Hampi, magically and historically beautiful

I arrived to Hospet around noon and quickly caught an auto to Hampi. Auto drivers had already got on the train and where asking the non locals(pretty sure they could tell) if they wanted to go to Hampi. The place was starting to sound more and more exciting. The drive was about 30 minutes and took me through bumpy roads and it wasn't long until I started spotting big tan colored boulders standing tall in the distance. Banana fields were spread out on both sides of the road and the farmers were bent down going with the days work. It was a whole different place compared to the rest of India. For a moment it almost reminded me of our home in Fiji.
After paying the 10 rupee utterance fee to Hampi area(the guide books didn't mention this so looked like it was a new venture, at least the price was the same of foreigners and Indian visitors). The whole village was situated around the main temple. The Virupaksha Temple is at the northern end of the Village and the main bazaar runs from it to the southern end landing at the steps of stone Nandi Statue. Budget guest houses make a quarter of the houses in Hampi. I chose to stay at one of recommended operations from Lonely Planet, which was a nice treat since they had internet cafe on the ground floor and the rooms were very homey and cute. Oh and the price was almost nothing since it was 300 rupees(about 8 to 9 US dollars). I was going to call this place home for the next 3 nights. Originally my plan was to stay only for 2, but It didn't take me long to add one more day . The place really deserved more then to 2 days.
I took shower and did laundry before heading to the rood top restaurant for some brunch. After speaking with the cook, I made plans to visit the ruins the next morning and go across the river to the village of Anegundi the the day after. Got up on Facebook updates and called home. Later in the evening before the sun went down, took a walk to the main temple and to the river. Got information on the times for the temple elephants bath in the morning and the exact location on the river. Found a small store selling postcards and was surprised that this tiny village had a post office. The day came to an end with writing postcards and having a solo dinner at the rooftop restaurant.
Woke up early morning(the sun seems to come out here at 5am I think, because it was way high up at 7 am. Showered and headed to the river, breakfast was going to wait after the elephant had bathed. Lakshmi, the temple elephant had about an hour long bath in the river where her attendant scrubbed every inch of her skin. I met 2 teenage visitors from England who were as mesmerized as I was with the elephant. After getting a couple of shots of me and Lakshmi, I wandered in the main temple and Bazaar area before having lunch and browsing the net. In the afternoon I took another walk, this time to the southern end to the Nandi statue and Achyutaraya Temple. The ruins look magnificent and leaves you wondering how charming it would have been when it was full of life with bustling people. On my way back I met another visitor from Switzerland who was visiting Hampi with a couple from Bombay, who he had met through couch surfing. We took a little stroll and made early dinner plans. We met up with his friends, a young couple and all headed to one of the busiest and a regular hang out spot for foreigners and Indian tourist. It was all a sit down affair with open views of the river( no bathing people here....). During our meal we all made plans to go swimming a little later, even though the waters of Hampi were cleaner then most other places I had been to in India , I was not going to take a dip. We hopped boulders till we came up to a secluded spot and I set while the 3 of the them got in the water. There seemed to be hidden cave temples and ruined temple re-mines scattered around this side of the river. Upon my exploration I came across a perfect carving of Vishnu on a big piece of granite that had been there for centuries. It was about to get dark so we headed back to our hostels. I was a little hungry and headed to try another restaurant in the cluster of hostels and homes. The evening came to end while I sipped tea with the 2 English girls I had met that morning.Hearing about their travels and exchanging our stories was a good way to say good night.
I was all set to go across the river the next morning. Breakfast included cornflakes and curd for the first time. I was definitely sick of Indian food,not to mention the extra weight I have gained. It is going to take a lot of hikes to loose these pounds. The short boat ride and climbing the 570 steps to the Monkey temple(Hanuman Temple) was well worth it. The views up here was amazing with cool breeze blowing away. I spent time reading my book that I bought at the used book store and had a snack before climbing down and getting back to the hostel. After lunch I headed to the local t-shirt and bangle store. I needed something to remind of Hampi together with the wonderful memory of this tiny but historical city.
My train to Hyderabad was for next day around 2pm and off I headed to Hyderabad.

Goa, you dont fit in.

Goa is beautiful...it has the vibe of a small town with modern facilities. There are no auto or rishkwallahs coming after you. No store keepers lurk after you to come into there stores and things seemed a little bit cheaper. Ohh and I finally had some real chicken....and it was incredible and fairly cheap. I have yet to get a belly sick so it must have been good chicken lol.

