Distance covered since last blog: 1200km
So as previously mentioned, a few things went wrong for me once I arrived in Hampi. In fact, the first of these things happened before I had even arrived there - the bed bug attack. I had a 15 hour wait for my train to Hampi at Bangalore, so I decided that rather than spend money on a hotel room to wait in for the day, I would spend a fraction of the price on a bed in the train station 'Retiring Room'. This was a big dormitory above the platforms, with rows of beds. This didn't much concern me at the time, and I settled in to reading my book. These beds were to prove the problem. I did get to see this lovely sunset from the window.
You don't feel the actual 'bite' of the bed bug, you just see the big, red sores starting to develop about 12 hours later (I'm an expert), therefore I wasn't aware of what was going on at the time and happily boarded my overnight train. Upon arrival in Hampi I was conscious of itching my back and arms a lot, but tried to ignore it. I had bigger concerns at the time - 1. My camera appeared to have stopped working 2. My Visa card wasn't working at the only ATM in town 3. I had been talked into accommodation and an all day tour at a price that I could ill afford. The tour was fantastic, despite the price tag, and would have made for some incredible photos (I urge you to take 30 seconds to Google Hampi and see what I'm talking about). There was one rather distressing moment when the lorry driving in front of my tuk tuk ran over and crippled a dog. My driver was outraged, stepped on the accelerator, and gave the lorry driver a stern telling off.
That evening I gambled and used my last remaining rupees to get a bus to a nearby village, which I was informed had an ATM. Thankfully it did, and my card worked. I cheered and kissed the money once it was in my hand - not really advisable on a pavement in the dark, but I was relieved! The next day (after being ripped off by two middle aged women in cahoots with each other), I got myself to the bus station for an overnight bus to Hyderabad.
Hyderabad hasn't got great reviews from people who have been there - it is basically just a big city with no real sites and oppressive heat. I can confirm this. I went on a walking tour of the city with an English bloke I had met on the bus - we called it off after 30 minutes and retired to a bar to watch some cricket. The city is unattractive and it was pushing up towards 40 degrees. Much to my amusement the bar we were in had a family of rats living in it, who would prey on any food left unguarded. I deliberately put some cashew nuts on the neighbouring table to entice them out and provide me with some entertainment (Ian had left me, and their was a power cut in the bar - power cuts are daily occurrences in India). The two other big 'stories' from Hyderabad is that I had my first shave of the tour. A professional chap did me a cracking job with his cut throat razor. He tried to get me to leave my mustache - "all real men must have mustache" - but I declined. Also, I purchased a new camera - not that I took any photos of the rather unphotogenic Hyderabad. I left after two days on another overnight bus.
Next stop - Nagpur. The geographical centre of India. I am now officially in 'North India'! Sadly, like Hyderabad, Nagpur is also famous for having bugger all in the way of sites. In fact locals joke that the most attractive building is the prison! The highlight of my time in the city was a brilliant vegetable byriani, and having a plasma TV in my room. This sort of made up for the fact that the shower was broken - at this point I hadn't showered for 5 days (I refused to get in the shower in Hyderabad because it smelt so hideous it made me gag).
During my one night sleep in Nagpur I started to get the suspicion that there were insects in my bed. I flicked the bed side light on, surveyed the scene, and to my horror, laid eyes on a bed bug. As many of you will know, I have been savaged by bed bugs all over the world, but have never actually seen one. This was the first time my mortal enemy and I have come 'face to face'. I slid quietly off the bed so as not to disturb it, snuck round to the other side of the bed, and then mercilessly smashed it to death with my book. In a few short seconds I took out years of hatred for the entire bed bug race on this one little bastard in Nagpur. I left the corpse on the bed as a warning to others.
Early start the next day, with a 12 hour train to Jhansi. Unfortunately this was to turn out to be another one of those nightmare train journeys. It started off badly when I found that my seat was the middle of a row of three, which is not at all comfortable and I made that clear by looking grumpy. Not helping my mood was the fact that most of the carriage was filled with exactly the type of Indian who is so fascinated by me - 20/25 year old men - so needless to stay the staring started immediately.
