Hampi

Of course the train stops in Hospet (200R 2nd Class Sleeper; 750R 2 Tier AC), from where you can walk to the bus depot or take a rickshaw, (which should not cost more than 10R), from which the buses to Hampi are frequent and cheap. (A rickshaw from Hospet to Hampi or visa-versa should not cost more than 80R, but you can get one for 60R if you show that you are determined to wait for the bus, and both modes of transport take about the same time regardless of what tales you are told...) Hampi in mid-March was quite hot and dry and dusty, but un-crowded. I stayed on the Hampi Bazaar side of the river because I did get a nice room at the LP recommended Sudha Guest House for 250R, and was not planning on remaining long, though in retrospect I would recommend crossing the river and staying at the Mowgli hotel, both for the quality of the rooms I saw and the fact that they were not asking high season prices. (Oh yes, and you can ONLY get beer on that side of the river.)

Hampi is an odd place for numerous reasons: it is a small village with children playing in the streets amidst the tourist vampires (the Fakirs who do magic tricks and pose for photographs are con-men of the highest - and most expensive - order); it is a harsh setting with hundreds of ruins - some being used as cricket fields or bus stations - scattered over a large area; it is arguably filled with the ghosts of untold thousands who were mercilessly slaughtered there almost 5 centuries ago, and who have apparently not been afforded the quietus which those who died at Auschwitz have received. Similarly, the Indian Government’s efforts to restore even those monuments which have received world heritage status is nearly non-existent, and the power supply is as fragile here as anywhere else I visited. In typical fashion, the Indian government has fenced off one partially (and poorly) restored temple, for which they expect 250R to enter. (Considering that Hampi is filled with largely equivalent temple/ruins, I didn’t meet ANYONE who actually paid the entrance fee to see that one temple...)

Without passing judgment on the exclusiveness of Hinduism (whether you want to call it a religion or a philosophy, the caste system is by definition exclusionary), there was one bath-house/’temple’ where I went to seek shade and soak my feet in the river, much like the large Indian family therein (who were wearing their shoes and picnicking), but who quickly and unequivocally demanded that I not soil their sacred waters with my heathen flesh:-(((

Getting out of Hampi was a chore, as I was headed back to southern Goa/Patnem and there is only one (actual) sleeper bus departing Hospet around 6:00 pm for Margao. (12 hours, 400-600R, depending on which travel agent you deal with, and whether or not you are in the AC portion of the bus and/or have a sleeping "chamber"). The sleeping chamber would be a good and cozy thing for a couple or close friends traveling together; book it solo and expect company as the conductor sees fit. I in fact declined one such upgrade offer, to the doubtless relief of the young female occupant, as much because I’m a gentleman as because I was feeling a bit claustrophobic and wanted a window;-), and so I slept sitting up yet solidly (thanks to a mix of Vodka and Valium), and rushed off the bus - presumably on schedule - when the distant cries of "Palolem, Palolem!" somehow rang through my formidable ear-plugs into my sedated brain.