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Published: August 16th 2008
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We reached the mainland around lunch time and it was then time to have something to eat before heading towards our next destination possibly Goa. The next railway station is in Eranakulam Junction, situated a few kilometres far from Kochi. On the way to the railway station, we entered to the Indian Coffee House which was crowded at the time of our arrival. I guess that this may be the last meal at Indian Coffee House in South of Indian.
As soon as we finished our lunch, we took a rickshaw down to the railway station otherwise it would have been very difficult to walk approximately two kilometres along the main road. I could hardly notice the ticket counter when a lot of people made a huge pile of human bodies in front of a small ticket counter with a woman sat behind the iron-grill. she looks notorious, about to explode! I assume that it must be the information desk and I have to be in that huge human pile to reach other end of the counter.
I finally manage to reach the counter to discover that there is no train to Goa till day after tomorrow which means,
we have to find a way to get out of Kerala as soon as possible otherwise we have to go back to Fort Kochi and there is a possibility, we may face Dream Catcher again. All my effort to reached the both counters vanished so quickly. I realised that it is certainly a difficult task to organise a trip in hurry!
The main private coach station is not far from the main railway building, just at the end of the road, across the railway station. I thought that it might be an easy to get a bus ticket to Goa but I was wrong to judge that so early. There are a lot of middle men, who try to sell ticket for a higher price. It is hard to get a ticket without having made a deal with one of these guys. I took such a long time to understand the game, but there is no need to pay a lot of money to go Goa.
I assembled my backpack and the tent together and walked into the railway station, after having faced a distasteful encounter with a couple of coach ticket sellers. My mind was restless and
I am exceedingly annoyed after the failed attempt to buy two tickets to Goa.
Where can we go? Not definitely back to Fort Kochi!
Finally we decide to go to Kozhikode otherwise we have to spend the night in Kochi. The next train is arriving from Trivandrum any moment, so I hurried to get two tickets to Kozhikode. I stand in front of the counter while thinking myself, where we can go after Kozhikode. The map behind the ticket counter gave me no solution as I was staring at it while the lady behind the iron-grill was entering our information on the computer. Finally, I have got two tickets to Kozhikode. It was a feeling of a great triumph having obtained tickets from the Tourist Counter.
I took my seat next the window and began to read about the next destination after Kozhikode. Mysore is situated in the southern part of the Deccan Plateau, Mysore is an undulating tableland, covered in parts by granite outcrops and fringed by lush forests.
I was reading that Mysore is a pleasant city with an old world charm, contributed by its broad shady avenues, well laid out gardens, fine buildings and
a salubrious climate. I thought that this is enough to convince myself that I am visiting the city of Wodeyars after Kozhikode.
As soon as the train stopped at Calicut also known as Kozhhikode Junction, we rushed to the nearest bus station for so many reasons. It is good to have avoided all those friendly people with many choices in their hands on the platform and also it is wise to get a bus before it gets dark. I have no idea how long it will take us to Mysore but we were happy to get a bus with minimum comfort. The bus made its journey at almost 5pm, there was no reason for us to get panicked that we may arrive in Mysore early in the morning.
The bus journey was not so comfort at night. Most of the passengers on the bus were sleeping so deeply when the bus pulled along the road, in front of a roti shop. It might have been around 10pm and the driver told us that it was a 30 minutes break for dinner. We had a plate of chicken curry and some cold roties which was a great meal of
the day for me. I was desperate to go for a wee but I could not find a toilet near by in the dark. I was pointed out a building some meters far from the shop, which was called - Public Urinating Area!
Within 45 minutes, our bus began to climb slowly over Deccan plateau. The passenger next me just pointed out to me that we are within 2 to 3 hours distance far from Mysore. I put my head out of the window to see the whole are in pitched black. There were no street lamps no road signs. How does the driver manager to manoeuvre the bus in this darkness? I tried to hide the fear of slipping down the road and roll into thick jungle.
We were at the main bus station in Mysore around 2pm in the morning. As soon as we get off the bus, a guy reached us to show a guest house. We followed him with his rickshaw to find that the one he chose is closed at this time. The next one, doesn’t seem a good place to be at all, so we refused. Finally we went for a hotel, where
I only found that they accommodate anyone except Sri Lankans. It is quite shocking at this time of the day; I am so exhausted to argue with anyone. I kindly asked the rickshaw driver to leave us at the bus station where surrounded by various kind of people. We settled ourselves between a ticket counter and a tea shop. Many people are sleeping all over the places and some of them are staring at us without saying anything. I was irritated so much whenever someone came to help us, because I was at that time, sick of finding hotels, lodges or guest houses. God knows where they will guide us next….we don’t exist here!
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beautiful
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