February 26th, The Hampi Express
I’m laying in my upper berth on an overnight train to Hampi, waiting for the gentle rocking to put me to sleep. Hampi is the common name for Vijayanagar, a 500 year old ruined city in Karnataka, which is the state directly next to and above Tamil Nadu, where Shanti Bhavan is located. We left from Shanti Bhavan this afternoon and stopped in Hosur on the way to Bangalore to pick up our custom saree blouses from the tailor. They are beautiful and I can’t wait to wear my saree when I get back. We then continued on to Bangalore where we went on a quest to find Domino’s Pizza. We had all been deprived of western food for so long that the thought of a real, honest-to-goodness American junk food pizza was driving us wild with desire…don’t judge! What happened next was almost unbelievable. Our driver didn’t know where the place was, so we drove all over searching for the right street (of course he wouldn’t ask directions). We finally found a Pizza Hut, but their power was out. The Pizza Hut employees apologized and directed us to a Domino’s a block away. We practically sprinted there and ordered hungrily. We were sitting, drinking our sodas and dreaming of the feast to come, when, you guessed it, the power went out! The pizza-wallah told us it could be about a half hour before it came back on, so we sighed and then went out to walk around for a bit. When we got around the corner, we saw that the Pizza Hut was open and had full power! I guess there was only room for one pizza place in that neighborhood. We decided that we would go back to Domino’s, get a refund, and eat at Pizza Hut instead. We all got our money, and we had just stepped out the door, when… the power came back on! The employees chased us down the block and begged us to come back – assuring us that the pizza would be ready in eight minutes. We were all laughing too hard to say no, so we went back inside. Incidentay the pizza tasted great… worth every hassle.
So now I’m laying here, feeling incredibly dreamy and adventurous. There really is something so charming and nostalgic about a train – especially a sleeper train. Speeding through the moonlight in rural India on the way to a ruined ghost city… what could be more exotic?
I’m going to try to surrender to the lullaby of this train and get a good night’s sleep. I wake up in Hampi tomorrow and hit the ground running. Goodnight!
February 27th, Morning
I woke up at about 7 today and couldn’t believe how well I had slept. Initially I had a few moments of worrying I was going to fall off the bunk, or have my stuff stolen, but I held onto the chains that were keeping the bed attached to the ceiling and felt secure enough to fall back asleep… with my feet wound securely through the straps of my backpack and my passport pouch and camera wrapped tightly around my waist. I got out of bed and walked to the end of the car where I could open the door and have an unfiltered view of the countryside. I don’t think there is any better sensation than a warm, early morning breeze blowing through your hair as you watch the scenery fly by. It really makes you feel like you’re going somewhere… buth literally and metaphorically. Ooh! We’re here. Gotta run!
I’m laying in my upper berth on an overnight train to Hampi, waiting for the gentle rocking to put me to sleep. Hampi is the common name for Vijayanagar, a 500 year old ruined city in Karnataka, which is the state directly next to and above Tamil Nadu, where Shanti Bhavan is located. We left from Shanti Bhavan this afternoon and stopped in Hosur on the way to Bangalore to pick up our custom saree blouses from the tailor. They are beautiful and I can’t wait to wear my saree when I get back. We then continued on to Bangalore where we went on a quest to find Domino’s Pizza. We had all been deprived of western food for so long that the thought of a real, honest-to-goodness American junk food pizza was driving us wild with desire…don’t judge! What happened next was almost unbelievable. Our driver didn’t know where the place was, so we drove all over searching for the right street (of course he wouldn’t ask directions). We finally found a Pizza Hut, but their power was out. The Pizza Hut employees apologized and directed us to a Domino’s a block away. We practically sprinted there and ordered hungrily. We were sitting, drinking our sodas and dreaming of the feast to come, when, you guessed it, the power went out! The pizza-wallah told us it could be about a half hour before it came back on, so we sighed and then went out to walk around for a bit. When we got around the corner, we saw that the Pizza Hut was open and had full power! I guess there was only room for one pizza place in that neighborhood. We decided that we would go back to Domino’s, get a refund, and eat at Pizza Hut instead. We all got our money, and we had just stepped out the door, when… the power came back on! The employees chased us down the block and begged us to come back – assuring us that the pizza would be ready in eight minutes. We were all laughing too hard to say no, so we went back inside. Incidentay the pizza tasted great… worth every hassle.
So now I’m laying here, feeling incredibly dreamy and adventurous. There really is something so charming and nostalgic about a train – especially a sleeper train. Speeding through the moonlight in rural India on the way to a ruined ghost city… what could be more exotic?
I’m going to try to surrender to the lullaby of this train and get a good night’s sleep. I wake up in Hampi tomorrow and hit the ground running. Goodnight!
February 27th, Morning
I woke up at about 7 today and couldn’t believe how well I had slept. Initially I had a few moments of worrying I was going to fall off the bunk, or have my stuff stolen, but I held onto the chains that were keeping the bed attached to the ceiling and felt secure enough to fall back asleep… with my feet wound securely through the straps of my backpack and my passport pouch and camera wrapped tightly around my waist. I got out of bed and walked to the end of the car where I could open the door and have an unfiltered view of the countryside. I don’t think there is any better sensation than a warm, early morning breeze blowing through your hair as you watch the scenery fly by. It really makes you feel like you’re going somewhere… buth literally and metaphorically. Ooh! We’re here. Gotta run!
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