If you plan for a Kerala trip, no travel agent would accommodate another state in the package. No matter how close you stay to the border of another state. However, with our travel agent the situation was quite different. He was happy to accommodate Kanyakumari in our package although it would require separate permission from the Tamil Nadu toll officers. So, after a great breakfast of Appam in Kovalam, we boarded our car and headed straight to the beach of Kanyakumari. The short ride from Kovalam to Kanyakumari lasted for about 2hrs 30 mins, due to some traffic. We reached there around 11am, so we had full day at our disposal to make the most of it. First as expected, we rushed to the beach. The surrealistic beauty of the Triveni Sangam can only be experienced. No amounts of words can do justice to how the three different colors of waters merged into the ocean there. Towards the left, it was the Arabian Sea, on the right the Bay of Bengal, and the central space was occupied by the Indian Ocean. It might sound weird that water can be of three separate colors. The answer to this query can be – come to Kanyakumari and see for yourself, where three distinct waterways chalk out their own identities while merging into each other. After staring at the beauty of the ocean and clicking millions of pictures, we decided to have lunch. After Kovalam, my expectations about food were high. However, the food offered to us at a small shack near the beach failed to meet our expectations. Nonetheless, I was so excited to see Kanyakumari that a mere tasteless meal couldn’t take away my positive spirit for the day. Then, we decided to board a vessel to go to the famous Vivekananda Rock. I was a little scared to go on the vessel since I am generally scared of water. But being a Bengali, the motivation to be on the Vivekananda Rock was too much. So, we boarded the vessel and amidst a lot of turbulence in the water, we made our way to the rock. It felt like the sea had thrown a challenge to me and I was desperate to overcome it. Finally, we reached the Vivekananda Rock and entered the memorial. We were awestruck to see the divinity around this place which exuded from the towering statue of Swami Vivekananda. We were speechless. As photography was prohibited inside the memorial, we couldn’t click any pictures of this wonderment. However, what mind could capture would be stored forever. We came out and took a tour of the entire huge rock where Swami Vivekananda attained enlightenment. The entire place was so peaceful and had a spirit of its own that you feel charged up. On one side of the rock, there was a huge statue of Thiruvalluvar, who was a popular Tamilian poet and philosopher. We were not aware of this philosopher, until we went there. We learnt there that he worked on secular ethics and morality. So, an important person who deserved to have his statue commemorated at the great rock. Standing on this rock, it felt exhilarating. I looked at the Indian continent from a little distance and could say how my country looks geographically. Since, we have a conical tip at the base of the country, we could see the vast expanse of the country. We could also see the beautiful beach of Rameshwaram at a distance.
After this thrilling experience, we boarded the vessel again to set our foot on Indian domain. We reached the Indian Ocean see shore and decided to check the local market for some shopping, after all South Indian silks are most sought after. We were surprised to see how cheap South Indian silks were in Kanyakumari. We pay a ton of money in Kolkata to buy South Indian silks. My husband and I bargained and got a beautiful jamun colored South Indian silk at only Rs. 550. Yes, it was that cheap and the quality was awesome. When all our quota for travelling was completed, we started our ride again towards Kovalam. This was our last night at Kovalam and I wanted it to be special. So, we ordered some great continental platter at a restaurant and called it an early day. Next day, it was a long ride to Kochin for us - our last halt before we leave God’s Own Country. |
AuthorA professional corporate writer, writing outside the box. Categories
All
Recent Posts |