Shanti guesthouse in Hampi

Shanti guesthouse in Hampi,
originally uploaded by mjrijnen.

Also uploaded some pictures during my time in Hampi. The pictures you will see are only pictures of friends I met in Hampi. I hope you like them. Just klick on the picture to see some more pictures from hampi.

Moran, Elad and Kerren in disguise

Moran, Elad and Kerren in disguise,
originally uploaded by mjrijnen.

Some pictures from Damarkot with moran, Iyar, Elad and kerren

from Bijapur to Dharamsala

After one night in Bijapur I decided to take a night bus to Mumbai. The invitation to celebrate Jewish passover with some friends in Dharamsala sounded great and the also a lower temperature sounded great. So I took one of my view nightbusses normally I  don't like them to much. Since September I took only 3 night busses.

 

In the early morning I arrived in Mumbai after a comfortable night I even managed to sleep a bit. I walked to the trains station and got a night train for the same day that was lucky normally it is very difficult to get it. So during the day I had to do something, i went to Colaba, to drink a proper coffee in Barista. They have very nice coffees and they have also air condition after I had lunch at a place nearby I can't remember the name but is has a lot of western music and is full of young Indians.

 

The afternoon in mumbai I spent  watching movies the first movie was Being Cyrus and Indian movie but in English and after that I went to the movie Banaras, a movie about Varanasi it is a great movie but the language used is Hindi.

After that i had dinner and went to the train station, has some coffee at Mc Donald and took the sleeper to Delhi. I arrived around 5 pm in Delhi more then 17 hours by train and it was hot very, very hot in the train the only thing I could do was sleeping and drinking litres of water and chai. I took a room in hara rama in the mainbazar in New Delhi close to the train station. I stayed before in Hara rama the cheap rooms and good food. The next day I met Kerren, Elad, Iyar and Moran they just arrived in the morning from Goa after more then 40 hours in the train and playing shithead during that time. It was great to see them again after Hampi. I saw them again in Dharamsala. After one night in Delhi I took a train to Pathankot on the 8 of April. Around 10 am I arrived in Pathankot with only a 2 hours delay.  With a few other tourist we took the local bus to Dharamsala arriving on the 9 of april. 

 

I celebrated passover in the Jewish house in Bagsu on the 12 of April together with Iyar, Elad, Moran, Andre and Kerren for me it was a great experience.

 

 

  
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Happy travels,
Ohm shanti, shanti, shanti
Meinoud
http://www.rijnentravel.blogspot.com
From Amsterdam to India by bus and train

Bijapur

Since 9 of April i'm in Mcleod Gannji.

 

But I promised you a story about Bijapur or amazing Bijapur

 

Bijapur was such a nice surprise. It took about 4 hours  from Badami. The bus ride went trough hot brown fields. Somwhere in the afternoon I arrived at the chaotic bus station in Bijapur. After a litle orientation I walked to the tourist hotel and got a room for 150 rps incl cable tv. Bijapur is chaotic and full of auto riksja, dust and many people on the streets and this combined with the heat more than 40 degrees makes it a nice cooking pot.

 

But what a city, from far i can see the Gol Gumbaz, the tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah, boasts of the second-largest tomb in the world. 44 m in diameter, the interior of the dome is mysteriously unsupported and has a whispering gallery under it, whose acoustics are superb. I so something like this before in Iran near Zanjan I think the name was "Soltanje". But this thomb was amazing, the whispering gallery was full of shouting children so the acoustics became more interesting. From this "noise" I made a recording but for now I don't no howe to upload music to my site.

 

From Gol Gumbaz I took a auto riksja to lbrahim Roza, the mausoleum of lbrahim Adil Shah II, is said to have inspired the Taj Mahal in Agra. This mausoleum has walked away from one of the fairy tales of Ali Baba it is like dream so beautifull.
 

The food is great no touris food but yummi  idly for breakfast, pure, badji  and masala dosa overhear you can have a good breakfast for only 30 rps.

Maybe tomorrow I will burn a cd with pictures of hampi, Bijapur etc.


einoud
http://www.rijnentravel.blogspot.com
India overland by bus and train

Hospet to Badami (written in Bijapur)

Sunday 2 april was the big day at left Hampi. The day before I tried
to get a bus to Bangalore but the bus were full. So I changed my
plans, instead of going south I go north for a few weeks. I'm looking
forward to go Dharamsala for a meditation course, Yoga and fluut
lessons, meet some friends and enjoy some fresh weather because the
last number of weeks were very hot between 35 and 40 degree, a change
of temp will be nice for some days.

So last sunday I left slowely very slowely and rather late in the
morning. It is all about being Shanti and that is very relaxing. I
took the riverboat and then walked to the busstand. The bus took me in
45 minutes to Hospet. The next bus to Badami would be 1 and a halve
hour so I had some time for a very good masala Dosa in the busstation
canteen. The bus to Badami is late, so at the end I took another bus
to Ilkal and changed bus there to Badami. I never know if they
understand me good enough so one day I will end up in the wrong place.
But that day I arrived at around 5 pm in Badami.

