This time we planned for a long trip taking advantage of the long weekend combining the puja holiday and Gandhi Jayanthi falling on consecutive days. Instead of making it in one shot we decided to break at Madurai and follow it up on the next day.
Chennai to Madurai
We decided to take the Porur toll road this time as out fast tag is enhanced to Fasttag 3000. Starting from here around 5 am, we crossed Chengalpattu and reached Manoj bhavan@ Mamandur for breakfast around 7:30 am. Our next break for tea was at 11:00 am and by 12:30 pm we reached Madurai. Our stay was at Kalyan residence. For Rs.1600 we had a decent room with complimentary breakfast. After a quick check-in we went to the near by Hotel Saravana for lunch. A simple meal, in the food famous Madurai. After that we relaxed for the rest of the day at the hotel.
Meenakshi Amman Temple
The next day we decided to start early to avoid crowd at the temple. Starting at around 5am, we reached the temple's multi level parking area by 5:20am. Leaving our footwears and mobile phones at the cloak room we walked to the east gopuram. After the security checks we bought the special entrance ticket for Rs.100 per head and reached the sanctum of Meenakshi Amman in few minutes. There we had to wait in the queue for some 15-20 mins to get the darshan of the Goddess Meenakshi Amman. The temple was decorated owing to Navaratri. As we came out of the sanctum we bought sweet pongal and laddu prasadam in the corridor, had it and moved to the Lord Sundareshwarar's Sanctum. Here once we entered inside we had to wait as they closed for abhishegam. In another 15 mins they opened for us to witness the milk abhishegam. Once we came out, we were given the free laddu prasadam. Renovation work is on at the thousand pillars site. Since covid times we are not able to go around the outer corridor of the temple, only the east side is accessible. Collected our mobiles and footwears and did a quick shopping for the Madurai's popular glass cut bangles. We left from the parking lot and followed google map to our accommodation. Came across the Gowri tea shop we liked during out first Madurai trip, so stopped the car and made a visit for masala tea and vadai.
Chennai to Kanyakumari
As we returned to Kalyan residency by 8am, we had the complimentary breakfast - idly, poori, upma, sambhar, chutney and coffee. Right after this we checked out and started our rest of the journey to Kanyakumari. The roads were relatively free we had a nice drive towards Kanyakumari. 30 mins before the cape we start seeing windmills on both the sides all the way. As the national highway ends near the beach, most of the vehicles take the left where there is the beehive of hotels. We were slated at Hotel Staar World with a deluxe room that has a sea facing balcony. This is possible only because we had booked this before hand paying an advance of Rs.1000. On check-in we paid remaining Rs. 5000 and got the room for 2 days for Rs.3000 per day. The parking at the hotel was a nightmare, thanks to the security who helped with the navigation. Put up on the 5th floor, we had a nice sea view to witness the Thiruvalluvar statute in full glory. Hotel has 6 floors and terrace in the 7th. The in house restaurant is very minimal.
Vivekananda Rock, Thiruvalluvar Statue and Glass bridge
After a quick refreshing, we left to the ferry complex. At 4:30 pm, we could still see long queues so took the Rs.300 ticket instead of the Rs.100 ticket to move in fast. We took the very first available ferry and reached the Vivekananda rock. There we had to get a ticket for Rs.30 at the entrance and also leave our footwears. Then we get inside to visit the Vivekananda hall and the Kumari foot fall before proceeding to the glass bridge. The bridge was flocked by tourists, had to walk through gaps to get a glimpse of the ocean underneath. It was very different experience. As we reached to the other end, we found the statute so tall that we could not see it. Standing at the pedestal, bending one's head backward, still difficult to get a glimpse of Thiruvalluvar. Its meant to be seen from a distance only. Two floors inside the pedestal leads us to the next level of the statute. As we climb down we can see the main kurals from each adhigaram written in the stone wall in both Tamil and English on the other side. The sea breeze at this location is so high and evening sun elevates the whole atmosphere. As we walk back we get a second chance on the glass bridge. Picking back the footwears in the sea of people is another huge task. This time we catch the marine's ferry, got to sit in the first floor deck, getting a good view on the return.
Once onshore we had a late lunch+dinner at Suchindram Maruthi restaurant. Roti and side dish were mediocre and price was slightly on the higher side owing to the tourism. With this we called off for the day at Kanyakumari.
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