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Published: December 18th 2009
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Hampi in brief.. Hampi in brief : A quick over view of Hampi. Dotted around the hills and valleys are 500 plus monuments. Among them are beautiful temples, basement of palaces, remains of aquatic structures, ancient market streets, royal pavilions, bastions, royal platforms, treasury buildings.., the list is practically endless.
So armed with our new found friend, Harold, a sweet but slightly insecure Dutch man - he was very bold on the bus and when we arrived in Hampi he asked if he could travel with us to Cochin. Being the good friendly girl I am - I said yes of course! So off we went to find out next taste of paradise - Dom me and little Harry!
We hiked up to a temple dedicated to Hanuman - the monkey god yesterday to watch the sunset. At the top was a gogreous white temple set upon some golden coloured rocks. There must have been 60 small monkeys there each with their own little cheek full of food and a big fat hairy red bum.
There were a few monks living in the temple - one from Varranasi who had travelled here and never left. The place had a
certain stillness to it - inside a little shrine. I went inside to have a look and got a blessing and a little red strip upon my forehead - a blessing I believe - for 10 rupees of course.
As I walked out I noticed a TV and sure enough on the outside of the marvellously serene temple there was a satellite dish! It made me giggle!
The following day - keen to explore the open landscape of Hampi we hired bikes and cycled on the North side of the river through banana groves and rice paddies in search of a local woman's co-operative that made bags, mats, hats and you name it really out of banana skin, leaves and remnant products. For a community that doesn't produce much it has given the local woman something to work towards and a sense of purpose. Lets face it - it makes a change from washing clothes and making rice and curry!
It was very inspiring and a nice little mission for the day.
The day after - not wanting to repeat the tedium of the bus journey we booked our train tickets out of Hampi and took a
rickshaw around all of the temples on the main bazaar side! It was a great great trip and with ruins and ancient structures over such a vast area - I am glad we got a rickshaw in that sun!
As the nearest train station was so 40 minutes away and our train departed at 06:30am we decided to get over the Hospet - a bustling market town the night before. The lonely liar offers 2 of the most expensive hotels in town - 70 pounds - since when was the LP a boutique guide! So after some negotiations we booked into a little hotel called The Shine - a luxury business hotel - my arse!
It had cold but over priced beers, the beds were comfy and it had a tele - so we watched a bollywood film of course! Harry managed to blag a nice room all to himself. Dom and I are pleased for the break as our little fairy wheel is starting to get a bit "third party like"
Up fresh and fruity we got the station in plenty of time - only to find the train was 2.5 hours delayed! Aaagh lovely! A long
and slow 10 hour train journey later we arrived back in Goa to catch our connection to Cochin - a further 16hrs away. With a few hours to kill in Margao, we dumped our bags in the train storage room whilst Harry went off to buy his ticket. With him out of site, we made a run for it and we headed into town for dinner. 4 G and T's later (for medicinal purposes only of course) we wondered if we would see Harry later for the train departure!
So everywhere we have been in India so far has been so busy and full of rickshaws day and night - but as we stumble out of our little dinner venue - there isn't a soul on the streets. Fortunately we have left enough time to get back to the station to get our bags, but where is the station?
We begin walking along the road and asking people and we are approached by a man on a moped who kindly points us in the direction of the station. With due suspicion we asked 2 others and it was confirmed we were on he right track. He just rode along
side us without pushing anything or coming on to us - he just wanted to make sure that we got there safely.
He had a shop just by the station and invited us in for a cold water whilst he called his wife - who soon appeared on a moped for a chat. We hung out with them for 30mins or so - then he gave us a rather brightly coloured orange drink to take with us on the journey - tartrazine in a bottle. They also invited us back to Margao again and if we needed anything in India to get in touch. Another blessing from angels!
Up to the station platform we go - only to find the train will be an hour late. Oh well - time to sit and sweat with your bags again! Having parked up comfortably on a bench under a light we wait and wait and wait. After a short trip to the toilet I just checked that we were on the right platform .... fortunately I did check... with the train due in moments I dashed down the line to grab our things and Dom as we scramble to the
other end of the station! On we get and away we go!
Its 2am as we board the train. People as sleeping as we crash past them with our bags. I notice a man shuffling under his sheet - oh yes - he was just having a five finger shuffle on the train in full view. It was time to sleep with one eye open. Fortunately we had a bay with a very nice respectable Indian family who helped us into our bunks. Lights out and off to sleep with the gentle lull of the train - Cochin here we come!
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