2 MID-LIFE CYCLISTS IN A MOTORHOME: February 2018

Christmas day on the beach

We have been in a Goa now since the end of October and apart from a couple of showers in the first week we arrived, as we caught the tail end of the monsoon, it has been wall to wall sunshine. We have done all the usual, but no less fun things, like the boozy boat trips and enjoyed meeting up with all our friends that come out for varying lengths of time. We had a wonderful Christmas Day when many of us gathered at Little Tiger to celebrate and the usual party for my birthday 3 days later. Glynn had arranged a lovely birthday cake as a surprise except he forgot all about it until almost everyone had left the venue which I found hilarious but he was mortified. More cake for me!!

We normally do one bigger trip during our stay in Goa and this season we booked a trip to Hampi, an ancient village from the Vijayanagara Empire which houses the ruins of many of the temple complexes from that time.

Tungabhadra Dam

30th January. We were joined by Val, John, Karen, Sean, Paula and Roye for this trip which involved a very long 6 hour train ride to get to Hosapete. I was not looking forward to it as I had heard horror stories of the state of the toilet facilities on the trains and I wasn't sure I would be able to survive a journey that long without needing to use them. We were picked up at 6am to be transferred to Margao train station so it was a bleary eyed group that sat on the platform waiting for the train to arrive. We passed the long journey playing card games and being observed by the other passengers who clearly wondered what we were all laughing about. Ensuring I only had a little to drink meant that I was actually able to survive the journey without needing to go which was just as well as Karen had to brave the toilets and when she came back she joked that the train must have rolled over at some point judging by the shit on the ceiling. This had us all grimacing in horror and laughing at the same time.

Beautiful sunset

It was fairly easy to avoid the drinks for sale on the train as there is no option for a tea or coffee that isn't very heavily sweetened so I was happy to nurse my bottle of water. Some parts of the train journey afforded spectacular views, especially as the train passed over Dhudsagar Falls. We had visited the falls a few years ago so it was nice to see it from above.

We arrived safely at Hosapete which is the nearest town to Hampi and had barely sat down on the coach when it was time to get of as we were staying at Hampi International hotel and it was literally only 100 yards from the station. We were very pleasantly surprised by the hotel and we all reported what lovely rooms we had. We decided to make the most of our free evening and got Tuk Tuks to take us to Tungabhadra Dam, the biggest in the state of Karnataka. Our guide had told us it was a lovely setting to catch the sunset and we were lucky to get there in time to see it.

Hampi

31st January. We were up bright and early for the drive to Hampi and after breakfast we all piled in to the minibuses that were going to ferry us around for the day. We spent a really lovely day with the most amazing tour guide who kept us entertained with his wonderful stories about the area and at lunch time we were taken to Hampi's most famous restaurant, the Mango Tree, for lunch. The original Mango Tree restaurant was located by the river and the iconic mango tree after which it was named. It is now in a new location without the river view or the mango tree however it is still run by the third generation of the local family that started the business and you can enjoy wonderful authentic food served on banana skins.

Incredible detail

We all had a lovely day and it was worth enduring the train journey to see the amazing temples and buildings, some of which dated back to the 7th century. It was a really hot day so once we were back at the hotel we all opted for a quiet meal in the restaurant and an early night ready for our train journey home in the morning.

1st February. We got up at 6am for an early breakfast before our journey home however as it turned out we could have had a lay-in. We were advised at breakfast that there was a 2 hour delay so we could go back to bed. As the train travels from Chennai on the eastern coast of India and takes about 3 days to get to Goa the station was already aware of how late the train was running and our guide was able to update us on the delay without us having to sit in the station for hours.

Hampi

As it turned out the train was actually 3 hours late so we were a very tired bunch when we eventually got back that night after the long journey home but we all agreed it had been a great trip. The best bit was that I had also survived the return journey without needing to brave the toilet facilities!

With our return flights to the U.K. booked for 4th March we had just over 4 weeks to make the most of the gorgeous weather. With my White Elephant night to sort for 7th February and a trip to Agonda for a couple of nights on 10th February I had a feeling time was going to pass too quickly!!