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Published: August 4th 2010
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Hampi
The old Krishna Bazaar Whilst waiting for our bus to Hampi we met loads of other backpackers on the South India trail. One was them was a crazy couple. They left us with their bags and went off for dinner, got drunk and staggered back to us half hour after the bus was meant to turn up, they were very lucky the bus was late! On the bus they continued drinking and making a scene but at least they livened up the journey. We arrived in Hampi at 11am to mayhem, we were surrounded my tuk tuk drivers and they even started to climb the side of the bus before we stepped off. After lots of confusion we settled for a tuk tuk driver named Rameesh. He took us to a guesthouse which was rather unusual as we had rocks in our bedroom. Hampi has over 2,000 ancient temples to explore and is a very beautiful place surrounded by lush green countryside. Rameesh offered us a deal to visit the temples over two days. He tried to swindle us a bit at first but then you cant blame him for trying! We agreed a fair deal for both of us and it was well worth
the money, he was an excellent guide. We also had some extra stops which were totally unexpected, we had a boat ride in a circular boat made of reeds and he took us to a temple for sunset with lots and lots of monkeys. There were even baby monkeys and they stole some food out of a girls bag. On our second day in Hampi we visited a restaurant called the Mango Tree for lunch, it was a nice restaurant as it gaves us views over Hampi river and we all sat on the floor outside we also had a wander at Hampi bazaar. In the evening we had dinner with Rameesh and played cards until there was a power cut! We left Hampi that evening on a night bus to Bangalore.
We arrived in Bangalore at 6am, checked into a hotel only to be told that we then had to check out at 6am the next morning. None of us fancied the early start and we soon discovered there wasnt much to do in Bangalore unless we were to go shopping. We decided to leave that night on a night bus to Cochin in the state of Kerela
so filled our time using the internet and had a wander around MG Road.
When we arrived in Cochin our tuk tuk driver took us to a family home stay. They guy who run it was very friendly and helpful to us. In this area of india a majority of the men wear what is known as a lungi, its a piece of material tied around the waist and worn as a sort of skirt. At first this was a strange sight but we soon got used to it and it was nice to see them keeping to their customs. Cochin itself is an old fishing village and when we walked along the waterfornt we saw them casting huge ancient chinese fishing nets into the sea. From Fort Cochin we walked to Mattencherry through the villages past all the local stores and it was an enjoyable walk which gave us a good insight into South Indian life. Sam D had to do some hard bargening to buy some elephants but was pleased to come away with them. Whislt in Cochin there were some bad storms and for much of the time we had no power, what was really bad
was that meant our fan didn't work and it was so hot! From Cochin we visited Kerela Backwaters, we were lucky as the weather held out for much of the trip. The backwaters were very beautiful and full of wildlife. We went on two boats, one larger with a covered top and the other was much smaller to get into the small water ways. Here it ws very peaeful and you could hear many tropical sounding birds. On the trip we visited a limestone factory and a coconut rope factory and had a traditional south indian lunch on a banana leaf. We left Cochin for Varkala on a train.
Our trip to Varkala was an very long one because there was a derailment further north. We spent most of the day on the platform. The train that we finally got on was a train that came form Delhi, it was packed, we had no allocated seats and with three of us and our backpacks this was a nightmare. Kindly a guy gave up his bed for us and allowed us all to sit on the side. We finally reached Varkala and stayed at Varkala Marine Palace. It was a
Locals at Varkala
Men here are wearing the traditional Lungis. beautiful place overlooking the sea but such as shame that it rained nearly the whole time we there. Our dreams for a beach holiday for the end of our trip were shattered but we made the most of it, had a walk around town and along the beach and Sam and Lucy had some more henna on their hands and feet. Next it was on to Chennai.
We left on the train to Chennia, another overnight trip but this time we went for luxury. 2nd class sleeper AC, we were given blankets, food, curtains to pull and even reading lights. We arrived in Chennai and found most places to be booked up. We finally found a place to rest our heads for a few hours and wash. It was not nice at all it was dirty and we only had 1 bed to share. Nevertheless it was only for a few hours so we got out of our room and visited a colourful temple, a beautiful old church and Chennai beach, which was huge and a local beach rather than touristic. There were local fisherman that had just come in emptying their nets and we watched as a crowd
gathered, many locals were waiting to see if there was any good fish for their tea. In town there were preperations for holi taking place, part of which was some coulourful drawings painted on the floor. Early hours of the morning we left Chennai for our spice jet flight to Delhi!!!
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