This was our first multi-destination trip as a family(that I remember) and an extremely memorable one at that. The trip influenced our perspectives and vacations soon became an integral family bonding tradition that promoted everyone's sanity and welfare :-)
The day dawned and it was a good one. My cousin drove me to see her grandma and she gifted me with a spectacle case which I assumed was a pencilbox and was elated. My cousin also gave me a lot of her old books including a bound volume of amar chitra katha. Then I came home to find more visitors (distant relatives I have not met before) and in my very excited frame of mind entertained them with the few notes of Carnatic music I had learnt and they exclaimed that I would be the light of the family. (Was I thrilled or what)
We had an evening train and we were a whole hour early and the only ones in our compartment for a long time. As with every childhood train journey, I had a blast on this one too. The next morning we made friends with our co-passengers and one of them even gave us the contact details of his very good local friend in Tiruchendur. For me this event is a stamp commemorating the goodness of the human spirit in general and the warmth of Indian hospitatlity in particular.
We landed in Thiruchendur and headed straight to State Bank of India - yes the office and had a shower there :-) After visiting the temple and gawking at the ferocious waves, we decided to check out the contact we had obtained in the train. To my amazement, they took us in and treated us like family .. giving us coffee and refreshments, and letting us rest and relax in their home. That's the beauty of small town living.
We took the evening bus to Kanyakumari and reached Vivekanandapuram to spend a couple of days in one of their comfortable corner guest rooms. My parents got us very good masala dosai from the campus mess (cafeteria) which we devoured before hitting the sack.
Next day morning was sunrise viewing day when we went to the Vivekanandapuram beach to behold for the only time in my life, the unbelievable sight of navy blue-black sand (not the lava type - grayish black sand). I believe it is seasonal and my parents did not see this on a subsequent trip. Then we were off to a boat trip to Vivekananda rock which sans crowds would have been mesmerizing. I still remember how we almost lost a hat to the wind while we were waiting for the boat for the ride back. Meals were all had back in Vivekanandapuram as they were really good. While the rest of the family had a south Indian thali, I went for the North Indian thali every day all meals. Have changed a little bit since then!
Sunset at Gandhi Mandapam was not that impressive, neither do I remember much of Kanya Kumari Temple. We spent the last morning entertaining ourselves in our room while my parents including my dad went out shopping and got us black sozhis (cowri shells) and many other shell collections. I also remember this was the first time I heard the ocean in a conch. How much I romanticized conchs, though could never get to create a sound out of any one of them.
After 3 nights in Kanya Kumari we hired a taxi to take us to Trivandrum.. The trip was more interesting than the destination. Stay tuned!
The day dawned and it was a good one. My cousin drove me to see her grandma and she gifted me with a spectacle case which I assumed was a pencilbox and was elated. My cousin also gave me a lot of her old books including a bound volume of amar chitra katha. Then I came home to find more visitors (distant relatives I have not met before) and in my very excited frame of mind entertained them with the few notes of Carnatic music I had learnt and they exclaimed that I would be the light of the family. (Was I thrilled or what)
We had an evening train and we were a whole hour early and the only ones in our compartment for a long time. As with every childhood train journey, I had a blast on this one too. The next morning we made friends with our co-passengers and one of them even gave us the contact details of his very good local friend in Tiruchendur. For me this event is a stamp commemorating the goodness of the human spirit in general and the warmth of Indian hospitatlity in particular.
We landed in Thiruchendur and headed straight to State Bank of India - yes the office and had a shower there :-) After visiting the temple and gawking at the ferocious waves, we decided to check out the contact we had obtained in the train. To my amazement, they took us in and treated us like family .. giving us coffee and refreshments, and letting us rest and relax in their home. That's the beauty of small town living.
We took the evening bus to Kanyakumari and reached Vivekanandapuram to spend a couple of days in one of their comfortable corner guest rooms. My parents got us very good masala dosai from the campus mess (cafeteria) which we devoured before hitting the sack.
Next day morning was sunrise viewing day when we went to the Vivekanandapuram beach to behold for the only time in my life, the unbelievable sight of navy blue-black sand (not the lava type - grayish black sand). I believe it is seasonal and my parents did not see this on a subsequent trip. Then we were off to a boat trip to Vivekananda rock which sans crowds would have been mesmerizing. I still remember how we almost lost a hat to the wind while we were waiting for the boat for the ride back. Meals were all had back in Vivekanandapuram as they were really good. While the rest of the family had a south Indian thali, I went for the North Indian thali every day all meals. Have changed a little bit since then!
Sunset at Gandhi Mandapam was not that impressive, neither do I remember much of Kanya Kumari Temple. We spent the last morning entertaining ourselves in our room while my parents including my dad went out shopping and got us black sozhis (cowri shells) and many other shell collections. I also remember this was the first time I heard the ocean in a conch. How much I romanticized conchs, though could never get to create a sound out of any one of them.
After 3 nights in Kanya Kumari we hired a taxi to take us to Trivandrum.. The trip was more interesting than the destination. Stay tuned!
