From the hills to the water

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Overnight bus to Hampi

The travel from Panaji to Hampi started with a big bam!!! We (Josh) ordered/ asked for a rickshaw to the busstop around 19.15h and when we showed up not one rickshaw at the rickshaw stop!! Non, nada, nobody!
With all our gear on our back we started to run direction private busses in the dark and it was pouring down.. Not really knowing exactly where we had to go!!
But that was not all! I (ariska) already had to pee before we left and I was thinking? Overnight bus should have a toilet (STUPID!!). No toilets of course in India.. So when I asked where is the closest toilet? The driver opened his arms and said public toilets!
In the dark, with Josh next to me, trying to find a "good" place I straight walk into something soft, slippery and wet! Yes I was standing in human poo! This all in the middle of a big city!
But finally made it in the bus of hell!! What a ride... the driver thought he was driving alone..We where on an upper bed bumping around!

With no sleep at all we arrived in Hampi! We never seen anything like this. Completly worn out we had to wait for our rooms till 10am! (think arriving 6.30am). With a lazy afternoon in the back of our minds we went to a little restaurant called "Mango Tree". Having lunch enjoying our amazing view we see some "flies" buzzing around.. But no, from one crazy situation (think poo) we get into another one... Hundreds and hundreds of HUGE bees coming towards us... Attacking the girl in front of us and we decided to take a run... But to late! They went also after Josh and stung him in his neck and ears!

On our journey to Hampi we met Stefan from Switzerland (who's still travelling with us now). We decided to rent some bycicles on our 2nd day to see all the Temples and Ruins around Hampi! The best idea we had so far! What a surreal place. The whole area around Hampi excist out of boulders, hills and one big river floating in the middle of it all! And ofcourse not to forget the beautifull temples!

After spending 4 days in Hampi we decided to hit the road again.. Cause Hampi is an alcohol free zone and my (ariska's) birthday was coming up! Our plan was to go to Mysore, the historic headquarters of the Wodeyar maharajas, but arriving in this big city our minds changed real quickly and we booked a bus onwards to Ooty.

Ooty

Ooty is on a elevation of 2240m high! Big change from the warm weather... Arriving in the dark not really knowing what's north, south, etc... Looking at some hostels around we finally found a place that would do.
The night was freezing cold and we where happy we had our sleeping bags already! Poor Stefan who was under 3 blankets and still freezing.
To celebrate my birthday we decided to do something cool for the day and go up to the highest point in south India (2633m) and hike back the whole way to Ooty... With 3 people in a little rickshaw going up the mountain we already deciced not to walk back.. but hold on to the rickshaw to go down again! After a long 5 min walk around we had seen enough... Nothing really special and only local tourism... Felt a bit out of place.
In the evening we had some beers at the hostel (josh had to look around for an hour to find them!) and chit chatted with the other guests.
We also went for the Toy Train going down through the tea plantations, but again a little dissapointing...
After all of this we decided it's time to hit the road again...

Fort Cochin/Kochi

Fort Cochin is a blend of Potugal, Holland and an English village crafted onto the tropical Malabar Coast. It's also famous for the giant fishing nets from China.
After being inland for a while we decided to chill out here for a week and just make a rough plan for the north of India.
While we were in Kochi we went to a classical Kathakali dance... Something we will never forget.. They didn't use words only facial expressions and hand language. Drums where used for the music!

Another daytrip we did from Kochi was the Backwaters.
Kerala region is famous for it's backwaters... The 900km network of waterways where used as a highway before there were roads around. We spent half a day treckking through narrow cannals in a huge gondola seeing villages and people going along with there everyday routine (fishing, washing clothes and even dredging for sand).

Now we are in Varkala.. Still in Kerala region but taking it even more easy before we head down in the hectic city life again.

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Comments

[Anita]

Wauwwww, wat een reis!! Heerlijk om je verhalen te lezen!! Ga zo door!! En heb je een leuke verjaardag gehad?? Liefsss