Helping with the excavations in Hampi

I had an 8:50am morning train ride back to Goa and was determined not to miss it. I didn’t sleep too well in part from the heat and the fear of missing the train and god forbid taking the bus. I woke up before 6 and couldn’t go back to sleep. The ruins are supposed to be the most spectacular at sunrise and sunset, so I ventured out. I watched the sunrise and had a relaxing breakfast reflecting on how nice it was not to be rushed. 8am passed and I still hadn’t left for the bus station. Long story short, if the train hadn’t been delayed I would have missed it. I was in a rickshaw on the way to Hospet and came to a train crossing just as a train was coming. In a panic, I kept on asking the driver if he thought that was my train and if I should jump on it. I didn’t even know if it was going in the right direction, let alone if it was mine. I ended up ducking under the pass and running in front of the speeding train to catch a rickshaw on the other side. I got to the station around 9, luckily the train was an hour delayed.

The train ride wasn’t as bad as the bus ride, but still took around 10 hours. We went through a beautiful jungle region and the heat was somewhat more bearable. I met a nice Australian girl who had been on train for over 30 hours! We were both going back to Goa. I was supposed to stay in Colva before meeting up with Tara who was staying at the Taj Exocitica ( a real 5 star hotel). The Australian girl had told me about a nice hotel run by a Buddhist lady in Colva, right on the beach. The train got in late and I couldn’t be bothered with looking for a place, so I trusted her recommendation. A word of advice, never trust anyone who has been on a train for over 30 hours! I had to walk for what seemed like forever down the beach in the dark to find the place and it was a complete dump. It was late and dark so I couldn’t be bothered to find another place (not to mention I was slightly delirious from the heat and lack of sleep) . I took a room on the second floor (less chance of animals or rodents coming in). All the doors were made for midgets and I seemed to smash my head every time I stepped into the bathroom. They had these weird steps in the doorway. I know that Buddhists make temple doors really really short to keep out demons. They believe demons can’t duck, but this place was far from a temple! I had just decided not to go to Nepal (the thought of food shortages, riots, tear gas, 24 hour curfews and road closures weren’t all that appealing) and was trying to decide where to go instead. The fact that I kept on smashing my head wasn’t helping my decision making ability. I was overwhelmed with choices and felt so indecisive. The next day I met up with Tara at the Taj hotel and was in heaven; air conditioned rooms, beautiful beaches, no one to sell sarongs on the beach and a great spa. After much needed pampering, I was able to think clearly and decided to come to Ladakh in Kashmir to trek instead of Nepal.


I did have a nice time in the South, but was ready to head back North where people spoke Hindi/Urdu. Styker, you would love Goa, it’s a huge trance scene and people love to cruise and use their horn! And sorry Wheels, but trance is not dead! It was great to feast on fresh fruit in the south; an endless supply of coconuts, watermelon, bananas, chikoo, papaya, pomegranate, sugar cane, tangerines and best of all it was the onset of mango season! Mangoes were falling from the trees and were scattered all over the road. The tourist season in Goa was more or less finished and the only remaining tourists were the package tourists attracted by the off season rates. Kind of like the people you see in the Caribbean in the middle of the summer (excluding myself). The only thing worse than the package tourists are off season package tourists! A few days in Delhi before heading to Ladakh in Kashmir......