Return to Mumbai

We woke up early and left Nagercoil for Trivandrum 3 hrs before the train was due to leave. We had our rally driver wannabe driving so we felt safe to reach on time (70 km trip). The traffic was light to begin with and we made good headway. I was still amazed with the amount of hospitals and schools in Tamil Nadu.

Loaded hay truck

This lady had her own road safety gear, a grinding mask

Apparently the illiteracy level is very low here compared to other areas in India and crime too due to the reason of religious upbringing (most schools names are preceded by Her Holiness School .... The Saint School .... ), so the kids here are very smart and have a knack for curing people. During these few days I must have seen a specialist hospital for nearly every organ in the body.

One of the many Churches of Tamil Nadu

After we passed the Tamil Nadu and Kerala border and were about 10k's into Kerala the traffic slowed down and finally stopped into complete gridlock. I wondered what is going on and the driver informed that we are at the Kerala Custom checkpoint. They check trucks that they have all the proper tax documents for bringing stuff into Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Gridlocked at the checkpoint

Sounds ridiculous but this is India and it is not one country, it is consisting of several states and they all have their own regulations. In New Delhi is only the Central Government. I once heard a discussion that if India would not have strong Central Government the whole system (i.e. country) would fall into chaos. Very much like Burma that also consists of something like 30+ tribes (states) but is ruthlessly ruled by a military junta.

One stop medicine shop: Western, Eastern and animal drugs

Anyway, we sat in the traffic queue for at least 45m and then we started making headway. I was looking at the watch but was not worried at this stage. Our driver were clocking in kilometers again and it seemed we were on time when the traffic came to a crawl at a busy intersection. The driver said it was the last bottle neck on the way. The clock was ticking and we started discussing plan "B" if we would not make the train.

Roadside breakfast

The intersection was guarded by Lord Krishna

Finally we passed the intersection and entered into Trivandrum where traffic was not all too smooth. We all were counting minutes now. The driver was making daredevil maneuvers on the road and the trainstation was still far away. We had something like 10 minutes left for the train departure when we passed the last bridge before the station, we raced over it and the driver turned left into the station and we exited the taxi, fast.

People at the bus station

On the rail road again

Richard grabbed a coolie to take our luggage and we followed him while Richard ran ahead to find the correct platform and to inform the conductor that we were coming. The coolie did not run, I don't think anybody runs with 30 kilos on his head and a few bags on his shoulder so we were just hoping for the best and fearing the worst. Finally we got to the train, found our compartment and loaded ourselves onto it. We shook hands with Richard and he said goodbye. The coolie asked for 200 Rs, so Richard took him outside to deal with, (he settled for 100 Rs). Once we sat down and managed to catch our breath the train started moving. We had made it in the last second...

Meeting cargo train

The return trip was the same as coming down, same chicken and rice and once we reached Maharashtra it started raining. There were no Naxalites and no derailings, so all was good. As we had agreed to meet up with Dubey for dinner at his pad we got off the next evening at Panvel. This time we had a taxi that could fit a bag into the boot as last time our stuff got wet and I was not taking any chances with the weather.

Paddy field

Plowing paddy with Oxen

In Khargar at Dubey's place we met his mother, wife, daughter and son. I had bought the kids some halva to treat themselves to. As we were tired of the trip we had an excellent dinner and pretty much fell asleep.

Colachel Beach

This was our last day in Tamil Nadu and Richard had lined up a visit to Colachel beach and the Kali temple adjacent to it. Historically Colachel is famous for that the King of Travancore, Marthanda Varma, beat the crap out of the Dutch East India Company Naval Forces in 1741. At the Padmanabhapuram Palace I had seen paintings depicting the Dutch Admiral laying his arms at the feet of the King. I bet it was a great day to be King.

Students waiting for the morning bus

In Tamil Nadu the sickle and hammer ideal could be seen in many places.

The Kali temple, is actually a dirt mound covered by a roof and in front of the mini-moutain there were a few idols below a painted Kali face on the dirt. The worshippers told us that the mound has risen by itself and taken on the facial features of Kali, hence the paint and idols. Once a year they have a big temple festival and the place is jam packed. I know how jam packed India can be so I was just glad I did not have to cope with that. We did a small pooja to support the temple and soon enough we were on our merry way.