I was only spending a night here so no major sightseeing and no shopping.Goa is known for its beaches but, this trip wasn't to lounge around and get a tan. Hotel Tanish was a nice treat, especially since it was on the 5th floor. It had hot and cold water and a beautiful view. Not even pricey for what all it offered. A non AC room was perfect since it was cool through out the day. I took a long shower and did laundry before heading out to the market to get lunch and walk around. I picked up to go briyani and fried chicken with a few bottles of water and a can of soda. Spent some time in the hotel room eating and watching TV.Later headed to the Internet cafe on 1st floor and spoke to Justin on Skype and updated my Facebook status.

Around 5 pm, I decided to take another walk and spotted a Baskin and Robins.The two scoops of Gold Ribbon tasted just right...even so far away, Ice cream still tasted the same. I was wondering from street to street and after an hour realised that I was totally lost. It was going to get dark in the next hour and I was a little nervous. I somehow ended up at the bus station and flagged down a Auto to take me back to the hotel which ended up being 5 mins from where I was. I wasn't very hungry from my giant size lunch and bought a bag of chips and a bottle of water. Used the STD next door to confirm rooms for Hospet, tried calling Jonathan but it was too early back home so he didn't pick up.

Packed for the early train ride in the morning and finished the night with a few ours of TV.

Mumbai or Bombay, call it what you want.

The arrival to Mumbai was smooth at the central station. My next train to Goa was from the CST at about 10.15pm. Things in Mumbai already looked different, Taxi cabs had replaced autos, Saree's were mostly replaced by pants and the street scene had also changed. The taxi to the next station cost me about 200 rupees, seemed a little high to me but heck I had to pay. It was only about 1 pm and I had roughly 9 hours to wonder around. I found the Cloak Room and checked my bag in after a scan that didn't really mean crap since the cop monitoring the scanner didn't even look at the screen. Army posts were visible all over the station, which I must say was huge.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus(CST) or Victoria Terminus was built in 1887 by the British. It is Asia's busiest train today with about 2.5 million passengers passing through.With about 15 or so platforms, it seemed liked the busiest in the world. I knew something was up with my bank card and had to talk to my bank about it before I ran out of the small amount of money I had. Making a international call was going to be expensive so I decided to chat with the customer service rep online. I was informed that my card was blocked in suspicion of theft and I had to call customer service to speak to them directly. I had no option but to call and face the huge phone charges. After holding on the line for a few minutes I was connected to someone who mentioned that it was certainly blocked and my defence that I had already notified the bank of my travel was o f no value. I had to call the international fraud department to clear things up and they weren't going to be open for another 3 hours. Well I had all the time in the world so why not!!

I walked around the city for about a few hours, nervous and worried. The worse that can happen to you when travelling internationally is when you cant access your funds. I was finally able to clear things up and sat inside the phone booth breathing a sign of relief. I bought some Ladoos(Indian sweets) to celebrate and headed towards the train station. I didn't get to explore Mumbai much, but then it wasn't my idea to do so anyway. Mumbai has way to many people, it is still dirty like most other cities and I didn't find it safe to wonder the streets by myself. Maybe someday when I can find a travel companion I shall return here to check out the hot spots and become a Mumbai expert.

The train was on time and I had for the first time a lower seat where I could sit and read without having to hunch over all the time. It was time to say goodbye to Mumbai and head over to Goa.

Khajuraho, home of the Kama Sutra

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The train ride to Khajuraho was pleasant even though my arm was giving me trouble.It was a little sore and I had to take a look at it using a mirror to determine the seriousness of the injury.I was glad that I had hurt my left arm and not the right.I still have about 2 more weeks to go and even though I am enjoying my stay here, I miss home terribly.

The train was delayed by over an hour but the hotel manager was still waiting for me at the station. Khajuraho train station is outside the small city and newly built. Hotel operators were standing outside on the new platform with guests name printed on ply-card. Yogi Hotel manager spotted me quickly and I departed to the hotel.

My hotel was right across the Eastern group of temples. Guest houses line up the small alley with handicraft stores and clothes store cramped in there as well. I was going to be in Khajuraho for 2 nights and was in no rush to see the temples right away. After shower and breakfast I meta fellow traveler from England,who was waiting to get train tickets to leave to Delhi. We spent some time discussing various topics and I bid him farewell. There's only a few places with wi-fi here so I tried my luck at Paradise restaurant. Ordered some dinner and browsed the net before calling it a day.

