Boats,Buses,& Trains

After a nice 5 hr backwater boat journey(http://www.gorillaeyes.photosite.com) back to Alleppy I caught a Bus back north to Ernakulum & spent the night at a hotel near the Train station. The town was saturated with barefoot male pilgrims with black clothing(making their way south to a huge annual festival)
In the morning I got a train ticket north to Margoa. Unfortunately all the sleeper tickets were taken which left only the 2nd class 'free for all' cheap seats!...Five cramped people per wooden bench...I started to ponder if the next 14 hours would be the most uncomfortable of my life when a man on the bench opposite jumped atop the upper luggage rack & gave me the incentive to do the same on my side...I shared it for a few hours with another Man but by nightfall spread out my air sleeping pad & got some sleep...the Train arrived at 4am in Margoa & I decided to stay until the reservation counter opened so I could get my ticket to Hospet/Hampi(only twice weekly) the next day...I spent time talking to jeremy from Quebec who had been living in southern India for a year & was on his way to Gokarna Beach...
In town I got a local Bus to the nearby village beach town of Benaulim. A local Goan girl on a scooter picked me up & took me to her families GH called Paxta where I got a nice room for only 150rup. It was only one km. from the beach where I chilled & dipped my feet in the Arabian Sea in the afternoon....
She gave me a ride to the Train Station in the morning where I got the morning Train to Hospet...Shared a 2nd class sleeper with 2 recent university graduates from northeast India...The 8 hr. journey was very pleasant with beautiful scenery as the Train went through the western Ghats mountains from Goa into Karnataka & passed thruough the Duhhsagar Waterfalls...