8th – 16th June 2008
ChennaiMamallapuramBangaloreHampiHyderabad

This was a totally spontaneous 1 week trip (we decided to go after 2 days of strike in Kolkata). Iris was leaving for Singapore, and Gary was going to send her off in Bangalore. He did not want to take a 37hr train from Bangalore back himself, so he ‘persuaded’ us to take a train to Chennai to send Iris off to Singapore. We did it for Iris, not him=p `

Day 1 and 2: Kolkata -> Chennai
30hrs3AC train

We took a train from Howrah station, the main train terminal in Kolkata. It was a bustling place, filled with rows of yellow taxis, people jostling around and 2 lost-looking foreigners; Azusa and me.

It was a sleeper train, with air-conditioning. Surprisingly clean and comfortable. Here I am on the bed that had to bear with me for 30 hrs. We met another foreigner in the same cabin, Irena from US.

We heard that the food on the train does not really like foreigners (diarrhea!), so we had an arsenal of biscuits. Milk Bikis. I swear that I felt nauseated whenever I saw them after the 30hr train ride. Milk Bikis the whole time! The ‘chai’ (5 rupees) was pretty good though. A lot of interesting food was sold on the train! Samosas, biryani, chips…all tempting me to spend my money in exchange for calories. I ate like a pig=)! (only chips and biscuits though).

30 hours is a long time to spend alone, thinking, reading (The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy), talking. The countryside ran by, as if it were a pretty picture. It was calming for the body and mind…until I started to get fidgety and impatient. Where is Chennai Central!!!! The train was delayed for 2 hours!

Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu, the southern part of India. It seems like the Indians in Singapore came from this region, as they speak the same language (Tamil), have the same kind of food (Thosai etc), and have jasmine flowers in their hair!

We went to the airport (took the train) to send Iris off, and said our sad goodbyes. It was a pretty heartwarming scene, Iris and Gary=)

We stayed for a night at the Salvation Army Guesthouse (300 rupees), and here is the state of the room. 3 of us, squeezed onto the small double bed. I slept at 5am.

Day 3: Chennai -> Mamallapuram
2 hrsNon-AC bus

Mamallapuram is a world-heritage site, and it has a fantastic beach, rock carvings and scenery.

Arjuna’s Penance

We had fun making a fool of ourselves, trying to climb up numerous fixtures:

Level 1 – Short wall

Level 2 – Short tree

Level 3 – High wall! Have a look at the process, haha… It was really fun, with Indians laughing at us, and trying to get up to take a photo with us=p

The beach was really beautiful…we had a swim in it, and stayed the night at Hotel Laskmi! We got cheated by the boss…paid 400 rupees when it should only cost around 200 rupees.

Day 4: Mamallapuram -> Chennai -> Bangalore -> Hampi
2hrsNon-AC bus
5hrsNon-AC train
9.5hrsNon-AC train

It was a mad rush in Chennai because MR GARY lost our tickets to Bangalore! As soon as we reached Chennai, we rushed to Chennai Central to get our replacement tickets. It got it 5 minutes before the train left. Very exciting…we ran like mad animals. Haha…

Azusa, Me and Gary in the train to Bangalore. Notice the banana…haha=p It was the first non-AC train we took. It was pretty comfortable, though warm. Many people pass through trying to sell us torches, food, newspapers, beggars begging for money.

Us in the non-AC train to Hampi (Hospet). We were right beside the toilets, and boy did it stink…throughout the night. No blankets nor pillows! A non-AC ride is ½ the price of an AC one. Interestingly, people cannot believe that we would want non-AC tickets. The guy at the train station said: “non-AC?” 3 times before giving me my ticket. I’m a poor student!

Day 5 and 6: Hampi!!!!

This is the best, most fantastic place I’ve ever been. It was so…well, I will let the photos speak for themselves. Hampi (part of Karnataka), another World Heritage Site, is a ruin of the 15th century city of Vijayanagar. Time seems to have stopped at this place. We rented bicycles the first day, and cycled through the ruins and giant granite boulders.

Wherever we went, people wanted to take photos and shake our hands. Everyone was so friendly! With the wind billowing in my hair, I smiled till my jaws hurt. It was really a magical place.

