2mar

2 Mar 2005

The remains of Bidar fort are picturesquely laid out on wide plains and thus benefit from a romantic atmosphere. I explored the rooms and corridors of the palace and totally lost my way. Although, all parts of the palace are roof-less and I was able to see where I was, it was hard to find the way back as many staircases were blocked by fallen bricks and gravel or were just missing. Eventually, I came to a well preserved chamber which had many very explicit graffities on the wall. The wall had holes at places where the vaginas of some of the naked girls with big boobs graffities would be. I was wondering what this holes have already been used for. Whether they would generate a genuine sensation, I don't know.

After a stroll around the grassland, which is bordered by the fort's walls, I went to Mahmud Gawan's Madrasa, which has burnt down in 1969 after being struck by lightning. Glimpses of coloured tiles still reveal how splendid this Persian-style building must have looked like.

My last sightseeing point in Bidar were the Bahmani tombs. But these are only deceasing mausoleums comparable to those of Hyderabad.

I am sure that I am the only white person in town at the moment and that Bidar doesn't see a lot of Westerners at all. People watch me as if I were an alien. A young boy even anxietly moved back a step when I approached him. But when he finally shook my hand he was really proud of himself! Communicating to townsfolk, who generally don't speak English is also fun!

I was quite lucky with the first part of my busjourney to Gulbarga, where I had to change for Hospet. Until today, I was totally unaware of the fact that State Transport Corporations run something like luxury buses as well. Imagine a worn out European bus from the 80s and you know what you get when you're travelling in luxury!

In Gulbarga I inquired 3 times about the departure time to Hospet and got three equal answers: 9:30pm. Since I still had plenty of time, I asked some private bus companies if they would offer direct services to Hospet. Nil.

At 8:15pm I asked an officer about which bay the bus to Hospet would depart. He just indicated the direction with his right hand accompanied with the words: " That's the bus." And here we go. What I saw was an old, shabby, dented, yellow thing. It was already packed with passengers and I hurried to get in. The bus left at 8:30pm sharp. I don't know what happened to the one hour which was still missing to the "official" departure time, but I was on the bus and the rest didn't matter.

I only got a seat on the last bench, which is designed to accommodate 6 passengers. We where 7 plus a little boy. But he didn't really count as he immediately fell asleep on my lap.

At the first stop after about one hour, most of the people went off the bus and I had a two-seater bench to myself. However, the road was so bumpy that my spine almost collapsed, multiple herniated discs at one time...

If you'd ask me whether I had seen hell, I would answer "yes"!

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