9th March 2014
A fine yellow dust covers everything of mine who was out of the bag – the cell phone used to take pictures of the car window, notebook, pen, Thiruvananthapuram Chronicle that I thought was going to read. Blame a chink of open window, invisible but enough to fill the earth car.
Traveling by car was a bad idea – the roads are winding and crowded, always going through a lot of villages, the process is time-consuming even for short distances. The car dispute space with people, cows, tuktuks, buses and of course other cars. The right hand is a matter of opinion and the horn is the best friend of the driver, required at every turn, overtaking, stopping or accelerating. The good driver is not only smart and alert: it’s a survivor.
But a car and driver was the only option, since I could not train tickets and the only bus to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, left at half past five in the morning. With two further days off before meeting the group #KeralaBlogExpress I thought it was a good chance to get super comfortable resort where I stayed and see what’s around. This town at the southern tip of India, where the Indian Ocean enters the seas of Oman and Bengal, was the chosen destination.
Make the trip with a driver was suggestion of the staff of Turtle Beach Hotel , beautiful beach hotel in Kovalam where #KBE put me to spend a night. It is a beautiful hotel with rooms with sea view spacious, clean and super – comfortable. It is a closed, quiet and Western women can swim in the sunny pool with bathing suits without receiving strange looks.
The reception staff patiently informed me on how to get to and from Kanyakumari, took care of booking the hotel in the city and got a table with the times of the back train. Ah! And moved my suitcase straight to the next hotel #KBE, so that I could travel alone with my small backpack.
“The train leaves empty Kanyakumari, it is the initial station. You will have no trouble getting back, just arrive at the station just before to buy the ticket, “stated the manager * The next morning, when he was boarding the car, another tip:” ask the driver to stop at Padmanabhapuram, gets in the way and it is a beautiful ride. ” Big idea. I had read about but had not realized that was the way he would go.
Padmanabhapuram Palace is a structure of 14 buildings of brick and granite ceilings, columns and all wood. The original building is from 1550 and has changed as the reign of each season, but mostly follows a typical Kerala architecture. It was the center of Trivancore dynasty, which ruled Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu (the palace is the current debt of the two states). The visit follows a predefined path, indicated by arrows, leading by former royal apartments, armory, observation tower and the like. There is a guide in each room to explain what you are seeing – 250 years of engravings with the story of Shiva’s visit to the palace, fantastic pieces of carved wood, 15th and 16th century stone sculptures, gods made of wood of huge pieces bright and darkened. It’s a bit detonated to anyone who wants a European experience castle or museum visit – but who comes to India expecting air conditioning and marble floors full time is wasting time.
I was there on a Saturday, along with Indian families and at least three different school trips. There prices (very) different to Indian and foreign, and a value to enter camera even if cell. Also do not expect tread shoes inside the palace area: everyone goes barefoot, you too.
