The next day we awaken early to watch sunrise over the sea, from the comfort of our beds. Once again, there are clouds, so nothing spectacular happens, except that Amit falls asleep. I know better and wait for the sun to appear just above the clouds, when it casts long rays of light across the water. A sort of surrogate sunrise, not the best, but not bad. We arise lazily at eight, breakfast leisurely and head for a boat ride to Vivekananda rock only to find a queue stretching several kilometers back from the jetty. The rock stands close to shore, and houses a memorial to Vivekananda, and a huge statue of him. We are too impatient to stand in line, so we give it a miss, and head for the sangam, a meeting point of three major water bodies, the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. It is a bathing ghat, with steps leading into the water and a sort of lagoon formed between land a series of rocks. People are bathing and jumping around, getting lightly battered by the remains of waves which are washing over the rocks. We find a less crowded area and enjoy the sight of the water against the rocks, and the breeze, pleasures which we will enjoy for another two days at Kovalam.

Our literature has mentioned a wooden palace at Padmanabhapuram, which sounds alluring. Our experience of palaces at Cochin has left us disenchanted with the term, but I am still eager to see this place. It is 35 km from Kanyakumari, on the way to Trivandrum, which, at that point is the same as the way to Kovalam (the road branches off later). By bus, we shall certainly miss this, so once again we make enquiries about taxis, and finally settle for Rs 500 for the circular fort, and drop to Kovalam. Unsure about the wooden palace, we mention nothing at this stage. We are scheduled to leave at 11.45.

The Circular fort is a massive stone structure of the eighteenth century. It has a simple doorway and virtually nothing inside. There is one courtyard which might have had some structures, which leads, at the far corner to another courtyard with no remaining traces of any kind of buildings. The walls are thick, and in the first courtyard, too high for anyone but Amit to look over. The later courtyard has far lower walls which afford spectacular views of the beach through palm trees. The route to the beach is via a narrow footpath alongside the fort, not very inviting, though there are a few people sporting on the small, secluded beach. A few photographs later we leave.

Now we tentatively broach the subject of the wooden palace. The driver is unenthusiastic, informing us that though it is on the way, the stop will take at least an hour. I am sure that he will stop for a bit of cash, but I say nothing, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. However my hopes come true and as we pass the place, he mentions it and adds that he will take us for an additional consideration. With apparent reluctance we enquire how much. He asks for fifty bucks, and this I accept with alacrity.

I never have an opportunity to regret. Through a short stretch of crowded road, we approach the wooden palace. Built in 1558, it was dedicated to lord padmanabham, hence the name, which it now lends to the general area. The basic building is brick and cement, but the decorations are all in wood. Exquisitely carved doors, windows, jharokas, cloisters and balconies captivate us even before we purchase tickets. We are required to take off our shoes and join the crowds filing in. Nobody is allowed in without a guide, and we get one all to ourselves, though package tours of thirty or more share one guide. Our guide is informative, though impatient of our frequent stops for photographs. We are too enamoured of the place to give much thought to his impatience. We are taken through building after building, narrow corridors and tiny doorways and steep steps combined making even my passage difficult, while Amit almost has to crawl in some spaces. They must have been very small people, we surmise, only to be led into a huge hall which, the guide says, the ladies used as a makeup room and place to have fun. Two enormous beds and canopies are placed one after another, but there's plenty of space to swing a couple of cats and do much else. At either end of the hall there's a wall mirror of enormous dimensions, with an ornate wooden frame. The ladies certainly knew how to party, we comment, especially considering that the dance floor we passed earlier provides seating only for the men, while the women had to hide in a raised cloistered section and watch in secrecy. The servant women were put to even more discomfort, being compelled to lie down on the floor and squinny through peepholes to get a view.

We pass an ante-room leading to the royal bath, a largish swimming pool now filled with stagnant water. There is a massage room for king and queen to luxuriate in fragrant oils, and later, two Indian style toilets, one with openings at front and back for the convenience of men, the other remarkably similar to what is commonly used even today.

Leaving the living chambers, we come to an enormous two-storeyed dining hall, which is said to have seated 1,000 on each floor, nobles below, and lesser known dignitaries above. The ground floor has a huge stone serving dish embedded in the ground to keep the food hot. The kitchen which supplies these huge dining rooms seems tiny. In a later chamber we find huge earthen vessels for making pickles. The floor everywhere is made of a curious black substance, made of nine substances including lemon, charcoal and egg white, none of them cement, and most of them edible.

There's much more to see than I can tell of. A stone which aspirants to the army need only lift above their heads a hundred times - a far simplified form of the NDA. Did they have a large army, we ask the guide. Six he says. We stare at him. No, he means 60,000. Then there's the treasury, protected by a huge lock and chains on the door. There's an ornately worked pillar supporting a roof, made of a single piece of jackfruit wood. And more.

Our heads a whirl, we reclaim our shoes and follow our impatient driver back to the car. It has taken more than the predicted one hour, but it was well worthwhile.