END OF THE WORLD?

Pictures: Sunrise from our balcony, Kanyakumari
Ghandi Memorial

Well, not the end of the world, but the end of India. We are staying in Kanukamari, the very end point of India, where the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean meet. It's a big place of Hindu pilgrimage, and as it's weekend and also Indian Independence Day, the place is heavingly busy.

The hotel is 'interesting'!! We waited an hour and a half for breakfast yesterday. Dave's scrambled eggs came - we were desperate for something other than dal and chappatis - then an hour later, my omelette. When we asked about the toast, he said something like, 'Finished, is none.' We thought we would try room service later, and ordered something simple an hour before end of lunch service. An hour and five minutes later a little man came and said, 'Is finished!' We did manage dinner in the courtyard in the evening, with only about an hour's wait. Encouraged, I wrote our breakfast order and gave it to reception. 'Oh, yes he said, and gave me the b it of paper back, but I insisted he took it and told him of the previous problem. Not sure he understood, but thanked him a lot.

To our amazement, at ten to eight (ordered for eight) breakfast turned up! Cold omelettes, granted, toast that seemed to have had a quick blowtorch over its outside surface, already sparcely spread with jam, granted, but it was breakfast and thqt unimaginable luxury, on time!

We were up - well, in dressing gowns - soon after six as our balcony overlooks 'Sunrise Point' where veryone gathers to watch the sun come up, and today was clearer than of late. About 6am they begin singing, mixture of Christian, Hindu and no doubt others, and cheered the arrival of the sun when it burst through. Beautiful!

This point is where the tsunami hit and there are still signs of wreckage among the boats in the fishing village (below our window). The rebuild of the church here is almost finished and the fish market has been rebuilt and is very posh, especially in view of its surroundings. 1000 people died here, most of them tourists for elsewhere in India.

We have booked train tickets to Cochin tomorrow, an seven hour trip, so that should be an adventure. Booking is a thing in itself. Go to station (will get picture tomorrow, it's like a mauve wedding cake!) and queue to be told which queue. Then you ask about the train and they ask what number? Don't know. Where to? Cochin. Fill a form in - includes sex and age, home address, colour of underwear, you know the kind of thing. Then he tells you the train nujmber. Fill in number, date, time and class. Sorry, no Class 1 A/C Monday. Couldn't face it all again, so settled for Class 2 A/C. People in next room said it's OK. And it is only a short journey... From here you can do the longest train journey in India, 86 hours!

One thing we can't work out is why hotels, even homes, don't have solar water heating. Answer seems to be that they don't need hot water here!? Cold showers and hair washing have become the norm. Admittedly, apart from cooking pots and clothes, not much seems to get washed. A place of immense contrasts, incredible squalor and incredible beauty, amazing indifference and amazing hospitality. Lots to learn, we're sure!