sunrise

7/18/08

I'm wiping the sleep from my eyes as i wander through the winding streets. It's 5:30am and the town, Kanyakumari, feels fast asleep. I pass a flower seller and catch the scent of jasmine as i make my way to the point. Past the stone temple, with its elaborately carved gods and around a corner and then I see the crowd silently looking out over the ocean. The sky is still dark so I buy a cup of chai from a boy on his bike and then silently wait with the crowd. The sky begins to turn orange and red and then there is a collective gasp as the sun first peaks out above the Bay of Bengal.

I am in Kanyakumari, at the southern most tip of India. This is the spot where the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and Bay of Bengal all converge into the waves crashing at the rocky shore. Within 5 min the sky is light and I wander down to the ghats where men in white lunghis and women in saris are bathing in the sea. I climb down the stairs, wade up to my knees (contemplate going all the way in, and then decide holy water or not, it's freakin cold) and then settle on washing my face in the salty water. It's the tip of India, I've seen the sun rise from the southern most point on the sub-continent...And while I'm the only western tourist in sight, for at least this moment no one seems to take notice. I dry my face and walk back to the stone temple to pay my morning respects to the gods.

My journey through southern India continues, I've finished my work in Bangalore, have traveled down through the state of kerala. I've seen holy trance dances where priests become gods, I've floated in a bamboo house boat in the palm lined back waters of Kerala, I've drank toddy (palm alcohol) from a tin roofed shack, sat on the cliffs over looking the beaches of Varkala, slept in trains, and not slept in buses, weathered the monsoon showers and am atempting to manage the south Indian heat... And I've made it as far south as i can go. Now my journey continues north. I hope to send at least another update before I'm back in Bangalore, if for no other reason than to assure my parenets i'm alive. I'm loving life and treasuring the adventure.

All the Best,

Karina