Rob and Anna's travel adventure

Anna's entry:

Kanyakumari is the "Land's End" and the most Southern tip on the Indian subcontinent. Here, the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. It was beautiful here. We went to watch the sunrise above the Bay of Bengal in the morning, and then the sunset above the Arabian Sea in the evening. We used almost the same spot for both. Hundreds of pilgrims were here as well, it could be contributed to the full moon and a lunar eclipse.

On one of our sunset walks along the beach we sat down on the sea wall. A local woman selling something approached us, and sat down next to us; she pointed out to the horizon line. Her English was limited, but I understood that she was trying to get our attention to a certain part of the horizon to watch for a moon. She was correct, in a minute or so, a beautiful golden full moon came out, and threw its light over the Bay of Bengal. It was so pretty! The woman and I talked a little, and exchanged our names. Her name was Ita, and she was a seller of trinkets of some sort. She explained to me in gestures, that business was not going too well, but she comes here anyway, and watches the moon taking its rounds while she is walking around the beach. We sat down together and were enjoying the moon. Then, she reached in her bag, and put two hair pins in my hand. She said she wanted me to have them. I told her I didn't really need them, and maybe she could sell them at some point and make a few rupies, but she motioned me to keep them so I could remember her, and gave me a big smile. I offered her two bananas, and we sat together for a little longer enjoying a full moon rise. Now, when I put these two hair pins in my hair, I always think of Ita, and that full moon walk along the Bay of Bengal.

On another sunrise walk, we sat down near the temple to watch the pilgrims bathing in the Arabian Sea. There were so many pilgrims there, and it was an excellent photo opportunity. A local couple in their early fifties came up to us, and introduced themselves. They told us that came to Kanyakumari just for one day, and that they were very honored to meet us, the foreign guests visiting their country. We had a little chat, the usual stuff - where we were from, our travels in India, our families, etc. A man was a university professor, and a woman said she was just a housewife. "A beautiful housewife", I corrected her, and she began laughing. They told us they had only son, so their family was also small. Then, the woman tenderly grabbed my cheeks in a motherly sort of a way, a kind of thing one would do to a baby, and with a smile said "look at those cheeks!". It was very cute, the whole thing. I gathered that she either liked my cheeks structure, or she appreciated the roundness of them for all this good eatin' I've done in India. :) In either case, it was sweet.

On another sunrise day, I've encouraged Rob to join the pilgrims and take a bathe in the ocean. So, he did. He entered the water with the pilgrims, a middle eastern music playing in the air carried from a local temple, the waves breaking over the rocks, women and men entering the sacred water, what an experience it was! Rob followed the pilgrims' example and splashed his head three times with the water. Then, they all entered the ocean up to their waste. Some pilgrims were looking at Rob with a somewhat puzzled look. He was the only white guy, half naked, non-hindi, sharing their whole experience standing in the water amongst them. A group if local guys sitting next to me watched Rob from a shore, they were smiling, but I could tell they really respected that entire affair. A few moments later, Rob came back to the shore, and his heel was bleeding (from a sea rock he was thrown against). I teased Rob, I told him that now he was a true hindu - not only he washed his sins away, but also he made a sacrifice to the gods with his own blood offering. It was cute actually.

In addition, we took a ferry to the island near by. On the way there we met a family from Kerala (my favorite Indian region), and we really enjoyed each other's company. We were standing in line to buy ferry tickets, and offered them a coconut. In response, we got lots of treats as well, and we kept sending each other treats throughout our trip. They were sad to see us go, and the little boy blew us an air kiss when our boat took off back to the mainland, it was very endearing.

We stayed in a place with views over the ocean, and could watch Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, sunrise, moon rise, sunset, etc. from our roof top terrace. We are getting really spoilt here, in India, just for $7 a night we had a room with an ocean view, TV, etc. It would be a challenge going back to the Western world, and not getting a similar value. We will definitely have to do some readjustment, and it will take us some time...

Yes - we had a great time in Kanyakumari! Striking and unforgettable sunrise, sunset, moon rise, Indian ocean, waves, palm trees, temples, pilgrims - all so beautiful - I think the images will stay forever in my mind.