Paul & Luiza´s World Tour

We leave Mapsa for Hampi on the 7pm bus. The bus made us more sympathetic to inmates all over the world. We hear you guys! It’s a bed all right but no sheets or pillowcase, so happy we are travelling with 4 sarongs. The berths look like they are surrounded by bars and I keep waiting for the handcuffs to come on. There are doubles and singles, we got two singles, shit, it’s hard not to spoon… We try to read but the light bulb overheats and suddenly it’s out, we try to sleep but the roads aren’t exactly smooth, so, let’s write this night off and just get there, all right?  That’s the attitude!

We get there at the convenient time of 5.30AM. I am the first one to try to leave the bus, just to be surrounded by a mob of Indian guys offering guest houses, rickshaws, they are all very “excited” and shouting. We talk to a Russian couple and decide to walk. I ask the guys to please stop shouting and give us a break. After a while, one of the men approaches me and says very quietly “I am a very quiet man”. We all crack up laughing madly, as only sleep deprived people can. And that is the “quiet man’s “ticket” to take us to find a guest house.

We find a not so nice one and try to have a quick sleep from 6 to 9AM, only to find out it’s impossible! Women sweeping, kids crying and screaming, people banging on some unidentified stuff, you name it. So, we give up sleeping and go out for a nice breakfast. We then go to explore Hampi walking. It’s really beautiful and unique, different from anything we’ve seen so far, more like a Middle Eastern feel, with old temples and ruins everywhere. We take some amazing pics and organize a rickshaw for a proper tour tomorrow morning. We are then off to “The Mango Tree Restaurant” for some serious vegetarian food. Yeah, when on short trips or on the road in India (and plenty of other countries), we always go vegetarian, it’s been working for us, so far, no Delhi Belly.      

Next morning we find another guest house, nicer, cleaner, cheaper, but most importantly, quieter. We move rooms, get some breakfast and go on an amazing rickshaw tour of Hampi’s surroundings. There is a fantastic, well maintained complex of temples, ruins, palaces, aqueducts, etc, but that’s what the pics are for.  During our day trip we reach an interesting conclusion, we really think the Middle East kind of “ruined” us for ruins and all ancient things… The tour ends back at the Mango Tree for some perfect veggie biryani rice. Then, we return to our much nicer room only to find out that our USB modem doesn’t work here. No internet for 3 days? Not so sure it’s a bad thing.

Day 3, we go out for a walk on the other side of Hampi across the river. It’s nicer, cleaner and the accommodation seems to be much better. Well, too late for that! Going back to the “Mango” for lunch, we share a table with 2 older couples - 2 Indian men and 2 English women. The conversation is worth relating: Man: do you like it here? Woman1: Not the kind of place I would choose for lunch. Man: Waiter, do you have any beer? Waiter: No sir. Woman1: I would like to have some veal today. Woman2: I don’t think they’ll have it here, darling. Woman1:  Oh, no, I think this is a vegetarian only place.  By now, Paul and I are laughing our butts off, very discreetly… And my punishment for eavesdropping? Got food poisoned with a paneer tikka masala, just a few hours before the bus, 12 hours, no toilet!

Thanks to the Lonely Planet, we know Hampi is an alcohol free site and also a vegetarian place. We are ok with Indian veggie but what no alcohol? So, being wise souls, we took a bottle of a good old Goan whiskey. Suddenly everything seems to be so much more fun. Anyway, on the way back to Goa, from the bus we see a sign of a bar saying: "I drink to make other people interesting". So, Hampi was after all quite an interesting place. 

We go back to Goa by bus for a day in Madgao. Nice to be in a city for a change. We go shopping, have a nice lunch and a few cold beers and in the evening, we take the train to Kerala.