The Kali temple

Kali herself, the God of Destruction

A wishing tree (?)

We continued a bit forward but eventually there was nothing much to see and we stopped at a long jetty to have a walk. The jetty was beside the Colachel fishing harbor and I think it is part of a scheme for bigger things to come. The road was lined with concrete piglets that are usually used as building breakwaters. The wind was quite fresh and we could see breakers in the distance, maybe the piglets were intended to enhance the natural reef to make a larger port at Colachel. 

Colachel Beach and fishing harbor

Another Kattumaram

The "Love Tree"

After awhile we returned to the car and I had to convince the driver there was a crossing from the temple road to the seaside and that I wanted to go there and have a look on the beach too. We arrived there and turned as instructed. There was a small church and a path to the beach. The path was lined by flowers called "Love Tree" in Thai. At the beach there was a small concrete slab 7x7m, probably used by the smaller fishermen to offload their takes. There were also several Kattumaram's pulled up on the sand. 

Colachel Home Stay

Banana shop

After awhile we settled into the car and headed back to Nagercoil. Richard tells us Colachel was badly hit by the tsunami in 2004 and the government had built along long swathes of beach a protective barrier that was several meters high. Driving beside it one did not really realize that the sea is on the other side. On the way we pick up some cold beer and take away food and have it at Richards pad.

Richard & his Mom

After lunch we meet up with Wonita and her niece Annabel. We pile in the car and go to the biggest gold shop in Nagercoil. The shop is huge and sells everything one could imagine in jewellery way. We find out that the gold sold in India is not as pure as in Thailand (99.9%) and so we start looking at silver jewellery. Jira settles on a couple of rings, I just watch. 

Nagercoil clocktower

Next stop is at a small mall where we check out shoes and skirts and shirts. Eventually we get some more suitcase filling there too. Then it is towards the Hotel but we detour via Richards church where I meet his cousin who gives me a short statement of facts. namely, that this is the head Church for C.o.S.I. (Church of South India), that is the biggest congregation with some 400 affiliate churches and their other bishopry of C.o.N.I. (Church of North India) which has their own affiliate churches. The CoSI was established in 1819.

Ashley, Jira, Allester, Me, Wonita & Annabel

After this we go to the hotel to freshen up for our farewell dinner with Richard and his lovely family at the Varas Restaurant. As the fishing was banned for the spawning season the many restaurants we had visited in Nagercoil and surroundings had no seafood at all and Varas made no exception in this. Pork is also not popular in India so we settled for chicken and mutton. Food was good and when everything was finished it was time to say goodbye and head for the hotel.

Thiruparappu Falls

After the aqueduct the driver took us deeper into the Tamil Nadu foothills through some very narrow and curvy roads with the gas pedal floored. I told Richard to ask the driver whether he had considered trying for a drivers job at Force India. I think we made record time and we arrived intact and parked at the Thiruparappu falls.

Thiruparappu Falls

Bathing attire was strictly defined

As in other places, here also were vendors in full fling announcing their wares and products. It must be noted that in Tamil Nadu all plastic bags had been banned so whatever you bought it came wrapped in news paper or textile carry bags. A very commendable decree and excellent example for rest of the world, especially rest of India and all SE Asian nations.

Upper part of the Falls

The falls itself were located down a small slope and the falls were tumbling down noisily. The water cascade was quite high and water spray came several meters off. Very cooling indeed in the hot weather in Tamil Nadu. We did not go for a swim as the water did not look too inviting.

Bird at upper part

We walked up the slope and took off to see the upper side of the fall which had long trails were people could walk and enjoy the nature. I even saw a Kingfisher bird take off. Soon enough we realized it is late afternoon and felt the hunger pangs gathering so we got into the car and headed back to Nagercoil.

Carved cobra going after a frog

In Nagercoil we went from trying a couple of restaurants and ended up in Varas restaurant hotel that is supposed to be the hi-so joint in town. Maybe so but the toilets were in a filthy condition although the food was good and view excellent. We then headed back to the hotel and went off for a walk to see for shoes for Jira.

View from Varas Hotel

View from Varas Hotel

Eventually we found shoes for Jira and then she wanted to see some frocks but eventually it was me that ended up buying a few shirts and shorts.

Mathur Aqueduct

Next in the program was to visit the Mathur Aqueduct that is the longest and highest aqueduct in South Asia. Not that I think there are so many of them anywhere nowadays...

