One Bumpy Hampi Ride

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When you are traveling there are so many stories shared about where to go when and who with and how much. We had both heard so many good things about the magic and mystery of Hampi that we decided to get out there and have a little look ourselves.

After the most relaxing week in Goa - chilling on the beaches of Arambol we decided to leave our wonderful little beach hut nestled in the palms right on the beach and take one sweaty little mission to Mapusa to get the bus to Hampi!

The taxi driver takes us to the main square where the buses arrive. There is no real bus stand its more like a stretch of dust and you are lucky if the right bus comes to the right place least of all on time! So we had a few hours to kill and we booked our onward bus and train journeys down to Kerela as its high season and trains are very busy! The sweat is rolling down my legs even sitting down.

We had a lovely dinner (quickly) just on the square and sank a few cold ones as we had heard that Hampi was a dry town. It would also help us to sleep on the sleeper bus!

So at 19:02 the Sleeper bus pulls up in Mapusa on the square on the patch of dust. It bearly stops - our bags and ourselves are pulled on. A massive sense of urgency and lots of shouting and hustling and bustling! But we get on and the double bed right behind the driver is free! Dom and I are in a state of shock at the fact we have accidentally landed ourselves in the best space on the bus.

Now its a funny thing - its a single story bus with chairs below on the ground and then a kind of bunk bed up top with a nice velvet cover and a slightly raised pillow area! The windows are sliding ones - so you can open up to the full view of the city - the only problem being of course that there is nothing technically to keep you in the bus or indeed on he bed when the driver shoots around the corners!

The city is alive with traffic and lights are we are pleased as punch at our new home for 13hour bus journey we are about to make. We get the i pod on and blow up our pillows - Whey hey!!! Fantastic!

But with everything in India - you can never sit back on your happy chair for too long because you just don't know how it might end up! 2 stops later there is a lot of commotion and everyone is off the bus and onto a slightly older bus - this one is going to Hampi! Its here that we find the realer reality of the bus journey were we are allocated some sleeping chairs on the bottom row near the back of the bus.... the worst place to be on a bumpy road!

All i can say is - we are getting the train back from Hampi because that bus journey is honestly something i would never like to repeat! Imagine your body - too long to fit on the sleeping chair, with your ass cheeks squeezed into the small gap between the chair seat and the sleeper back - out of which a nice supporting metal bar sits. Your wonderful travel buddy (and i mean that) is already asleep - and snoring outstretched with her knee resting gently on your tummy - all the while the bus feels like it is driving over corrugated iron!!! So you can imagine the sense of relief when we managed to get our tickets on the train this morning!

Hampi on the other hand is a truly wonderful place. Its an ancient city going back thousands of years. The new town is situated in the centre of the ancient ruins. There is a calm river that runs through it. Vast stretches of boulder-strewn hills make the backdrop of Hampi unique.

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