Day 6: Madurai - Tirunelveli - Kanyakumari

When I got up the next morning at that Hotel Vallalur in Perambalur I still worried about my Bull and its rear wheel. So I rode it around and checked. It seemed okay. I was in two minds whether to get it checked by a local mechanic and trust him or simply trust my Bullet. I chose the latter option and rode on.

I reached Madurai and was again in two minds whether to go into the city and see Meenakshi temple or simply cut away to the highway. I went in. Took some pics. The temple was all covered and being renovated. I saw a Tamil bride and groom coming out -- just married. She looked so joyous - it was nice. I took a pic. I had parked my Bull in a busy, busy street. Anyway, I took away my shoes, prayed from the outside -- more like, a hello to the Madurai Goddess. And then I started again. The sun was beaming crazy.

I can't remember my drive to Tirunelveli. I made limited stops. I think I skipped lunch to save on time. I recall I filled petrol at a gas station that had no power and the lady filled gas manually. I had to trust her 5 litres were for real.

The drive after Tirunelveli and to Kanyakumari was spectacular - particularly the last 50km. As you keep driving you do get the feeling that land is ending. I could imagine myself and my Bullet driving on a straightline towards the Indian ocean with the land mass quickly ending on either side. But you get this feeling that the land is ending because of the wind. You get blown this way and that way from either side -- that perhaps helps balancing the vehicle! Anyways, by this time I had learnt to tell the time by looking at the position of the sun (I avoid using a watch in my travels). It was around 5.30 I guessed. The sun was hiding behind huge white clouds amidst a blue sky. A little further, I saw beautiful mountains on the right. And then started the wind wanes. Wow, it started with some 20 first, then 50, then hundred and then hundreds and hundreds of wind wanes -- huge wind wanes rotating wooof, wooof, wooof to the wind. I seemed to be in some science fiction movie. Mountains with a dipping sun on the right, huge wind wanes on either side going round and round and an ending road and an ending land mass....that would all end where this part of the world ends...into the world's most majestic water bodies. Finally I reached Kanyakumari just in time for a sleeping sun. Amazingly beautiful.

These last 50 km are one of the most beautiful drives I've done ever.