To Udupi and back!!

Udupi 

Having been in Om Beach for well over a week it was decided that if we were not ready to leave, we really SHOULD take our explorations further afield. 

Udupi, it was discovered, is reachable by bus or train and as it holds an amazing Krsna Temple a day trip was planned.

Early one morning during our second week we packed a small bag with camera, water and oranges and headed off to the bus stop.

The three hour promised (Ok if not promised it was definitely suggested at, or possibly the whole thing became lost in translation?) turned into over five hours of heat draining, bone rattling wonderment as our Express Bus hurtled its way between the five stops en route from Gokarna and Udupi.

For one of us it was all to much!!

We emerged from the bus in a mild state of shock.

Yet the views had been amazing,

the sights unforgettable,

the experience intense

and the diversity of peoples lives extensive.

There are many ways to travel in India,and many are more comfortable than the bone shakers that travel the highways, but if one has the fortitude to endure it, travelling by bus has to be THE most entertaining mode of travel.

The windows are huge allowing you to see out over vast areas,

the routes take you through towns, villages,

along coastal roads, through darkened jungle and over huge mountain ranges.

Smells, sights, people, food, conversations all come to you as you sit upon your seat looking at the world. 

Rules of the road take a few days to work out, while overloaded bikes and people breeze past,

India is laid out for you to witness as your roaring chariot thunders down the highways!

We reached Udupi at 2pm only to discover that both the last bus and train back to Gokarna left at 4pm! We quickly hailed a rickshaw and asked to be taken straight to the temple. Instead of welcoming us aboard, he pointed to a corner 70m away. “Walk there”, he smiled at us, nodding his head from side to side in that wonderful Indian fashion. 

We walked, we turned, we walked a wee bit more and there was the temple in all her glory before us.

A chariot, similar to the one we had seen in Gokarna, stood in the courtyard awaiting its dismantling after the recent festivities, two smaller ones stood off to one side. 

Leaving our shoes at the entrance, under the watchful gaze of the shoe man for a price of 1Rps, we entered the coolness of the temple.

In the semi darkness the line of pilgrims slowly walked along a guided path to pear through a tiny window into the inner chamber.

We joined the line as heads turned to gaze back at us.

The Deities were seen, adorned with flowers, incence and candles burning near their feet. I bowed my head and murmered my prayer, hands clasped together as I allowed myself to be swallowed in a wave of emotion and bliss.

Prayers said we filed out to join the hundred or so other people arranged in long lines on the floor for Darsam, the only white faces in a sea of colour. We sat cross legged upon slighly raised marble flagstones as first plates and then food was served onto the floor in front of us by people dragging huge pots of steaming food alon between the rows of waiting people. 

We ate with our hands enjoying the experience of flavours and textures, nods of approval coming from our neighbours, smiles of encouragement coming from across the aisle.

We rose with the others, rinsed our plates and entered the wash room to wash both hands and in the case of the children, faces. 

We walked, we shopped, we greeted the elephant, we gazed down into the bathing tank, we checked the time and, collecting our shoes along the way, headed outside and straight into a rickshaw to take us to the train station.

The train was full as we climbed onto the nearest carriage, we had bought sitting tickets but in the mad rush to get on I had entered a sleeper carriage. People arranged themselves in preperation for their long journeys up to Mumbai and beyond. We sat aware we were in the wrong place but unable to change until the train reached the next station. The conductor arrived confirming what we already knew. “Wrong carriage” he intoned “Pay 90 Rupees each to stay here” Our whole ticket had only been 120Rps so I apologised for the mistake and promised to move at the next stop.

He watched as we pulled into the next station and hot footed it to the very front of the train and the seating carriages. These too were full to overflowing. People sat in the aisles, luggage was piled up to the luggage racks where still more people sat huddled inches away from the overhead fans that whirled away moving hot air from one place to another.

Happily we settled ourselves by the open door, feet balanced on the lower step as the train raced its way across the country. Hot wind poured over us, cooling as the sun set in the distance. Colours filled the sky as the surrounding greenery turned into muted shadows.

In the distance an amazing silhouette was outlined by the dying sun. An enormous temple tower reached up into the sky, dwarfing the trees beside it. Next to this stood the most amazing statue of Shiva, his woven hair and trident reaching the same hight as the tower. Cian and Angharad excitedly asked when we could go see it and so our next adventure was born.