After a road trip in the US, I realised that apart from short drives to places like Goa and Lonavla from Mumbai, I had not really driven much in India. A visit to AIACHE’s 50th Golden Jubilee Conference in Madurai, presented an excellent opportunity to try it out.
We arrived in Madurai and opted for accommodations at Hotel North Gate, conveniently located across from the American College, the site of the AIACHE conference. The hotel was clean and functional with a decent buffet breakfast. The highlight of the Madurai trip was the Meenakshi temple visit. I had been there over 20 years ago but had not experienced the place. This time, I could say it was an awesome experience. The temple complex is huge with the different gopurams, intricate corridors and carvings is truly a site to behold. Photos cannot do justice to this majestic temple and I can only imagine the view from the skies. Do mark this down as a place to visit when you can. From Madurai we hired a Suzuki Swift diesel car from Self Drive cars.
View from the Rameshwaram bridge[/caption]
We drove eye-openers to Rameshwaram and stopped for a little while on the Pamban road bridge to the island. As luck would have it, a train was passing by below adding another spectacle to the majestic view. The sea on both sides is blue, and the panoramic views are what you would see in Seychelles/Mauritius brochures. We stayed at an OYO hotel (SDM Golden tower) for the first time and although functional and clean, the food service and cleanliness could do with a lot of improvement. Food choices are also limited. A visit to the temple and the kunds for devout Hindus is a must. Rameshwaram is the birthplace of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who showed that hard work in India can lead to success instead of blaming the system.
The real eye-opener was Dhanush Kodi, which is where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean and the closest point to Sri Lanka about 31 km away. Parts of the town were ravaged in 1964 and a train with 115 passengers was submerged in the sea waters. There are buses which traverse the sand to take you to the old Dhanush Kodi, but a road is ready but not opened. Another one of India's mysteries.
We drove down some beautiful and well-maintained roads from Rameshwaram to Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of the Cardamom Hills. There are literally thousands of windmills in this area, a unique sight. Kanyakumari known as Cape Comorin earlier, is also one of the few places in the world where you can see both a sunrise and sunset. It has to be experienced and not just photographed. Over 2 million tourists visit Kanyakumari every year.
View of Kanyakumari from Sunrise Viewpoint, a jetty out in the sea[/caption]
There are other interesting sights to see such as Our Lady of Ransom church, Gandhi Memorial etc. Two days might be sufficient. Leaving the parking lot after sunset and facing a 2 km queue for the boat ride to Vivekananda's memorial, which we decided to skip, are major challenges.
From Kanyakumari, we proceeded to Thiruvananthapuram, with stopovers at Club Mahindra, Poovar (nice pKMSe but beach is average), and had lunch at 3rd Rock at Kovalam Beach. Dinner at Villa Maya was excellent along with the visit to the famous Padamanabhaswamy temple rumoured to be the richest temple in the world with 5 of its 8 vaults already assessed to be worth over $22 billion. We did a day trip to the peaceful Neyyar Dam area, but it is more of a picnic spot than anything else. Lunch at the Sanghumukham Beach was a disappointment with no options and poor quality of food.
Panoramic view of Neyyar Dam[/caption]
Total distance by road from Madurai-Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari-Thiruvananthapuram was approximately 750 kms and less then ₹3000 spend on diesel.
Interesting journey, some great roads in Tamil Nadu and a unique experience. Happy journeys ahead.
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