India - Through Chris's Eyes

Monday 29th March

Relaxing day chilling out, ready to catch the overnight train at 22:00 hrs.

Made a visit to the temple that was right in the centre of Hampi to be greeted and blessed by Lakshmi a 22yr old Elephant that put her trunk on your head after giving her a Rupee coin which she handed to her Mahoot (Keeper). We had also got her some bananas from outside the temple.

After relaxing for the majority of the day under the Mango Trees, we decided to have one last look around Hampi Bazaar and say goodbye to a few people we had met there, Dr Bookshop in particular who had been most helpful during our stay.

The town seemed to have come alive due to the festival day that was about to happen. Thousands of pilgrims were heading into town for the festivities, bringing with them their families, all sorts of goods for sale, aboard bright and colourful cow-driven carts. Even the cows were decorated in paint, horns and all.

We said our goodbyes, building ourselves up for the pending long journey to Ooty ahead, which would start with a bus journey to Hospet. We were lucky enough to spot a rickshaw driver who was heading back to Hospet and managed to negotiate a cheap price, cutting out the bumpy bus ride, not a bad start the journey.

We arrived at the station around 8 and had a couple of hours to kill on the platform before the 22:00 train. People watching was the game and believe me there are plenty of people to watch.

Sitting on a platform bench I felt as if I'd been bitten by a mosquito under my shirt, and whilst trying to locate the area for a little scratch the affected area seemed to disappear. A little later, after Serena had purchased 2 piping hot coffees, the feeling came back again. I asked her to take a look, and her coffee went all over me as she spotted a large cockroach running around my back. Needless to say my shirt was off in a flash and I was half-naked on the platform, not the normal dress an Indian person would see.

The train arrived and we quickly found our seat/bed for the overnight train to Tirripaty.