Richard and the aqueduct

Well, the driver left us down below and we started ascending the steps up to the aqueduct. Just before the top there were some local shops, one of them was selling honey and Richard being a great fan of honey got himself a bottle. A few more steps and we reached the top and so it was flat onwards.

The view

The view was spectacular if not mindblasting to look over the Pahrali river that was lined by rubber and coconut trees and the western ghats in the horizon. We met a few people and at the end there was a lady asking me money for using the camera on the bridge. I was kicking myself for not taking more pictures.

Me & Jira

The driver had taken another road and met us at the other end and so we piled in and headed towards our next stop.

Kanyakumari

We had some breakfast and soon after Richard came to pick us up to go to Kaniyakumari (Cape Comorin). The day was already stiflingly hot and no inkling of rain was to be seen as up in north.

Richard & Jira outside Suchindram temple

Suchindram temple

Kanniyakumari is some 30k's south of Nagercoil, it is the southernmost point of the sub continent where the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean meet. Our first stop was at the Suchindram Thanumalayan hindu temple. As usual photography was prohibited. The temple itself is 1300 years old and still an active place of worship. Upon entering I had to remove my shirt and shoes. The entry was free so, I bought some pooja materials to make merit for Hanuman and Lakshmi. A Baba took us around showing the highlights of the premises. We could see where the oil lamps were placed in the olden times when hundreds of people were fed on the temple grounds and also the musical pillars carved out of single stone blocks, we also saw the only (?) female Ganesh statue in India.

Kanyakumari Church

Having done this stop we started further south to Kaniyakumari and soon reached the small city and the waterfront where there was two small islets with the Vivekananda Memorial built on one and on the other a tall statue of Thiruvalluvar, a famous Tamil poet. Transport was by small ferries that took people to and fro the islets. The wind was not strong but a stead breeze kept blowing and the swell was rolling in from the Indian Ocean which made the boarding a bit risky as the ferries were whisked forward and backwards while people were trying to board. Richard told us that sometimes the ferry service is suspended if the seas gets too rough so if you are on the Islets you need to sit it out there.

Vivekananda Memorial

The poet Thiruvalluvar

The Islet was very peaceful with the building serving as meditation halls and part museums. It is built to honor the Swami Vivekananda who visited the place in 1892 and attained a great state of enlightment and is now a very popular place to visit both for Indians and foreigners alike. The Vivekananda Memorial has even its own dedicated website. We walked around for awhile and admired the views but soon we felt a less spiritual rumble in our bellies and left for lunch in Kaniyakumari.

On Vivekananda

Exit from Vivekananda

For lunch we had a traditional thali that is a big stainless steel plate with lots of small bowls containing various dhal's, dahi, sweet dahi, rassam and veg curries. In the middle there is a mound of rice on a banana leaf. All you need now is a right hand with deft fingers to spoon it all up. We also managed to get some Kingfisher to wash it all down.

Swell from Indian Ocean, in background Kali temple

After lunch we walked around a bit checking the local stalls selling knick knacks for tourists. It was mostly engraved shells, T-shirts, slippers, sunglasses, spices etc. We walked to the Kali temple that is on the shore side facing the Memorial, there is also a Gandhi Mandapam (Memorial) where his ashes were kept before immersion into the sea took place. I saw another Gandhi tomb in New Delhi, so I wonder what is kept there.

Kattumaram

The shore side up from Kanyakumari is not that impressive, some hotels and guest houses are built there but the shore itself is pretty inaccessible. After awhile we ended up to the Church facing the Vivekananda and we also went inside. The church was pretty sparsely furnished and did not even have an organ. Otherwise it was beautiful. I walked to the beach behind the church where I could see several fishing boats laid up for the spawning season as well as one traditional Tamil craft called "Kattumaram", literally translated "bundled logs".

Kanyakumari

The "Kattumaram" is consisting of not much more than 2-3 tied up logs and Richard said they also put a sail on it. I think the Tamil fishermen have a lot of guts going out to sea in these crafts. As Jira was feeling tired we headed back to Nagercoil and Richard dropped us off at the Hotel. We took a short rest before Richard came and pickked us up in a tuk-tuk that took us to his house. At his house we met his wife Wonita, her niece Annabel and his eldest son Allester as well Richard's mom.

