Moonrise at Kanyakumari

Sunrise-Sunset Pictures from Kanyakumari (Jun ’11)

This was rather an unexpected trip, as I was supposed to be in Jammu & Kashmir these days. But then, sudden change of family commitments, I had to drop the plan and cancelled flight/train tickets.

Don’t want to waste the leaves already booked – decided to head a place where I haven’t been. Idea of Kanyakumari stroke, as my wife headed to Srinagar.

Wouldn’t it be nice to think of us both at the far ends of India at the same time?

Driving/Riding was not an option as the distance is too far, and I have only 2 days with me to explore. Hence booked return tickets from SRM Transports on a Multi-Axle Volvo from Chennai to Nagarcoil.

It was a different experience for me, as I mostly prefer to travel on my own vehicle. Though I have rough idea of the places I planned to visit, it was quite difficult to carry out the plan with public transports (read bus).

The journey on Volvo was quite good and it reached Nagercoil at 5.45 AM. That’s pretty quick and I immediately took a bus to Kanyakumari to capture Sunrise. But then the climate was little hazy and couldn’t get what I wanted and also Sun was already out and it’s not worth spending time there for capturing Sunrise. So, went back to Nagercoil to catch bus to other places in my to-do list. Details of the places I visited will come in my next post.

After visiting as many places as I can, it’s time for lunch and I couldn’t find a restaurant in Muttom Beach. It’s a shame that they haven’t developed the place as this was the beautiful place among the one’s I visited on Day 1. So, headed back to Nagercoil and had lunch there. Unfortunately charge of the camera battery has gone down and I had to recharge it before Sunset.

So, took a bus to Kanyakumari and hunted for an accomodation. To my surprise they all denied accommodation quoting I am single and they are not supposed to accommodate single. I was very much annoyed and got the same answer from other 4 hotels I enquired (this includes TTDC, Hotel SeaView, Hotel TriSea). Finally, managed to get an accommodation in a hotel showing my return journey ticket and business card.

An hour passed by and the Sun was already in descent. Took quick shower and left to capture Sunset, but then it was all over before I reach the place. So, waited for the lights to lit up and captured some night shots of Vivekanda Rock & Valluvar Statue. It was quite difficult to get long exposure shots, as I didn’t carry a tripod with me. So, had to use pillars around to capture the beauty.

After an hour of shooting, went back to hotel and dozed off with plans of capturing Sunrise the next day. Sunrise was amazing even though there were some clouds around which ruined the possibility of capturing Sunrise from Horizon. After an hour of shooting, left the place with satisfaction and headed to Kovalam in Kerala, after which, I took bus back to Chennai.