We're woken at 6.30 by the sound of the bell at the nearby RC church. It's clearly time for us sinners to get up! We're in Kanyakumari until 5pm so have plenty of time explore the southernmost tip of India.

The first thing we notice is how windy it is, though given that this is where the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal meet, it's not unexpected. We head down to where we think the southernmost piece of land is to record the event with a photo. The area has a striking resemblance to a seaside resort in southern England. The shops are all selling beach toys and naff trinkets made with all types of shells, although there's little beach to speak of.
One of the most striking things we see is a huge statue on an island just off the mainland. Some research reveals this to be a monument to a monk and philosopher called Swami Vivekananda who meditated on the island in 1892 and went on to become one of India's most important religious crusaders.

We decide to go over on the ferry to take a look, so we find the jetty and join the queue. This is clearly a popular pilgrimage for Indians because there's a long queue, but it moves quickly. Two quite large vessels make the journey across, and we're all packed on like sardines in a can. A sign on the deck says 'No standing when vessel is underway', but they've got twice as many people on the boat than there are seats available! The short crossing is quite rough, and causes nervous laughter from many of the passengers as sea spray gets quite a few of them wet.

There are in fact two islands; one has the statue on it, the other has a mandapam which is a sort of a hall of worship. The ferry goes to the mandapam first, so we all walk around the large rocky island in the wind. Inside the mandapam itself there are signs saying 'Please maintain silence' but no-one seems to be bothering, least of all the officials. We take a look in a bookshop but they only sell stuff on Swami Vivekananda. Clive's disappointed because he was hoping for something on Indian railways.

Now we get back on the ferry for the journey to the other island. This must rank as the shortest ferry journey in the world because the two islands are so close. Interestingly, the statue was only finished in 2000. There are facts and figures available, such as the weight at 7,000 tons, the height at 133ft, and the length of the hairdo (we kid you not) at 5ft. After a walk around the base of the statue we get back on the ferry again and are buffeted back through the rough sea to the mainland jetty.

Although small by Indian standards, Kanyakumari is a bustling place, with plenty of shops and activity due to the numbers of Indian tourists. We take the opportunity to buy two fleece jackets, at the equivalent of NZ$6 each, for our forthcoming trips to Kodaikanal and Ooty, which are at altitude and will be cool. The rest of our time is spent browsing and lunching, plus an interlude when we try and find "Bay Watch, India's Foremost Seaside Amusement Park", but after following the signs along a road for about 30 mins we realise we're heading way out of town and give up. Our amusement will have to wait until another day.

Our train, the Chennai Egmore Express, leaves dead on 5.15 as scheduled. Because we know there's no pantry car we've stocked up with fruit and nibbles. Clive keeps jumping up and going to the open side door to look out, muttering things like "Upper quadrant signalling" and "Dual gauge track" to himself. Sarah meanwhile takes on the challenge of a "fiendish" SuDoKu puzzle. Shortly after Nagercoil we pass through a massive wind turbine farm. There must be over a thousand wind turbines there, all imported from Pennsylvania according to a fellow traveller.

We arrive in Madurai 20 mins late at 9.40pm. Our auto driver (as usual) tries to convince us that our hotel is full so that he can take us to another that will pay him commission, but we're wise to this old trick. By the time we've checked in and sorted ourselves out the rooftop restaurant bar is almost closed - almost. But we persuade them to serve us a cold Kingfisher which the waiter seems happy to do once he's reeled off all the names of the New Zealand cricket team, rather like a party trick. A small price to pay for a much needed cold beer we feel.