We have arrived at the most southern tip of India, entering a new state called Tamil Nadu. The journey here has been quite different to the last section of driving, it is mainly villages all the way; not so much rural areas but with these amazing mountains in the distance.

After arriving we head down to the tip, predominately to take photos, there is not an awful lot to see here, it's just exciting to be at the very bottom of India and that we are about to start our jouenry up to the north of India and into Nepal.

By the water there is a memorial to Ghandi; where his ashes were held for a time and where on the 2nd of October this year the sun rose over the building and the sun shone directly down inside the building on the very spot his ashes were kept. It was actually quite lucky we missed this by only a few days as people flock in their thousands to the witness this special event, and it was busy enough when we went just being a weekend.

This area is a special pilgrimage place, so there are many Indian tourists here and being so far away from anything else not a lot of western tourists. This area is special because it is where 3 seas meet, the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. This is certainly the cleanest place I have seen Indian pilgrims washing and swimming the water. It is incredibly tempting to join in!

The highlight when visiting this area is the sunset and sunrise, and I managed to make both events. The two are very different, sunset is such a busy happening time, the places seems to come alive with people playing in the water, walking about the shore, visiting the street stools and even children taking donkey rides. Whereas at sunrise there are just as many people but everyone is waiting, everyone is looking off into the distance ready for the sun to make an appearance. It seems much calmer and in a sense respectful.

There is also a sad side to this place however; I found the area not full of beggars so much, as filled with numerous deformed beggars. As you walked along the streets they were lined with people in debilitating situations, with disfigured or missing limbs. A scene less likely to be seen at home, I imagine the lack of health care facilities here is one of the contributing factors. It seems that everywhere you travel around India you will see people who have clearly broken a foot or leg or arm and it has just healed in whatever state it was left in, leaving the affected party to make the best of their harrowing situation.