Kanyakumari...here I come...

...ouf, I never got on that train to Thirupiupirachripilllapalli or whatever name I aleady forgot, the train was supposed to leave from platform no 4 so there I stood, faithfully like a Salvation Army soldier on the quai, waiting, sweating and thinking about how nice it would be to go for a swim... Well, when the clock turned to 16.15, I suddenly felt that something was wrong about this...I turned to a train man on the platform and asked and he said "train already gone, maam"...me, no understand, me wait here, train no go...? Yes, yes, train go platform 2, maam...." Oh no!!! OK, zen...plan B...hmm, another f....g bus??? My bottom is hurting from all these nasty worn out L-shaped seats, can't anymore....grrrrrrrrrrrr, but, what the heck - no choice...until I get wings :-)
So, I got me and my luggage into another "rickie" and off to "the new bus station" (which looked like something out of a movie...) and got onto a bus to Madurai, big junction for the south of India - just praying that there would be a night bus to Kanyakumari - they said here were many...so, ouch my sore bottom again...for 4 hours! Apples from the market, lukewarm water and crushed biscuits for tea and dinner...my stomach was asking for more, but the bus station vendors presenting soggy samosas wrapped in newspaper was not really that appealing. Got to Madurai about 8.30 - the driver was nice and drove smoothly...and then I had to wait an hour and a half for the next 8 hour (!) journey...and got on next to a nun weighing more than me and my entire family put together...squeezed Suzanne with biscuit crumbs and sweaty sauce...yum yum...YAK!!! I was almost cracking but thought that ther had to be an end to this...as well as the journey and tried to keep a smile on my face...and then like a MIRACLE - he nun got off the bus after 2 hours journey.yippeee!!!!!!!!!!! I finally got to kanyakumari at 5.30 in the morning...ouf..into the hotel - a shower and ZZzzzzz...........until the waiters in the corridors woke me up at 8...well, well, time to explore... Land's End where 3 oceans meet :-)

Pondicherry to Thanjavur...on my way to Land's End...

What an ecclectic place! Can't even say I liked it...first of all,when I arrived it was Saturday night and "impossible to find a decent hotel" - visited four and they were all super dirty and expensive -finally opted for a kind of boxy indian business man type hotel with boxy room and boxy toilet - style Lakshmi Hilton - and an AC veg.restaurant in it, so cold that I could not even eat there - orderedfood to my room :-). Anyway was so tired after the journey that I didn't mind, woke up by the terrible noise at 6.30 and decided to go out for a walk along the beach. That is the main, and I would say almost the only, for me, attractive part of Pondi. The rest is just too weird, the French croissant shop around the corner from the slum, the kitsch warehouse selling l'Oreal because I'm worth it next to the temple flower woman...hmmm, anyway - along the beach promenade I found a beautiful, clean guest house where a single room was available for one night only so I decided that this was a sign to stay another night and send my parcel to Europe from here. By now, I was more starting to look like a donkey than a backpacker :-). The guesthouse was part of the Sri Aurobindo Org and linked to ashram rules - no booze, no smoke and gates closed after 11.15 pm - suited me fine....Had a great view from there over the promenade and early in the morning I was enjoying the sunrise from my balcony...the locals were out power walking!!! Then I spent 3 hours having my parcel made and had to carry it two blocks to the ashram post office - where I had to fill out a form with 4 oldfashined carbon paper copies and the ladies were sealing letters with black tar! It stank! So, 2 days in Pondi and I left at 5 pm for Thanjavur (Tanjore) - famous for a splendid World Heritage listed temple and a Maharadja Palace right in town. Got to Thanjavur at midnight - fortunately I had booked a hotel - unfortunately not a very decent one - decided on the spot that this was to be a one nighter soI started looking at trains to Thiruchirappalli (!)....one step closer to land's end now.....Sorry friends, but most of the internet cafs in the country don't have USB ports - the PCs look like my old school computers and it's already a miracle to be able to write a post! Hope to be able to upload pics on y next stop....am leaving with the 4pm train...Om Shanti Om