The seats opposite me freed up after an hour or so, and two young lads came over, sat down, and grinned at me with a look combining excitement and awe. Eventually, once they had calmed down, they asked me the usual questions - name, age, where I was going, what country I came from etc. I don't mind this so much, but the next question, 'Can I take your photo?', is one I shall never get used to. I reluctantly agreed, and he took one. He then proceeded to show it off proudly to other passengers, which I didn't approve of. I got my camera out and took one back in retaliation - they seemed rather shocked.
Soon after the photo incident, things between the three of us started to take on a rather gay vibe. I'll just give you a flavour:
1. They told me that my skin colour was 'very nice'
2. Constantly asking me: 'Do you have a girlfriend?' then adopting looks of utter shock at my answer, 'No'
3. Warning me, from a distance of about 6 inches from my face, that I had cracked lips. Why he was so interested in my lips was a worry.
4. 'Accidentally' stroking the back of his hand against my crotch when passing his mate a bottle of water. He didn't apologise, just looked me in the eye as if to say 'What did you think of that?'
I really kept my head down after that and basically refused to look at them, or offer them anything other than one word answers. I was suitably grumpy (and feeling slightly violated) by the time I got to Jhansi. I was actually heading for a village 25km away called Orchha, so needed to organise a tuk tuk, which I did without a problem. He took me to a hotel, claiming it to be the only one in town that wasn't booked. I was skeptical, but took a look at the room anyway. It was a dump - rock hard bed, no water in the toilet, and broken glass on the floor. He kindly reduced the room rate from 450 rupees to 400 and I, in my weary state, agreed. When filling out the 'guest log', I noticed that the Indian bloke who had stayed in the room before me had only had to pay 200 rupees - I flipped out and uncharacteristically raised my voice at the manager. It was at this point he decided his English wasn't good enough and wandered off from my conversation. I went to bed seething.
Thinking back on the contents of this blog, I realise it is basically one rather negative story followed by another. I'm having the time of my life though, and am sure Orchha, Lucknow and Varanasi will be better times in my final days in India.
So as previously mentioned, a few things went wrong for me once I arrived in Hampi. In fact, the first of these things happened before I had even arrived there - the bed bug attack. I had a 15 hour wait for my train to Hampi at Bangalore, so I decided that rather than spend money on a hotel room to wait in for the day, I would spend a fraction of the price on a bed in the train station 'Retiring Room'. This was a big dormitory above the platforms, with rows of beds. This didn't much concern me at the time, and I settled in to reading my book. These beds were to prove the problem. I did get to see this lovely sunset from the window.
You don't feel the actual 'bite' of the bed bug, you just see the big, red sores starting to develop about 12 hours later (I'm an expert), therefore I wasn't aware of what was going on at the time and happily boarded my overnight train. Upon arrival in Hampi I was conscious of itching my back and arms a lot, but tried to ignore it. I had bigger concerns at the time - 1. My camera appeared to have stopped working 2. My Visa card wasn't working at the only ATM in town 3. I had been talked into accommodation and an all day tour at a price that I could ill afford. The tour was fantastic, despite the price tag, and would have made for some incredible photos (I urge you to take 30 seconds to Google Hampi and see what I'm talking about). There was one rather distressing moment when the lorry driving in front of my tuk tuk ran over and crippled a dog. My driver was outraged, stepped on the accelerator, and gave the lorry driver a stern telling off.
That evening I gambled and used my last remaining rupees to get a bus to a nearby village, which I was informed had an ATM. Thankfully it did, and my card worked. I cheered and kissed the money once it was in my hand - not really advisable on a pavement in the dark, but I was relieved! The next day (after being ripped off by two middle aged women in cahoots with each other), I got myself to the bus station for an overnight bus to Hyderabad.
