Where water meets water...

After thee relaxing nights in the mountain town, Kodaikanal, Matt and I decided to head on down the road.
But first, some highlights of Kodaikanal: paddle boats. Oh, yeah. We rented a two-seater and paddled like crazy all around the lake in the middle of town. Not just any paddle boat, mind you, but the kind with a BIG PLASTIC SWAN HEAD jetting out in between the two seats. Written on the base of the swan was a simple yet profound statement: "Enchanting Tamil Nadu: Experience Yourself". It read more as a command, as it should. Because in a place like Tamil Nadu, (the state of India where we currently are), you really have no choice but to experience yourself. And that is exactly what Matt and I did on that crazy paddle boat. Oh, and we did some experiencing at the fancy bar/hotel lobby/place where there was a HUGE fireplace later that night, too. We felt really experienced, after a glass of wine ( or two). And so we were ready to launch to the next part of our journey....
Yesterday we arrived in Kanyakamuri. I am sure I am spelling that wrong. I really need to bring the travel book with me when I do these blog posts. We got here after a 6 hour bus ride that I would love to erase from my memory. Since we are of the taller variety, Matt and I often hunker down in the very last row of the bus as this part of the bus allows for much more leg room. Usually this is an excellent strategy- but yesterday? Not so much. For pretty much the first time in India, we had ourselves a very ambitious bus driver. What I mean by this is that he was a fellow that enjoyed speed and subsequently found no use for silly distractions such as speedbumps. One, in particular, he decided he was not slowing down for at all. I mean, at all. The first bump of this speed bump was traumatizing enough- we caught air and came down hard. But it was the second one that has forever doomed me to a lack of leg room at the middle or front of the bus. As we sped over the second bump, Matt caught so much air that he actually hit his head, hard, on the ceiling of the bus. This is a bus where Matt stands up easily and with extra room, so hitting his head on the ceiling meant traveling at least three feet into the air. He lost his book and landed on the floor of the bus. I bit through my lip, my glasses went flying...everyone on the bus was screaming at the bus driver and staring at us. Because of our position on the bus, we took the brunt of our driver's antics. Ouch. Well, there it is. The great adventure of travel- being at the mercy of your driver/mode of transport is just one of the aspects of the adventure. We are fine- just a couple of sore necks and, as I said before, a new strategy for where to sit in the bus!
Once we arrived in town, we knew already we hadn't scheduled enough time here. What a beautiful place. We are at the southern most tip of India, where three bodies of water come together: the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea. Being a person that basically worhips water, I couldn't miss this spot. Many Indians see this as a holy sight, and so there is a lot of bathing and meditating in the waters, as well as gathering it up in plastic bottles to take back home. My personal form of worship was in pictures. I took plenty of them. Ah, and to add to the total package, there is a massive statue of the poet Thiruvalluvar. It is 133 feet tall, to honor his 133 chapter long work entitled Thirukural. Combined with this is a memorial to Ghandi where his ashes were once kept. Above the spot where his ashes were there is a hole in the ceiling, and every year on his birthday, (October 2nd) sun shines through the hole onto the spot.
I love it here. There is water, and more water. There is a statue to honor a poet. And there is a memorial to Ghandi. This is my kind of place. In fact, I think I am going to stop blogging and get out there and check it out some more.
More in a few days.....