Hi All

Sorry I haven’t written for a while I am just getting organized with this clumsy Yahoo Web mail. It’s to slow for referencing past emails and not keeping records; it’s hard to remember who/when I emailed and what I said. I’m frightened of repeating my self (I’m 59 next month so that can’t be far off) I’ve got all my sent mail now on the windows desktop so I will be a bit better organized and won’t  repeat myself( I’m 59 next month so that can’t be far off)

Hope the winter isn’t getting you all down, that’s one of the few things I don’t miss. (I must admit to a craving for  a Franca’s Pizza , Crumbly Lancashire Cheese and a pint of Bank Top  Bitter  in the Howcroft)

Its 35 deg C now and getting warmer as we go out of this Indian ‘winter ‘, I might start whining about May.

A couple of weeks back we went to the adjoining  state of Tamil Nadu to the South Cape of the India  peninsular. The ride was very scenic particular the occasional glimpse of the Cardamon hills,  as we traveled south in our three hour white knuckle  taxi ride, at least it was air conditioned.  I was ready for a pint of Kingfisher when we arrived.

Cardamom Hills

The tip of India is known to the English as Cape Commorin . We stayed in a hotel  in a  fishing village called Kanyakumari. The village  draws a lot of visitors/pilgrims  because of its temples and monuments From this most southern tip of India where you can see the sun set and the moon rise on the same horizon. This the point where the three great oceans, the Arabian Sea, The Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal meet and is famous for its spectacular sunsets.

A typical Street scene in a tourist destination, Three postcard sellers pouncing on us as we come out of the café on the left (meal for six- five Quid)

Local Children

Whilst visiting the local fishing dwellings along the coast we were followed by lots of  local children wanting to be on our photographs I  Spoke to the mother of the two children on my left The mother  was delighted  to see the image on my camera She gave an interesting insight   about the devastating effect the Tsunami had on the area where we stood and her house 40 meters up the alleyway on the left .It  wrecked the contents of her home but apart from some roofs many of the concrete structures survived the flooding. The majority of the fishermen’s boats were destroyed. She explained how pleased and great -full they were for the immediate help they got from the Salvation Army “They cleared all the mud from our homes and replaced furniture and this helped us to carry on with our lives. The local fishing families were given replacement boats donated from all over the world, many could be seen tied up at the sea shore with the names of the donators from all over the world

New boats donated from around the World

 “Many people were trapped on the Vivekananda Rock Fort but the height of the building protected them from the waves and they were rescued by helicopter, it was wonderful to see” she said. it was very a moving experience to hear her story. It really restored my faith in humanity.

Vivekananda Rock Fort at Kanyakumari

 The monument was constructed in the 70s It was built to commemorate the visit of Swarmy Vivekananda in late 1892 who then went to wandered the world as a traveling monk to become one of the most charismatic spiritual leaders of the last century .The monument was consecrated by the President of India (Sri V.v. Giri) in September 1970 The rock islet it  stands on an is about about 500 mtrs of the Cape and the structure behind it separated by 70 mtrs of sea . They both can be reached by regular ferry service and is really worth a visit. The visitors who this monument gave sanctuary from the Tsunami, on their pilgrimage must have had their faith reinforced in an immeasurable way and no doubt have an interesting story to tell for a long time to come.

Gandhi Memorial

 Another famous Indian leader is commemorated at the cape and with the Gandhi Memorial. This is worth a visit you might meet the bogus guide I met, he’s ok  very  knowledgeable and worth  a  tip , He’s a sort of polished beggar. He deserves credit for his ingenuity.

                                                                      Regards Terry And Anita

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