So, I have spent 12 days in Arambol, being very lazy, just swimming, sunbathing (yes, I know, but I am wearing 30+ sunscreen) trying the different beach cafes, and walking along the beach to try and get fitter, but thats not working! Arambol is probably the best of the beaches in northern Goa, as it is a destination, rather than part of the run of beaches that make up the coastline here, and as such has quite a village feel to it. lots of bazaar-type shops line the street down to the beach, and generally no cars allowed, but plenty of motorbikes which cruise down and park at the entrance to the beach. Naturally there are plenty of cows on the beach, and just watching them either wander slowly along, or lie chewing their cud, makes one feel very relaxed. There are plenty of sellers walking along the beach, trying to entice you to buy clothes or jewellery, and people with huge fruit baskets on their heads selling pineapples, coconut, watermelon and mangos, which are all beautifully prepared in front of you to enjoy.
There are many interesting people roaming around here - a lot of musicians, and travellers who spend 6 months of the year in India, and go back home to work for the next 6 to enable them to enjoy this lifestyle - I am quite envious! We met a British couple the other day, in their 50's, who have been cycling from UK through Europe, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and now through India. They left home 17 years ago, and haven't been back, they looked very well and relaxed - who wouldn't. What a great way to spend your life. They said they had met some amazing people on their travels, and are renting a house here for a month.
The downside at the moment is that Goa is suffering badly from the Mumbai incident, and most of the businesses are down 70% on their normal trading for this time of the year, which is when they rely on making enough for the rest of the year. There have been rumours of terrorists in Goa, and the big Anjuna Beach markets on a Wednesday, and the Night market at Apora have been cancelled, which is very sad for both sellers and buyers. Apparently some people went to the Wednesday market anyway and said a few stalls were there, out of the hundreds that normally operate, and a few brave people buying. It could just be rumours, but the Goa administration didn't want to take any risks.
Just a 10 minute walk around the point here is another beach, which has directly behind it a fresh water lake that is a beautiful green, and very clear with lots of little fish in it. Its nice to have the option, or spend part of the day on the sea side, then walk 100 metres to the lake, but you really notice the lack of buoyancy in the water! Of course there are lots of beach shacks to stay in all along the coast, and most have beach hut restaurants to serve you whatever your heart desires - drinks, food, a beach lounge, umbrella; and always the coconut palms!
So after being lazy, I started to feel restless and booked the overnight sleeper bus to Hampi, a 12 hour night ride away. I had heard that the bus trip was "not very comfortable", and that sleep was not to be expected, but as it was difficult to get the train from here (always my first preference), decided to do it anyway. If you can imagine being in a bus with over-inflated tyres, and highly sprung, travelling along a riverbed of rocks and boulders, bouncing so much you leave the bed at times, alternating between accelerator and brakes, not to mention the constant loud horn, and what sounds like a hole in the muffler, you pretty much have an idea of the trip! 12 hours, apart from refreshment stops - 11pm, 4am and 8am (no toilet on the bus, but a bush toilet somewhere along the way) and only 1 toilet in the refreshment rooms, so quite a queue, especially when more than one bus pulls in. The sleeper beds are 2 side by side beds, very narrow, and not really separated, so its hard not to bounce into the person next to you, but fortunately for me, I was sharing with a lovely nurse from London.
So we pulled into Hampi at 8.30am, after a nice stop for breakfast. I had Idli, little fermented rice cakes, really light and delicious, served on a plate with a banana leaf, they also are served with a light curry sauce, or soup, and a spicy coconut sauce - delicious! I persuaded my travelling companions, Zara, a nurse from London, and Pascale, a photographer from Cologne, to taste them, and much to their surprise, they really liked them, although they found the sauces a bit too hot.
Hampi is really the most amazing place - miles and miles of boulders - mountains of them huge and small as far as the eye can see, and acres of banana plantations and coconut trees. There are little villages scattered amongst them, and cows and goats roaming around. The River runs through Hampi, as it does through all holy cities, and of course we arrived in the middle of a huge religious festival (I seem to have a real talent for this!). This festival only happens once every 12 years, and lasts for 12 days. Pilgrims come from all over India, so many families all dressed in their best saris and clothes to wear when entering the river and doing their puja. The edge of the river where we were waiting for the little ferry to cross the river was lined with people and floating flowers, coconut halves, incense and items used when praying. Many, many people in the river praying or washing their clothes and hair, and an atmosphere of gaiety and happiness all around. The colours of their clothes and saris were just beautiful, a real feast for the eyes.
