インド5日目。インド最南端カーニャクマリ
本日は朝イチでバンガロールから、飛行機で南インド、ケララ地方の都市ティルバナンタプーラムへ。そこから2等列車をのってインド最南端の街カーニャクマリへ。
2等列車、３０分ほど遅れてきたけれど、25年前と比べてだいぶ綺麗。この列車で100kmほど南へ。ゆっくり南国景色を3時間。インド、ナグプールとバンガロールはゴミが少なかったけれど、この地域はデリーほどじゃないけれどほどほどゴミ。列車の外にゴミを投げ捨てるというのは、習慣なのかな？せっかく綺麗な地域もゴミがあると残念。デーリーはすばらしい芝生の公園がゴミだらけ、人の座るところがないような状態だったけれど、ゴミがないほうが快適に過ごせるという意識自体がないのかもしれない。
最南端の街カーニャクマリについた後、ホテルにチェックイン、その後夕日を見に。カーニャクマリはインドで唯一、水平線から日の出と日の入りが見れる街。日の出と日の入りは毎日あるはずだけれど、日の入りのサンセットポイントは現地の方がたくさん。
帰りサンセットポイントからゆっくり歩いていたら人里離れたところにワインバー。なかなか雰囲気が良いところだったので、入ってみるとお客様がまったくいない。それでも入り口のオープンスタイルの厨房では、お客様がいないのに、多くのスタッフが常に一生懸命鍋をふっている。デリバリーしている様子もないのに誰のために料理を作っているのだろう。パフォーマンス？謎。ちなみにメニューを見てもまったく高くなく、街の食堂のちょっと上ぐらい。日の入りを見にちょっと出ただけで、財布がなかったので、ビールと炭酸水のオーダーだったけれど、ここも間違いなくなぜ維持できている理由が謎の店。ネループレイスは違ったけれど、ここはさすがにお金持ちのオーナーの方の道楽のお店なのかもしれない。
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This morning I flew from Bangalore to Thiruvananthapuram, a city in the Kerala region of southern India. From there I took a second class train to Kanniyakumari, the southernmost city in India.
The second class train arrived 30 minutes late and was much cleaner than 25 years ago. The train travelled 100km south. It was a slow three hours through tropical landscapes. India, Nagpur and Bangalore had less rubbish, but this area has more than there, but not as much as Delhi. Is it common to throw rubbish outside trains? It is a shame to see garbage in such a beautiful place. In Delhi, beautiful green parks were covered with rubbish and there was nowhere for people to sit, but maybe people don’t realise that life would be more pleasant without rubbish.
After arriving in Kanyakumari, the southernmost city, we checked into our hotel and went out to watch the sunset. Kanyakumari is the only place in India where you can see sunrise and sunset from the horizon. Sunrise and sunset should be every day, but there are many locals at Sunset Point.
On the way back from Sunset Point I found a wine bar in the middle of nowhere. The atmosphere was quite nice, so I went in and found no customers at all. But in the open kitchen at the entrance there were lots of people working hard despite the lack of customers. There was no sign of a delivery, so who were they cooking for? It is a mystery. By the way, the menu is not expensive, just a bit more than the restaurants in town. We had just gone out to watch the sunset and didn’t have our wallets with us, so we ordered beer and soda, which were the same price as in the supermarket in town. This is definitely another restaurant where the reasons for sustainability are a mystery. No doubt everyone in Nehru Place works for a living, but perhaps this is a hobby for the rich owners.