Next morning I was awaken by the door bell. The auto was ready to take me to the Raneh Falls and the Eastern and southern group of temple. The falls were 18km one way, so it was a good investment to see the falls and the temples for 500 rupees. The entrance to the falls was another 120 rupee but it was well worth it.Raneh falls is located in a 45 square mile protected reserve that is home to peacocks, deers, birds,monkeys and many other native species. It is the dry season so its mostly a tickle right now but during the monsoon the water levels rise drastically high. No swimming, fishing or boating is allowed near the falls due to prior accidents resulting in death. The protected area is one of the the cleanest places I have seen in India with very beautiful views. If anyone is ever around the area, the cost if totally worth it. There are also Gharials in some of the water deep inside the area, but to the the hot water they are said to be mostly resting in the deeper waters. The compulsory guide also gae a brief history on all the movies that were shot here, in particular was the Kama Sutra movie starring the ever so beautiful Reka.

The next stop were the eastern and southern temples that lay in the 2km radius of hotel.The eastern group consitied of three Hindu temples of Hanuman, Brahma and Vamana and, four Jain temples. These temples display a very minimum number of erotic scenes . The Jain temples display statues of Prasvanath. I do not have much knowledge of Jain religion to shed much light on the temples and its history. The southern group consist of a set of three temples, Duladeo,Chaturbhuja and Bijamandala.Grooms visit the Duladeo temples on their way to their wedding and later return with their newly wife to pay respect to this Shiva temple. Chaturbhuja temple is the only temple in Khajuraho that does not have any erotic sculptures. Bijamandala temple is another Shiva temple that houses a marble lingam. The whole tour took about 5 hours and even if it wasn't so tiring , I decided that it was enough activity for this day. I spent rest of the afternoon in my room watching tv and avoiding the high temperatures outside. My dinner was back at the hotel and one of the best meals to date. I totally enjoyed the thali style meal. I was on my third week of no meat and I slightly missed it but could still do with out it for some more time.

I had a train to catch to Agra this evening and see the Western group of temples. I decided to check out the temples before getting ready to check out at noon. There is a entrance fee for the western group, I used my Indian discount and paid 10 rupees instead of the 250 rupees for foreigners. These temples are amazingly beautiful and plenty of erotic sculptures. The tour started with the small Varaha temple that houses the statue of a Vishnus incarnation as a Varaha. The Lakshmana temple took 20 years to build and is quiet large with some very small erotic figures inside. There is also a erotic figure of a man and a house, which is very interesting. The Kandariya - Mahadev temple is the biggest temple and showcases female beauty and sexual aerobics. Sometimes the figures were in a sequence of male and female foreplay and then progressing to sexual intercourse. Female with female, female with an animal, female with two males or a group of females performing erotic scenes are all craved out on these temples. some figures have been ruined and most them are missing some body parts. Only a few fully intact figures remain and looks like the temples are undergoing a restoration.

This is definitely a world heritage site and I personally hope that every possible step is taken to conserve this legendary art. There were 85 original temples of which only 25 remain.The pictures on my Facebook are well worth a look as I have tried my best to capture all that I could while here. Its almost time for me to bid farewell to Khajuraho and make my way to Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Varanasi, the holy of all holy cities

