30th Birthdays in Southern India

South tip of India - Kanyakumari
Originally uploaded by rtw2007.

Just a quick note to say that, after two and a half months in this crazy country (and fast approaching 8 months on the road), we have gone as far south as the road will let us.

We are in Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of India. From the headland we can see the meeting point of three seas: the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. We have just eaten a lunch of vegetarian thali (mixed curries) and rice served on a huge banana leaf and eaten in traditional Southern Indian style - no cutlery, but instead getting fully involved using not just the fingers to scoop up food but the whole hand!

We have had a busy few days with Helen's 30th birthday on Tuesday spent on a houseboat drifting down through the Keralan Backwaters (more to follow in next blog) and Michael's 30th birthday today to coincide with our arrival at India's version of Land's End. We now plan to spend a peaceful evening watching the sun go down from our camping spot right on the water's edge. Tomorrow, we will turn around and head up the east coast.