In Badami I stayed at the Shri Say Guesthouse Badami a clean and
cheap guesthouse. In that guesthouse I met some people from Shanti in
Hampi be they were off to Bangalore.

I had dinner at a little joint they served nice masala dosa and a ice
cream. I walked a little bit around, it is dusty town with lot of
people and traffic.

Monday 3 april Badami I woke early for a sightseeing day and walk. In
the morning I had Idley for breakfast. Idley is very nice south Indian
breakfast made of rice with cocunut chutney. Badami has some
beautifull temples and temples in caves and when I went of from the
mainstreet it has a nice feeling of village with small streets and
colourfull houses and many children: " What is your name, Do you have
pen etc." .

In Badami I did not see any tourist and the fac t that there are only
indian food on the menu is great. Finaly I'm of the tourist trail.
Most of the sights I saw in the morning for lunch I had puri. In the
afternoon I took a sardine tin (they call it a bus) to Pattadakal.
Pattadakal is 20 km from Badami it is a nice afternoon tour.
Pattadakal is world herritage site. In my little bus 4 coaches normal
I would say 10 people at the most but they are very creative they
managed to put 30 people in it. It was a interesting ride. For the
temples Pattadakal they charged 250 rps for indians is it only 10 rps.
So I didnot enter it but walked around it. From a distance it is still
looking very nice. I saw a tractor getting a puja by a Brahma and
many, many children.
I took a normal bus back (not the tin one).

For the evening I had another Masala dosa and went early to bed. The
day after 4 april I went to Bijapur. A most amazing place read it in
my next story.

--
Happy travels,
Meinoud
http://www.rijnentravel.blogspot.com
India overland by bus and train

Hampi

Hampi, what to say about Hampi.

My first thought was I can't stay to long in Hampi. Just a few temples as it is not a very Indian town. Because when I was in Arambol I was dreaming to go to a real Indian town. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking of Varanasi. So when I arrived i was a bit disepointed.

Many travelers from Israel told me to go to the other side of the river, for a place to stay. It is also called the Israeli side. They were very right. I stay here now since 23 of March so that is now 9 days. 9 days ...... time is passing like a leave is falling of a tree. The place I stay is called Shanti guesthouse. Well it is a very shanti place (shanti means relax). I have a nice room with shower and toilet for 100 rps and have my own outside sitting area with a hammock. The rooms are placed in a green garden overlooking the rice paddies. In the morning I do 2 hours of yoga.

Lucky as I was the first 3 days I went out to the temples together with Ilan my neighbour at shanti place. The first day I went to the main temple in the centre of Hampi. We took a guide for 60 rps and he showed us the temple and the singing pillars. You play the pillars like a tabla. From there on we went to the inner circle of the temple were got blessed by two different Brahma priest. They gave us a tika and we had to pay them 2 time 10 rps. Ilan went back to the guesthouse and I went on to the Ganesh statue, Hamakuta hill and the Krisnha temple. In the Krishna temple I saw some very happy Hara Krisnha follwers with their western Guru. Most of them were western followers with just a few Indians. One time the guru empty his jar of water in the mouth of 3 different girl followers. After these girls looked so happy and were even smiling at each other. Weird people but as long they are happy what to say.

After that I returned to the other side because in the afternoon it is just to hot with a temperature from 39 degree in the shade and a humidity from around 90 %.

The next morning we left at 7 am and rented some bikes for cycling and we cycled to the Vitalla temple. The 5 $ dollar temple while the Indians pay only 10 rps. The temple was OK but not that great. When we came back our tires were flat so we had to walk back more then 2,5 km in the sun for a change of bikes. From there on we went to the royal enclosure to see some more temple. Around 2 pm we went back to hostel.

The next day I went for short time to the other side to see the monolith of Narashima, that was also the last temple I saw on the other side.

The next 4 days in did not leave the other side. Just relaxing in the guesthouse talking and playing many, many, many games of shithead and smoking many happy cigarettes. One late afternoon we rented a jeep to go to the lake and other late afternoon we rented a jeep to go to Monkey temple to see an awesome sunset. Monkey temple was so good I came bach a second time. So I had a very good time here in Shanti Guesthouse meeting some nice people like Keren, Ilan, Ilat??, Iguel, Moran, Iyar, Dave, Pavi, and so many more people.

I wanted to go south but today I was checking the buses and trains for tomorrow to Bangalore but they were all full. So I will go north to Badami and Bijapur those places are still in Karnataka. Form there on I will go to Pune, Delhi and Dharamasala to celebrate passover and then will take a vipassana course after that I will go south again because I really like to do a yoga course at the shivannanda ashram.

Happy travels,Meinoud
http://www.rijnentravel.blogspot.com