Varanasi has been known in history at various times by the name of Kashi, meaning the city of life, local Indians also call it Benares. Upon arrival at the train station, I checked into the tourist office and booked my future tickets for Agra and Jaipur.Train tickets are harder to come by due to high demand and I didn't want to get stuck in a 12 hour bus ride again. The agents were nice and made the reservation a breeze.
I took a prepaid taxi to Godwila, and had to walk the last 15 minutes since auto's are not allowed near the Ghats. Ganpati Guest house was right above Mir Ghat and I selected a wonderful room facing the Holy Ganga. This was also the most I had spent on accommodation since coming to India 2 weeks ago. I soon bumped into 2 German travelers I had met at the Lucky's restaurant in Agra. It was a low key day for me so we all had dinner and I spent most of the day browsing the net using the free wi-fi. The most interesting and life shocking moment occurred when we witnessed a dead man floating in the river. A small boat was bringing the body to ghat steps right below our hotel. The body was of a men, bloated up and at the verge of bursting open any minute. A few onlookers gathered around and after a few minutes of discussion the boat man started paddling and took the dead body back to the middle of the river and let it loose. Is this the value if human life??
Frankie and Thomas had arranged for a sunrise boat trip that I was welcomed to join. We met the guide and the boatmen at 5 am and the ride began. The sun was slightly up but still behind a thick layer of clouds. Its was a little cool and the guide was good at giving us the facts about the different ghats.One of most fascinating ones that I will remember will be the Harishchandra Ghat which is a cremation Ghat.It is one of the oldest ghats in Varanasi where bodies are cremated in public. I still can not get why a affair like burning someone be done in public, boats specially will slow down to give tourist a run down on the process. Do I want it? No. No pictures or females are allowed near the ghat itself. I was glad that Frankie and Thomas agreed with me to keep paddling and not wonder around the ghat. A little further down and we came across the floating body!!! Shit.....it was like 5 feet from me. The guide explained that there are 5 sorts of bodies they don't burn. Pregnant women, priest, people with snake bites, children and people suffering from leprosy. They are thrown into the holy river instead tied with huge slaps of brick so that the body does not float.This floating body is most likely dumped by someone.
We returned to the hotel for some breakfast and spent the rest of the day shopping. Frankie had bought a sari and needed the blouse made,I was going to take advantage of having company and decided to do some saree shopping. The tailor who seemed to be a really nice person recommended a fixed price saree store which was very close by. Frankie and I spent 3 hours going through several sarees till I picked a few. We later all met for dinner at a south Indian restaurant and I had masala dosa for the first time with Mango lassi.A very good end to the day.
The next morning we arranged a 6 hour tour through the hotel to visit a few very significant temples, the Benares Hindu University and the small city of Sarnath. It is said that Buddha came to Sarnath to preach his message of Nirvana and gave his famous first sermon here. Old ruins, pillars can be found here. A new Buddha temple is currently in the works.We completed the tour with a visit to the Benares silk factory where slik sarees were made by hand. It is the most fascinating this I have seen. The saree makers sit for long hours in front of the hand/leg operated machine to produce products worth over 150,000 rupees. Working conditions aren't the greatest and it is sad to see such great talents. But is is part of the Indian life.
I was traveling to Khajuraho by the 5.10pm train so had to bid goodbye to Frankie and Thomas. I arrived to the station and decided to look into booking tickets from Agra to Jaipur and then to Bombay.This was a swift transaction and I had to catch my train at platform five as directed by one of the reps.
I arrived to platform 5 and boarded a train standing. I didn't know how to read my ticket so I asked the first person I saw. He told me that I was on the wrong train and next thing I know the train was moving. I had to get off and the only way possible was to jump off, and that what I did. I landed on my butt with a huge cut on my left ankle. Blood was spilling,but I was more worried about missing my train. I asked a million people if they knew which train was going to Khajuraho and nobody knew. I was bleeding and sweating like a pig, for the last resort I checked the arrivals and departure board to find out that my train was late by 30 mins.With a sigh of relief I arrived to the right platform. I was still bleeding and made attempts to locate the first aid kit in my pack. With no success I torn open a panty liner and tried to stop the building using that.
After finding my bunk and taking a sip of my water, I opened my pack and cleaned my cut and put bandages on. I will have to find a bigger bandage after I get to my next stop. I was glad to be in the train and making my way to the next destination.

Ayodhya , The birth place of Lord Ram

Ayodhya is the birthplace of Lord Ram and one of the seven holy cities in India. I had taken the bus from Agra to Lucknow and had been successful in getting on a bus to Ayodhya right away. I got off the bus at Faizabad which is 8 km before Ayodhya and got on a tempo(open cab) which safely dropped me at the junction from where I had to walk to the hostel.

I checked in and was treated quiet kindly by the owner. He offered to serve lunch for me after I had freshened up and gave me good tips on when to begin my visit to the exact spot lord Ram was born. In the year 1992, Hindus in the area had torn down a mosque built in the 15th century claiming that it stood on the same grounds of lord Rama's birthplace. They have built a small shrine in its place since all work for a temple is on hold till the government is done with its investigations. Security here is very tight with police and army working from the time the temple opens to closing at 6pm. There are several checkpoints including 3 pat downs at different locations. No camera is allowed, a small money purse is all you can take in. So alas no pictures. Even though no temple yet marks the spot of Ram's birth, there are several temples in the area. A few for example is Bharat's temple, Raja Dasarth Bhavan,Ka ak Bhavan, Sita temple and the famous Hanumangarhi. Hopefully all disputes get settled and a proper Ram Janam Bhumi can be constructed to celebrate Lord Ram's birthplace.

