My first train journey in India

We left on a Friday night to go to Hampi, famous for its rock formations and ancient ruins. To get there we took an overnight train to Hospet, a little town about 30 minutes from Hampi by auto rickshaw. Our trip was super-short -- we had to come back on Sunday afternoon on an overnight train, and go straight to the office on Monday.

We were on the waiting list for our return tickets, which I gather is really common in India. Here's a picture of the absolutely desolate and gigantic 'reservation building' where we had to confirm our seats. This is separate from the ticketing office for some reason (seems they should be able to combine, no?)



Here are 3 of my traveling companions on the train: Sohna (from Kerala), Tina (Goa), and Keyon (California).



And here I am with Tanja (Munich, Germany):



Hospet is a small town, and a nice change of pace from Hyderabad. Here are some pictures I took of 'downtown Hospet' from the rickshaw: