Driving from Chennai to Kanyakumari down the East Coast Road, Prasad Ramamurthy finds that even the most well-travelled routes can offer new reasons to visit.
There is this road by the sea that breaks free from concrete and chases the coast. At points, parts of it break off and fan out. Most course inland while one continues to hug the sea where the sea has allowed it to, without claiming the land for itself. They call this the East Coast Road, at least for a few good lengths of it. Elsewhere, it has other names: SH49, NH32, SH176.
Depending on the time of day, the sea it borders reveals its many colours—silver at dawn, teal at midday, golden at dusk, black at midnight. If you follow the road by the sea, leaving behind the chaos of Chennai, it’ll lead you to temple towns via quaint colonial outposts where the well-heeled vacation in refurbished heritage homes. It’ll take you past hamlets where men knit fishing nets in the shadows of towering churches.
This story is from the December 2016 - January 2017 edition of Condé Nast Traveller India.
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This story is from the December 2016 - January 2017 edition of Condé Nast Traveller India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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