.

Return Journey

After two days of fantastic stay at Vivekanandapuram, it was time to bid adieu. The time was at around 10:00 a.m in the morning. A slow train, moving through the beautiful parts of the country. All along the route were backwaters, mountains and everything that make you dream and think "If I had a house here" :-)