Kanyakumari-Southern tip of India

Tim and I have never been big fans of traveling in large groups. There are always many advantages to having everything arranged for you, but we are not used to having a strict schedule. For some reason, we thought a trip to Kanyakumari, the southern tip of the subcontinent, with a group from the ashram might just be insightful. Perhaps it was, however I think it validated our previous thoughts of solitary travel. A group of 70 was divided between two busses. As we were assigned to our busses, my first apprehensions set in. It was completely chaotic and there was no clear leadership from two young Indian staff and a meek woman we referred to as Swami Banana (as she wore yellow clothing marking her vow of celibacy). We stopped at several temples, anticipating explanations of the sites...but did more standing around waiting for the group to be gathered together. Our final destination was a rock outcropping just off the southern tip of the mainland to visit a temple and statue. You have to take a 5 minute ferry ride to reach the site. It is a big destination, so there is a long line of Indians behind our group of 70. Since it is not customary to queue here, there were many Indians trying to push past our group...and Swami Banana's lack of control was visible in the changing color on her face. We finally get up to the ferry and they only allow half the group on the boat. Next thing we know Swami Banana is screaming at the folks on the ferry to get off and wait for the next one. It was a chaotic scene, as our mama hen regrouped us and ushered us onto the next ferry as one gigantic group...all headed to the same destination. Although it was incredible to stand at the tip of India and stare out at the confluence of the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and Bay of Bengal...Tim and I would have been happy go through the leg work of arranging all of that ourselves!!