Blogs from Karnataka, India, Asia - page 138

I was both alive and unbitten when I surfaced this morning, which I celebrated by having a cold shower. After breakfast I caught an auto to Kamalapuram, the nearby town from which I intended walking back, visiting the southern ruins along the way. I paid a quick visit to the Archaeological Museum in Kamalapuram, which contained a useful 3D model of how Hampi (aka Vijayanagar) must have looked in its prime, as well as a map of the extant ruins. The southern ruins are spread over a large area which is quite lacking in shade, so I took regular breaks in whatever shelter I could find, guzzling on my water bottle. Sensible people, who overtook me at regular intervals, had hired either bicycles or an auto for the day. Though the sheer number of ruins was ... read more

No change on the guts front, though I did look up "amoebic dysentery" on Google and it doesn't appear to be that. I decided to have another rest day, partly because it might help with the recovery and partly because there don't appear to be many major sights in Bangalore. The overnight train to Hospet was truly enormous - probably the longest train I've seen yet in India. Unfortunately this also meant there were two 2AC cars. I didn't realise this at first, having only been on trains with one, so when I saw the first one I naturally assumed that it was mine. After climbing into the upper berth and doing all my preparations for sleep (remove contacts, set alarm, etc), the ticket inspector came round, took one look at my ticket, and told me ... read more

The journey to Bangalore, in A/C chair class, was dull, and arriving an hour late did nothing to enliven it. I was expecting that the Silicon Valley of India might have had more of a futuristic look to it, but it very much resembled the other Indian cities I've been to. The RG had said that good accommodation quickly got booked up here, but I'd been unable to get through to any hotels yesterday so I thought I'd rest my hopes on the Karnataka Tourist Information Centre in the station. Unfortunately they were less than helpful (a common feature of Tourist Info places here in my experience) and wouldn't even help me find some phone numbers. I then walked over to the auto stand to find a driver to take me to the MG Road area, ... read more

Nou, daar ben ik dan… mijn belevenissen in India… en dat zijn er heel wat kan ik wel zeggen!! Nou goed, de vlucht is dus erg goed verlopen afgelopen zondag. Ik had een stopover op Singapore van anderhalf uur, en daarna direct door naar Bangalore. Op singapore had ik afgesproken met Jon, een collega van me die vanuit Sydney was gevlogen. Op weg naar Bangalore heb ik naast hem gezeten, en hebben we zitten ouwehoeren voor vier en een half uur. Nou goed, en toen landden we dus... in India... en dat heb ik geweten ook zeg, jezus! Het vliegveld zag er gewoon echt niet uit, echt 4 wanden met een bagageband en douane hokjes, dat was het wel geloof ik. Het spreekt voor zich dat de bagage lang op zich liet wachten, we hebben daar ... read more

DÍA 228. 10 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2005. DELHI, INDIA: LA CIUDAD Y EL RUIDO De regreso en India, llegar otra vez a una gran ciudad no me hace feliz. No me gusta Mumbai. No me gusta Delhi. Hace un año, cuando decidí lanzarme a hacer este viaje, estaba considerando otras alternativas, entre ella una beca para un curso de cuatro meses en esta metrópoli polvorienta y ruidosa. ¡Ufffff! De la que me salvé. Mumbai y Delhi son sitios de los que hay que salir corriendo antes de perecer entre la locura de su tráfico, de su contaminación y de su desastre humano. Pero Mumbai por lo menos tiene trazos de personalidad interesantes, cultura, vida nocturna, cine, una clase media arrogante pero activa, en tanto que Delhi carece de ellos y apenas tiene como única ventaja una ... read more