Cute uncle!

Well, everyone except maybe this little girl..haha..

While riding, we chanced upon a shelter built right at the top of huge granite boulders. Without thinking much about safety, we embarked on a trekking cum rock-climbing adventure!

We tried our very best, but were prevented from going further up here. I tried, believe me, but without rock climbing gear, it was near impossible! Nevertheless, we had great moments on the boulders. Staring out into the great expanse, as if we were looking down at our little kingdom; like pride rock in the Lion King!

Though it doesn’t look like it, it was a pretty dangerous climb. Look at Gary!

And what I would have to do if he fell down…Anyways, we came down tanned, fit, and entirely proud of ourselves.

The next morning, we visited the Virupaksha Temple, and got a blessing from the cute elephant Laskmi (1 rupee).

We then decided to visit the village of Anegundi (actually, I decided it), across the river from Hampi. We trekked across nature’s wonders! Here I am with the traveler’s bible – Lonely Planet.

Great scenes on the way to the village! The round thing in the picture is the type of transport they take to cross the river.

Us in the so-called ‘boat’. My thighs ached from squatting…

The village was a charming one, with little cars on the road. We made a fool of ourselves, monkey-ing on the empty road and taking photos!

This little girl was elated at receiving a pen from Gary. Everywhere we went, the children wanted school pens! Advice to future travelers: Bring an arsenal of pens to give away! We were so sad that we didn’t have pens to give the kids.

The kids in the village were really friendly, and they all wanted their photos taken! I took so many photos that my battery died! But their amusement at themselves in the photos were well worth it=)

The result of 2 days in Hampi. Bruises and a well of very happy memories=)

Day 7: Hampi -> Hyderabad
10hrsNon-AC bus

We took a night bus from Hampi (Hospet) to Hyderabad. 300 rupees, and it was the most dangerous roller-coaster ride I ever took; one without safety mechanisms. The bus driver drove like he was drunk and holding his pee in the same time. Reckless speed demon on the bumpy road. Imagine driving fast right into a hump in Singapore – felt like that the whole night. The horns, flashing lights, people shouting out in pain whenever their heads hit the railings.

Here I was, trying to get some sleep in an extremely unglamorous position; captured down thanks to Azusa.!

We reached Hyderabad 1.5 hrs before time, at around 5am. Haha…I was too relieved to be alive and kicking that I did not take any photos at the bus terminal. We checked into a slightly more expensive hotel (910 rupees) due to a matter of principal. I refused to pay 600 rupees for a dingy place just because the owner knew that all the other budget hotels were full. So we got a nice room at Hotel Rajmata, with a TV!

Indian attire. I’m turning native!

Hyderabad (part of Andhra Pradesh) was seriously…the most boring stop of the tour. I think that I’m not really a fan of cities, the pollution and crowd. Cities are Gary’s thing…Azusa and I are the un-city people. We were only in Hyderabad for a day because we couldn’t get tickets back to Kolkata in time.

Look at how happy Gary was being in the city…(note the traveler’s bible again)

Here is a photo of the Charminar, and the messy pavements. I love the mess though! There was nothing much to do in the city, but the food was good…Hyderabad is known for its Biryani!

Food at Hotel Shadab. It came to only about 300 rupees per person! Vegetable curry, mutton biryani, tandoori chicken, special lassie (yogurt). The bible again!

Azusa and I woke up early the next morning to visit the Ananda Buddha Vihara while Gary slept (the lazy guy). We wanted to try the 1 hour meditation session at 6am, but when we got there, we realized that on Sunday, the session was at 8am! Lonely planet failed us! So we just took a few photos of the beautiful place atop a small hill, overlooking the city. Had a fight with the auto-rickshaw driver over the price (2nd fight in Hyderabad), but all is cool.

Day 8: Hyderabad -> Kolkata
30hrs3AC train

The train back wasn’t as clean as the train from Kolkata, but it was easier to bear. For one, we bought REAL food for the first day. Haha…I had my book, my music, Azusa and Gary=)..

Back in Kolkata for now, with uneven colored feet and bodies.

Stay tuned for my next trip out to Varanasi and Agra next week! (Am I here to work????)