A short one while spending a day travelling...

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A short one. We left after breakfast and found a bus to Mysore. It was nice to ride through the tropical forest some more and we saw more stopped dear near another one of the wildlife parks. Crossing over the border to Karnataka, the roads took a drastic change for the worse. The tarmac became a mud track covered with huge potholes and filled with water from the previous night. The progress was slow and bumpy beyond belief. We spent an uncomfortable hour of this torment and could swear that the bus came close to tipping sideways once or twice due to the unevenness of the track. Things picked up eventually and we arrived in Mysore which was the most crowded place we've been to yet with people everywhere. We passed the sultans palace on the way in and caught glimpses of the huge and spectacular construction.

We had decided not to stop in Mysore and instead try and push on for Hampi, location of an ancient ruined city several hundred mile further north. We got a Rickshaw to the station and were lucky enough to be able to reserve sleeper tickets on the Hampi Express that left at 10:20pm that evening from Bangalore. We then found a train from Mysore to Bangalore and waited around for the sleeper train, which be our longest and first overnight journey so far.

Other interesting facts so far:

We've spent an average of 1000 rupees per day so far including food, accommodation and transport. Not bad at around £12 to £13.

We've seen an array of beggars ranging from polio victims, children, blind, old women and even one poor guy with elephantiasis in his leg.

Experienced a wide range of transport means- most of them uncomfortable with the exception of the houseboat

We're only eating about two two meals a day due to the heat and the fact we're usually on the move.

Had no major problems with delhi belly so far, lets hope this continues!

Some lessons learned so far:

Don't book at hotel near even a semi busy road if you value sleep.

Don't underestimate walking distance in the heat/humidity

Learned to eat Indian style.

Always book a train seat in advance

When a shop keeper invites you into a shop, don't say 'later' or they WILL get you in there next time

A reserved train seat does not mean comfort by any means.

Toilet paper is expensive, best gather leaves :-)

Buses are fun but terrifying, particularly at altitude

Monkeys are cute

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Comments

[grandma & grandad]

hi happy travellers
We are thoroughly enjoying reading your blogs and to hear you are both enjoying your journey in India - we hope the rest of your 11 months will be equally as enjoyable. Take good care of yourselves and we look forward to the next interesting chapter.