Ride Summary: Total Distance: 275 kms Total Time: 8 hrs
We had a 275 kms of ride from Kumarakom to Kanyakumari but it was a 2 lane road with oncoming traffic. Hence for the first time in the trip we had a 6:15 am start. We made good ground in the morning hours but as we got closer to the 9 am mark, things started to get busy. Kerala doesn't have much concept of a highway. The main road goes through the market area of the towns along the way. Traffic lights causing jams. Kerala desperately needs some infrastructure if it has to keep attracting tourists. Also, they allow motorcycles only 10 kmph more than an auto rickshaw. How insulting is that!
There was a big traffic diversion before Thiruvananthapuram. Although it makes no logical sense, whenever I saw direction boards in Tamil or Malayalam, I ignored them quite comfortably. There was nothing much I could do about them anyways. During the diversion, I saw the pattern of Thiruvananthapuram being written in English and Malayalam. Kept following it. Also, the length of the word 'Thiruvananthapuram' helps a lot :) Similar things happened near Kanyakumari as suggested by the pic. I think the straight ahead says 'Kanyakumari'.
We reached Trivendrum around 10 am. Kovalam beach wasn't on the itinerary but then we decided to visit it; given that we had time. We didn't have breakfast or tea since we started in the morning; hence decided to first do a little bit of 'pet pooja'. This time I went with Fish Curry and Parathas. Feels weird to eat curry for breakfast but hey! You are in Kerala! Notice the pink colored warm water they serve. It's due to an ingredient 'Pathimugam', which has medicinal properties. They claim it is good for blood circulation and digestion. It didn't taste any different from regular water. So that part was good :)
Kovalam Beach is pretty well maintained. Quite clean I would say. Aur itna aa gaye hai, toh selfie to banta hi hai :)
Kanyakumari is just 90 kms from Kovalam. As you get closer you see a lot more coconut trees around you. It feels pretty nice. We reached Kanyakumari around 2:15 pm. I felt great. We did it! A ride to the southernmost point in India :)
We checked into a hotel named Gopi Nivas Grand after reading some reviews and it was quite good for the price. The Vivekanand Memorial boat ride point is a 5 min walk; hence we thought it was very convenient. We decided to visit the memorial but due to heavy winds, the service was suspended. So I took a walk around and went to the southernmost land connected point in India for an awesome selfie with the Vivekanand Memorial in the backdrop!
Although it was only 275 kms, it took us good 8 hrs for the ride. Thanks to the 2 lane highway. Hence we felt a bit tired. But given that we were in Tamilnadu, access to alcohol was quite easy. We celebrated the South Ride journey with a couple of cold beers. Feels so good :)
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