Another Day in India

Hampi, India -- Day 4

Today, Dad was still not feeling well, but all the same, he got up and joined us for breakfast.  Kylie’s rash hadn’t gotten better either, if anything, it had gotten worse.  I was fine, but still wanted to see the main and biggest temple in Hampi.  So, while Dad rested again, Mom, Kylie and I set out for the temple located across the river. 

View from room to the Hema Guesthouse restaurant

Kai, our tuk-tuk driver, had mentioned a restaurant called Mango Tree that would keep our bags and had good WiFi.  We happened to pass by it, so Mom asked the friendly guy standing outside where the nearest medical clinic was.  He said it was in Kamalapur, a nearby town about 4km’s away.  Mom was able to get on the WiFi to text Dad, and it was decided that he and Kylie would go to the doctor: Dad to make sure he didn’t have malaria, and Kyie to have her rash looked at.  When Dad arrived with his bag already packed, the waiting tuk-tuk driver said it would probably take 1-1/2 hours for the entire trip.  So, Mom and I decided to go back to our hotel and pack our bags, since today we were leaving Hampi, and then go see the temple.

When we got to the ferry, one of the people waiting said she’d been waiting for half an hour to get across the river.  Lucky for us, we were able to board almost immediately.  When we finally got back to the Mango Tree with the rest of our bags, we only had about 20 minutes left to see the temple.  We decided we’d go for it and made our way around the corner to the old temple. As we entered, we were told that no pictures were allowed, which was a bummer.  We crossed the entry gate, and the first thing we noticed was Lakshmi, the elephant, munching away on some stalks of sugar cane and patting people on the head with her trunk.  We moved along and walked through the rest of the temple.  It was very busy, and there were monkeys at every corner, some were really little.  The stone carvings were the same as always - magnificent!  Right before we left, we decided to go back over to see Lakshmi.  I saw one family hand her a 10 rupee note, which she took in her trunk and gave it to her handler, then she patted the family on the head.  Mom and I did it and were glad we did, though we knew that Dad and Kylie would have loved it too. 

Crossing the river

When we got back to the restaurant, we saw Dad and Kylie had just arrived.  I asked them how the visit went at the doctor’s office. [Kylie’s Note: The first stop was basically a house with a small line of people trailing out of it.  The only thing that made it look like it was something other than a house, was the silver Sanskrit written above the door.  When it was our turn, a nice woman asked us why we were there and wrote  some things down.  Then she gave us directions to another “office”  (luckily our tuk-tuk driver knew where to go), only this place was less homey and very small.  The man inside took Dad’s blood for testing and asked us to wait outside.  As we did, Dad explained that some of the blood was put in a machine for analyzing and some in a centrifuge.   A few minutes later, we received the results, typed up on a receipt.  We then were directed to a little medical store where we got medicines for Dad and me.  Dean’s Note:  The entire event – doctor visit, blood test, and medications -- cost less than $10!] 

Dad's test results -- low white blood cells

Medical supply store

The good news was that Dad didn’t have malaria and was given some antibiotics for an infection. Kylie was also given some ointment for her rash, which she put on while we determined what to do for the rest of the afternoon.  

The Mango Tree was a great place to sit and play cards, but with 5 hours left before we needed to leave for the bus station, we weren’t sure how long we could sit there.  Then a couple walked in and asked the couple next to us if they had seen the water falls.  What?  Say that again?  They showed us some of their pictures and the scenery and rocks were really cool.  They said it was just out of town and on this side of the river.  So we left our bags (again), and hailed a tuk-tuk driver.  He drove us along a little dirt road and stopped.  Almost nobody was there.  It was a fun and short walk from the road, through first a banana plantation and then tall reeds and, finally, over boulders.  Though we never actually saw waterfalls, it was still really fun.  We swam in a little calm place in the river and marveled at the awesome rock formations. 

Fellow Dutch traveler

We got back to our bags and to the bus station fine.  As soon as the bus pulled up and we were in our ‘seats’ – which are actually beds, I fell asleep.  Just another day in India!

Waiting for the night bus