Are we there yet?

The jouney from Kodaikanal to Kollam was an adventure that kept going and going and going...We were expecting a long day, as although Kollam was less than 300km as the crow flys from Kodai, there was no good direct road over the mountains down into Kerala. From Kodai, we wound back down to the plains and followed the eastern side of the Western Ghats virtually to the southern tip of India. In this region we were surprised to see hundreds of wind turbines towering over and seemingly outnumbering the coconut palms lining the fields stretching to the horizon. It was early afternoon as we travelled between the boulder strewn granite peaks through to Nagercoil on the western side of the range. As we headed northward the pace slowed with increasing traffic and virtually no streches of open road and we were lucky to average 30km/hr for the rest of the day. Crossing into the state of Kerala and with our destination still 'two hours away' we gave up at about 8pm after nearly twelve hours on the road and found a hotel at the far too touristy beachside resort area of Kovalam. The next morning we covered the last 67km to Kollam in just under two hours - we still find it difficult to comprehend the time it takes to travel in India compared to Australia - as a general rule it takes two to three times longer to cover the same distance.


Kollam is the southern (and less touristy) gateway to the 'Backwaters' of Kerala - a maze of lakes, rivers and canals through which much of the trade and travel in Kerala still occurs.