We had decided to stay on the other side of the river, as against the bazaar side, before we arrived in Hampi, and were thankful for the decision, as it was much quieter there. We found a lovely place, Hema Guest House,and were welcomed by the host who said he didn't allow drugs there - which was great news, as we had heard about the partying groups of certain nationalities that can really spoil the peace. After settling in we had refreshments at the guest house restaurant, which overlooked the river and goings-on, and has a view of the temples and activity on the other side. The ferry is a small boat, like a large dingy, which gets so overloaded it seems it might not get to the other side without sinking - but as its only a 2 minute trip we didn't feel in any real danger. We had arranged to do a half day tour that afternoon, and then another half day the next day, because there is so much to see. The temples and ruins are mainly from the 14th and 15th century, and scattered over a large distance, so auto-rickshaw was recommended to cover the distance. The other option is to hire bicycles, but our rickshaw driver also was able to give us a good idea of the history of each place we went to, so was worth the money. Hampi has a great history, and in its heyday, would have been the most amazing place. One of its Hindu rulers, believed in allowing all religions to practise freely, rights for everyone, a stable economy, and spent his time travelling around the area to make sure everything was working well, and the citizens were happy. When we saw the remains of the Queens Baths, we figured she would have been very happy - the bath itself was the size of a big swimming pool, and the building surrounding it would have been quite beautiful, with plenty of room for her assistants to help with the enjoyment, and alcoves where they would have sat listening to and playing music and enjoying life in general. We saw the huge stables for the Royal Elephants, a very long building with a dozen or so high ceiling rooms for each Royal Elephant, once beautifully decorated. There are many temples that are in good condition, with the elaborate and beautiful carvings on all the walls and pillars still so lovely to look at. One of my favourites was the underground temple, which has water you can walk though to get to the little cave to pray at the deity. It was so cool and restful, could have stayed a while.
Later we went to one of the many lovely little garden restaurants on the side we were staying, and stayed until dark when the lanterns all come on and its quite magical. My friend Anupama had taken me to one like these in Arambol for my birthday, and it was very special.
The next morning we did the other part of the tour we had planned, and enjoyed a lot more of the same, climbing to lookouts with great views of the area. I asked our guide Ragu to take us to a locals restaurant for some lunch, and introduced Zara and Pascal to more Indian food, Marsala Dosa and a spicay potato and onion pancake, but I can't remember the name of it - its served with spicy sauces, and they really enjoyed it all. Zara was going back to Goa (Baga Beach) later in the afternoon, so we had an early dinner and saw her off to the little boat with all her stuff. Had an early dinner, a delicious salad made of tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum all finely chopped together and served in a arrangement that was such a work of art it was a shame to break it up. Had a delicious dressing. The restaurant is called Sheesh Beesh, and I had the best food there in Hampi.
The next morning I decided to go walking further along the road where we were staying, more into the countryside with a lot more places to stay, some set amongst the rice fields by the river. It was all very picturesque, a winding dusty metal road with coconut palms, bananas, a smaller river, and little shop/stalls for the first part of it. Thought I would walk to the Hanuman Temple that we had seen from a distance the day before, our guide telling us that there were 650 steps to walk up to the Temple which was perched on the top of one of the highest of many hills around Hampi. However, it got rather hot, so got a passing rickshaw to take me there, wait nearly an hour for me to walk up and back, and take me back to Hema Guest House. Had to really haggle the price and only got it down to 130rupees, he wouldn't budge below that, but thought I would conserve my strength in case I did the climb up. Well I did it - all 650 of them - and it took 25 mins up with a few rest stops to take pics because the sun was really beating down and not much shelter. But my camera battery died, fortunately I had my phone and took some pictures with that, but can't download until I get back.
Went back to guest house and hung around in a hammock - its wonderful - then set off for the bus back, stopping along the way to check out a cafe Lonely Planet recommends, The Mango Tree. It is very nice and had a great lassie and pancake for an early dinner. The bus wasn't too bad, because I managed to get 2 beds and slept reasonably well, arriving back in Arambol at 8.am, straight to the beach of course for a delicious swim in the warm but refreshing water.