Hyderabad hasn't got great reviews from people who have been there - it is basically just a big city with no real sites and oppressive heat. I can confirm this. I went on a walking tour of the city with an English bloke I had met on the bus - we called it off after 30 minutes and retired to a bar to watch some cricket. The city is unattractive and it was pushing up towards 40 degrees. Much to my amusement the bar we were in had a family of rats living in it, who would prey on any food left unguarded. I deliberately put some cashew nuts on the neighbouring table to entice them out and provide me with some entertainment (Ian had left me, and their was a power cut in the bar - power cuts are daily occurrences in India). The two other big 'stories' from Hyderabad is that I had my first shave of the tour. A professional chap did me a cracking job with his cut throat razor. He tried to get me to leave my mustache - "all real men must have mustache" - but I declined. Also, I purchased a new camera - not that I took any photos of the rather unphotogenic Hyderabad. I left after two days on another overnight bus.
Next stop - Nagpur. The geographical centre of India. I am now officially in 'North India'! Sadly, like Hyderabad, Nagpur is also famous for having bugger all in the way of sites. In fact locals joke that the most attractive building is the prison! The highlight of my time in the city was a brilliant vegetable byriani, and having a plasma TV in my room. This sort of made up for the fact that the shower was broken - at this point I hadn't showered for 5 days (I refused to get in the shower in Hyderabad because it smelt so hideous it made me gag).
 |
| Uninspiring Nagpur |
Early start the next day, with a 12 hour train to Jhansi. Unfortunately this was to turn out to be another one of those nightmare train journeys. It started off badly when I found that my seat was the middle of a row of three, which is not at all comfortable and I made that clear by looking grumpy. Not helping my mood was the fact that most of the carriage was filled with exactly the type of Indian who is so fascinated by me - 20/25 year old men - so needless to stay the staring started immediately.
The seats opposite me freed up after an hour or so, and two young lads came over, sat down, and grinned at me with a look combining excitement and awe. Eventually, once they had calmed down, they asked me the usual questions - name, age, where I was going, what country I came from etc. I don't mind this so much, but the next question, 'Can I take your photo?', is one I shall never get used to. I reluctantly agreed, and he took one. He then proceeded to show it off proudly to other passengers, which I didn't approve of. I got my camera out and took one back in retaliation - they seemed rather shocked.
Soon after the photo incident, things between the three of us started to take on a rather gay vibe. I'll just give you a flavour:
1. They told me that my skin colour was 'very nice'
2. Constantly asking me: 'Do you have a girlfriend?' then adopting looks of utter shock at my answer, 'No'
3. Warning me, from a distance of about 6 inches from my face, that I had cracked lips. Why he was so interested in my lips was a worry.
4. 'Accidentally' stroking the back of his hand against my crotch when passing his mate a bottle of water. He didn't apologise, just looked me in the eye as if to say 'What did you think of that?'
I really kept my head down after that and basically refused to look at them, or offer them anything other than one word answers. I was suitably grumpy (and feeling slightly violated) by the time I got to Jhansi. I was actually heading for a village 25km away called Orchha, so needed to organise a tuk tuk, which I did without a problem. He took me to a hotel, claiming it to be the only one in town that wasn't booked. I was skeptical, but took a look at the room anyway. It was a dump - rock hard bed, no water in the toilet, and broken glass on the floor. He kindly reduced the room rate from 450 rupees to 400 and I, in my weary state, agreed. When filling out the 'guest log', I noticed that the Indian bloke who had stayed in the room before me had only had to pay 200 rupees - I flipped out and uncharacteristically raised my voice at the manager. It was at this point he decided his English wasn't good enough and wandered off from my conversation. I went to bed seething.
Thinking back on the contents of this blog, I realise it is basically one rather negative story followed by another. I'm having the time of my life though, and am sure Orchha, Lucknow and Varanasi will be better times in my final days in India.
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