Ayodhya is a very quiet and small town. I later visited the Surja river or saroya as some may call it. This is the place where Ram ended his incarnation and returned to heaven to become one with Vishnu. It is also a holy river.
I had a huge craving for Okra curry and some how upon getting lost I ended up at the vegetable market. I gladly bought a kilo of Okra and decided to find my way home. I had gone about 200 meters when I sensed something pulling on the okra bag and was shocked to find a monkey. He grabbed the bag and ran off with it. Strangers watching warned me not to run after them as they might bite. So there goes the Okra.I returned empty handed but was glad to find that the hotel had once again prepared a warm meal for me as well. It was a warm night and I was tired from my bus rides and quickly fell asleep.

Next morning , the plan was to get to Varanasi. I woke up around 7 and made my way to the train station which was about a 100 meters away. Bought a general ticket as the owner had mentioned that the trains here weren't very busy so I would easily get a seat without the pushing and shoving as before. He happened to be right and I found a comfortable seat right away. The 6 hour ride went by quick. I still wasn't impressed by the rail system and needing more warming up.
The Varanasi station is quiet huge and my god, the number of people here is overwhelming. I made my way to the tourist office to get information on my plans for the next few days. I was given a map and asked as to where I wanted to travel. I could make train reservations next door and this was good news. I walked through the glass doors to a cool room with 2 men sitting in front of computers. They spoke to me in English and asked what I wanted to do. I requested that I wanted to make train reservations and presented them my passport upon request.The India tourist agency has foreign tourist quota tickets that are saved for foreign visitors. This definitely makes live a little easier for people like us who struggle with the transportation system here in India. After making my reservations, I headed towards the prepaid taxi area to find a way to get to my hotel.

The home of the Taj Mahl, Agra

I knew in advance that the Taj Mahal is closed on Friday's for outsiders but as it happens I arrived to Agra on Thursday. Due to rain I stayed in for the rest of the day. Woke up around 8 am and decided to check out Lucky's restaurant down the street for breakfast and use their free wi-fi. This is quiet a nice place with free wi-fi. Air con keeps you cool while you sip some hot chai and browse the net. They also have an attached hotel that should be as good as the restaurant.

Ankit, the young owner informed me that the electricity was out, hence no internet service. I already knew of the frequent power outage problems so I bid farewell for now and promised to come back during lunch. Thursday was a quiet day for me, I mostly spent it browsing the net and eating. I was happy to meet fellow travelers from Germany who gave me good tips on a guest house in Varanasi for my stay. A couple from England were eager to hear about California and became my company for dinner that night. Another guest from the hotel and I made plans to visit the Taj Mahal together the next morning. He was German, so I had a hard time understanding the accent sometimes,but I didn't care much.
Hotel Shah Jahan is located in the Taj Ganj area as well. It is a family run business and has good food. Everyone is super nice especially the restaurant boys. They were sweet enough to offer me chai's at no cost. The rooms are decent, the roof top views of the Taj are very nice, the only problem here is that the power goes out a lot, but that seems to be the problem for all of Agra.My Agra stay was definitely made better due to all the helpful people I met.
We headed to the Taj at about 5.50am, and lined up to get our tickets. I paid 50 rupees as entrance fee while he had to pay 750 rupees. This is definitely a sign of discrimination(most foreigners complained of this). If I didn't pass for being Indian, I would have had to pay the same I bet. The Taj Mahal can be accessed by 3 gates, the east, west and the south. It is as beautiful as the pictures look, even better. The ques of people that show up to view this marble building is amazing. Day in and day out, 1000's line up to experience one of the wonders of this world. Oh, I forgot to mention that you have to take your shoes off before setting foot on the grounds of the Taj.
Next stop was the Agra Fort. It is one of the finest forts in India.Once again the fee for Indians is about 20 rupees while foreigners pay 250 rupees.The fort was built by Akbar and additions were made by his grandson Shah Jahan. It has plenty of views of the Taj Mahal and also has structures made using white marble. More then half the fort is closed to visitors due to restoration. What ever is left is nice to view especially if you are history buff and Mogul era is your passion.
I was still not over the train issues in India and so had to catch the 10pm bus to Ayodhya.I was told at the bus station that I had to catch the bus to Lucknow since there was no direct bus to Ayodhya from Agra. I could have arranged to take a AC bus instead because the local bus was a nightmare. It was hot and to say the least I was regretting every minute of this bus ride. I think I also came to the conclusion that I was going to book my ticket to Manila where it was cooler. Arrived in Lucknow about 7 am and was glad to catch the bus to Ayodhya right away. My butt at this point was very sore from sitting down for such a long periods of time.
Even though I had one of the most terrible journeys to date, I was still going to stick with my itinerary. I was missing home and most of all missing my best friends. I can not wait to see you all when I get back.