We were leaving Hampi with the pre-booked auto-rickshaw waiting at the hotel's doorstep. The village will remain an unforgettable experience of our Indian trip. We would miss the kindness of its inhabitants, the amazing sunsets and the breathtaking boulders strew landscapes.
We took the 8:20 train to Vasco da Gama numbered 17603 which end up being the 18047 leaving a 6:20. Apparently, both trains were the same train. How would you guess?
We spent 9 hours in our open cabin sharing the 4 berths with a polish couple. They were calm which allows us to rest most of the journey. The whole carriage was extremely quiet. An advantage being in an AC-2 Tier coach.
The train stopped many times in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reasons turning our 9 hours journey into 11. We were comfortably settled, so we didn't care. We read, slept and killed a load of biscuits.
Before reaching our destination, Kro went looking for a bin to dispose of our rubbish accumulated during the long journey. The train employee gently took them and throw them through the open door. That's the Indian way! We were chocked.
We finally made it to the Vasco da Gama, dodged all the taxi drivers and boarded an old and rusty local bus to Bogmalo Beach. The public transport was incredibly cheap in Goa. Rs 15 each. Locals paid only Rs 10. The rickshaws and taxis were much more expensive as we had experienced a few days earlier.
Finding the buses was easy. We followed the crowd leaving the train station and boarded the bus where the driver's assistant was shouting: 'Airport, Airport!; Bogmalo Beach, Bogmalo, Bogmalo!'
To end the uneventful day, we indulged ourselves with an incredible seafood platter at Claudis Corner. The restaurant was highly ranked by tourists and locals. Our waiters were coming from Nepal. Many staff working in the Goa hospitality industry are Nepalis. We finished our kingfisher (Goa famous beer), paid the Rs 2400 bill(our most expensive dinner so far) and went back to our apartment.