We arrived in Kanyakumari mid-afternoon yesterday. This is the most southerly tip of India, facing Sri Lanka, so a rather special place to be. The weather is a good deal fresher here with a very welcome sea breeze.
It's a typically seaside place. Most people congregate around a myriad of stalls close to the beach.
Kanyakumari is dominated by a huge statue of Saint Thiruvalluvar, a Tamil poet, still very much quoted, who lived more than 2000 years ago.
This is a very calming place, extremely relaxed. People just wandering around or sitting at the seashore.
The main event of yesterday afternoon was around 5.45 p.m., when everybody in Kanyakumari seemed to head for vantage points along the seashore to watch the sunset. Strangely sunrise can be seen all the year through, but sunset is only visible from October 15 to March 15, so we were lucky!
We stayed last night at the Daughters of Mary Retreat House; beautifully kept in lovely surroundings. They also have a lot of community-style projects based here, and an Institute of Development Studies.
At this stage we have stayed in many religious houses, and I still appreciate the warmth of the welcome and hospitality. You are well looked after.
This morning (Wednesday) Joe and I celebrated mass with the three resident sisters. We celebrated the Latin Rite (in English); they would be more used to the Syrian Rite.
Kanyakumari was a lovely place to stay for an evening and a night. I would have liked to put down here for another day, but our schedule doesen't allow us.
The interesting man in the photo is putting sugar cane through a grinder, powered by a transportable generator underneath his barrow. He puts the sugar cane through about three or four times until all the white sweet liquid comes out; then it's for sale, of course! This is a very typical Indian scene which you never get tired of.