Women waiting for bus

After some small talk Jira went to try on how to put on an Indian sari and after wards she realized it is just like the Thai traditional dress but with an additional fold. Then it was time for food and we were served parathas with prawn curry and vegetables. Soon after it was time to get back to the Hotel for a good nights rest.

Jira trying on sari

Wonita & Richard

Touristing in India

As I still had some days of vacation left to spend I asked Jira whether she would be interested in joining me to go down south India to Tamil Nadu and meet Richard who was on his annual leave also. She said yes and we spent a week getting her Indian visa made. Cost was abt 4000THB via a travel agent, at least it saved us the time and hassle to go up to Bangkok and in the end I think it would have been more expensive.

Maharashtra paddy fields

Another problem was to get a flight ticket to India that would have cost triple the amount on my flight (Thai airways) but I found a same priced ticket as mine at Malaysian airways. So, kudos for them for flying people around cheaply and none for Thai trying to extort the max from their own people. Only minus was that we had to travel separately, then I also had to arrange train tickets from Mumbai to Trivandrum, return was easy but the departure we were on the waiting list. Thanks to Saini we managed to get those tickets as well all in rupees as we did not use foreign tourist quota (they have to pay hard currency).

Maharashtra

I arrived about an hour before Jira to Mumbai without any hassles and was waiting for her to land. After awhile she found me albeit I had been keeping a keen eye on the stream of people coming out of the airport. Then it was on to queuing for the pre-paid taxi to Khargar as we had agreed on staying at Saini's pad for one night. We arrived at midnight so it was just hello, shower and sleep for Jira. I sat up with Saini and discussed some job things.

Kerala

Next morning 10th July we had to leave early again for Kurla train station. The weather looked good but halfway to the station it started raining, of course our luggage was on the roof of the taxi as the dickey (boot) was taken up by the LPG tank. We arrived the station about an hour earlier of departure and found our seats confirmed on the tatkal scheme (short notice quota) and even beside each other in 3rd tier A/C. Dubey was escorting us and kept an eye out for bag snatchers, we found our compartment and settled down for the 1800km journey to Trivandrum.

In Kerala, note the lungis

Soon enough the Netravati Express train left on time and we were on our way. I called up Richard letting him know of our arrival. Soon enough the vendors (all licensed) started running up and down the aisles selling tea, coffee etc. This was not like the Rajdhani Express where all was included in the ticket, here everything went on cash payments. Lunch time came and we opted for the non-veg which was ghee rice and fried chicken with dhal.

Kerala landscape

Soon enough we passed Panvel, the last suburb of Mumbai and the Maharashtrian countryside spread out on both sides of the rail. Everything was as green can be with all the monsoon rains continuously pouring down. Peasants could be seen ploughing their paddy fields with Oxen and planting rice. Waterfalls and rivers cut the scenery at steady intervals. Soon it was dark and nothing could be seen. Dinner was served later and we had the non-veg option which was chicken and ghee rice with dhal. Then we made our beds and I pushed Jira up and I slept myself down below.

Netravati Express

Next morning we got up at at first light, same as all other passengers. Soon enough the chai wallas came around and other wallas selling Pao's and Samosas for breakfast. The train made breakfast had the non-veg option that was a few slices of bread and a fried egg. The sun came up after the rainy Maharashtra and we were in Kerala already. One could see men walking around in their lungis and the script had changed.

Netravati Express

As the day went by we came more south and the landscape had more rivers crossing the rails. We also could see more in land lakes that are called backwaters as many are accessible from the sea. The day was really long and the train was running late due to having slowed down the previous night, also in Kerala this train was stopping at every station. Finally we arrived around 8pm and at the platform we were met by Richard and his son Ashley. Soon enough we were ushered into a white Ambassador taxi and off we drove towards Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu.

It was dark already so there was not much to be seen except at times big crowds of men gathered around wine shops getting their evening fix. We passed the border into Tamil Nadu and the road became narrower and interestingly the roadsides became littered with hospitals. After about an hours drive later we arrived Nagercoil and the taxi drove to Hotel Canaan. The reception area was full of Jesus pictures and bible quotation that I got a feeling of being in a church than a hotel but nevertheless it was a hotel. We had some late dinner and settled down for sleep.