On the way to Hampi

We made it! We have finally left the building! I am writing to you from Hampi, Karnataka (a state away from Kerala, for all youse following my travels carefully along the map) but boy, did it take forever to get here. As depicted in my previous post, we had trouble leaving Varkala. We just didn't. Spending $1.50 per night on lovely accomodation, we had some interesting encounters during our stay. The first, as also described in Nechama's blog (www.porgylovestruck.blogspot.com) was the Kerala Coffee House Boys. These suave but cute Keralan boys lived the life - working short hours waiting tables at the hangout 'Kerala Coffee House', drinking themselves silly in the late hours of the night, performing as the Cheeky Monkeys (acoustic versions of Hindi and old classic Rock songs), and, of course, gorging on innocent Western women during their spare time. And oh, the drama! Since we had been in Varkala for quite some time, we learnt the leanings of such boys, and warned a woman that lived in our guesthouse to be wary. That's all. What a ruckus did that cause! Nechama had both the drummer of the Cheeky Monkeys and the 'girlfriend' confront her about this alleged warning, and we recieved some dirty sneers from a group of French women, all who were involved with these womanisers. Not that we have a problem with the womanising - we just wanted to inform these ladies that they weren't the first (as the boys always promise) and nor will they be the last.

But let's just say that when we left Varkala, we left some unexpected broken hearts. Whether it was a Kashmiri salesman who simply sold Nechama a bracelet, or a Nepalese waiter in my favourite restaurant (this was all unknown to us until our final day - where secrets always unravel in despair)... And it was time to leave.

So we left! The breezy train ride from Varkala to the traffic hub of Cochin was an easy task, we were just warming up to a long and gruelling journey ahead.
a fifteen hour journey. on a bus. a local bus. crammed with sweaty, spitting Indian men. and we, two lovely white women travellers. fun. did i say, fifteen hours?

An overnight journey is always difficult. But this one I believe was one of the most challenging journeys I've ever experienced. Sitting on a hard bench, being squashed by the conducter as he collects the new passengers' fares, attempting any sleep, constantly stepped over by other passengers (usually Indian men wearing local garb, which is a towel wrapped around their legs... I'm sure very fashionable, but I didn't want to have a bar of it as they hopped over my legs), behind us was a man resembling Elephant Man, making putrid noises with his mouth which sounded awfully similar to vomiting, however there was no residue (only dry retching -we're in the clear!)... and all of this happened in the first hour! I don't have to elaborate on the next fourteen...

We arrived into Banglore (the capital of Karnataka) dishevelled and absolutely exhausted. I was miserable, overtired, and all I could think of was the first place to get a bed. Once we finally negotiated a reasonable price for half a day's rent, I went STRAIGHT to sleep. One thing everyone should know (if not, learn quickly) : nothing, NOTHING gets in the way of Sarah and a good sleep. Otherwise she turns into Fruma Sarah from Fiddler on the Roof, howling and screeching :D a role I know well.

That evening Nechama and I decided to go all out and splurge at a swank Chinese restaurant - entree, main and even dessert (yes! toffee apples reminiscent of Silky Apple days!) - at a round cost $12 (and yes, the service was wonderful). We were warming ourselves to another overnight journey, but this time it was in luxury - a 'deluxe' bus to Hampi.
*Deluxe - upholstered seats that push back to a semi'lying position. True style. I was in heaven.

So yes, now I am Hampi - another Holy city of India, not necessarily searching for any spirituality, just here to have a look around and have a good time. Coz that's what it's all about.