My Trip To India: March 2 2024

about 2 months ago

Hello everyone! Pozdrav svima!

I've spent last two weeks on a business trip to India and I wanted to share some of my impressions from that great country.

I was situated in a town called Kanniyakumari (or Kanyakumari), a coastal town in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland India, and thus referred to as "The Land's End". Jutting into the Laccadive Sea, the town was known as Cape Comorin during British rule and is popular for watching sunrise and sunset over the ocean. It's also a noted pilgrimage site thanks to its Bagavathi Amman Temple, dedicated to a consort of Shiva, and its Our Lady of Ransom Church, a center of Indian Catholicism.

I didn't travel around because I worked non-stop, 7 days a week. So all I can show you are pictures from that part of India.

As my free time was very limited, I spend most of it in the hotel. At least it has a nice ocean view, couple of swimming pools and great food.

I didn't have a chance to go for a swim in the ocean, as the nearest beach safe for swimming is a few kilometres away, and the coast in the town is rocky and ocean current is too strong.

But I did manage to take a walk down the coastline on my very last day there.

After 10-15 minutes of walk I found myself at the tip of peninsular India, overlooking the 41-metre (133 ft) Thiruvalluvar Statue, and Vivekananda Rock Memorial off the coast.

Local visitors didn't hesitate to take a swim in the ocean, but I wasn't really in the mood.

I continued my walk towards the town centre where you can find a streets full of small shops brimming with souvenirs, pearl jewelry, Indian food, fruits, and spices.

The worst part of the journey was the daily commute to work, which took 45 minutes each way. Bumpy roads, often unpaved, in a micro-bus without AC, when temperature outside is around 35°C with relative air humidity over 70%, made me sweat my ass off (literally). At least during those travels I had some interesting sights to see.

Like endless plantations of palm trees. This photo may not capture the size of those plantations, but they can be seen in the distance. Trust me. 😝

Local merchants selling their goods by the road with their whole families taking part in the business.

And for me, most impressive thing was the Muppandal Wind Farm, one of the ten largest ones in the world, with a current capacity of 1.5 GW. I could see just a tiny part of it during the commute but even that was an awesome sight.