D 38 - 39 Goa to Hampi
0745 departure for the 7 hour train to Hampi. Definitely going up in the world as we treated ourselves to AC 3 class, that's 3 beds either side then another 2 on the side of the carriage. Pleasant enough journey and some spectacular views as the train climbs from the beaches of Goa through the forests and tea plantations and up to the plateau of the Karnataka highlands.
As an aside, Indian Trains and the Indian Train network. You thought buying your ticket from Cardiff to London via reading was complicated! Restrictions, disclaimers, cancellation options, booking options, classes, ways to bribe train conductors, ways to change ticket allocations, Reservation After Cancellation, waiting lists, booking fees, cancellation refunds. Somewhere there is method behind this madness but i am yet to find it.
To get to Hampi you have to get the train to Hospet then a taxi/rickshaw to the city itself. As we drew up to the station we could see rickshaw drivers, beggars and all other forms of tourist loving lamprey type creatures preparing their ambush. As the train stops it literally is a case of deep breath, tighten the straps, zip the pockets and once more in to the breech! After some ignoring of limbless miscreants and batting off a few street urchins we achieved some fast bartering and secured ourselves a ride to Hampi.
Hampi has a distinctly chilled out atmosphere and is a great place to while away a few days tottering around the boulders and gently strolling through the bazaars. Sally was having none of this and we decided to crack the place in a day and get back down to sea level!
The city itself is the deserted ancient capital of a once all powerful Hindu Empire that stretched from modern day Mumbai to the shores of Tamil Nadu. The current inhabitants number only a few 1000 and live among the ruins living off agriculture and tourism. The city is situated in a slight depression next to a huge river leaving it protected on all sides by either mountains or water. The landscape is littered with thousands of huge granite boulders that seem placed in impossible gravity defying positions and it is these huge stones that the stone masons used to construct the myriad temples and structures that make up the city.
We hired a little 80cc for the day and pottered around getting terribly sunburnt, enjoying the lack of people and taking in the hugely impressive temples and palaces. On the way back after a few hours negotiating, Sally was allowed control of the scooter, Carl Foggerty she was not and my palms still sweat now thinking about the buses, people and cows that we very nearly got extremely intimate with.....new tour rule - Women shall not be allowed in control of any 2 wheelers.
Day 40-42 Back to Goa
Early rise for the 6.30 train back to Goa. As alluded to earlier even though there were no tickets 'available' we managed to get a seat, Indian train conductors would make great MPs. The train we got was 30 mins late but that is impressive considering the starting station was Calcutta around 2000 km's away (that info was especially for Meds if he reads this - he loves trains).
By 2 we were back in Goa and jumped in a cab to the city of Pangi. (note: you cannot spell any city in India incorrectly as there are about 50 spellings and names for each place and most people just spell it how it sounds). A lovely little city next with a European feel (for a Indian city it is immaculate and only smells slightly worse than Paris!). This was the Portuguese capital in India until 1961 when the Indian Army demanded it back.
Today (Sunday) we took a bus out to Old Goa which was the capital until the 1850's when it was moved down the river (to Pangim) because everyone was being killed off by Malaria and Cholera (it seems that God wasn't willing to help them out even though they built more churches, Basilicas and Cathedrals than you can throw a rosary bead at). The place is now a world heritage site and goes down very well with Indian tourists who travel from neighbouring states for a bit of culture cheap Goan beer.
Tomorrow we are off to Arambol n Northern Goa to get a couple of days in a beach hut before hitting Bombay.
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