So you are back for more are yah? OK, here we go!

After spending 2 solid weeks in Hampi we all decided it was time to leave. John and my fingertips were shredded from all the bouldering (and a few super sick sends I might add) and Jenni's patience was beginning to wear thin as she does not really climb and the boredom began to really creep in on her. We had long since booked train tickets to Goa and after some research done by Jenni we had agreed upon which town we were going to stay in. We left Hampi on the 6th and spent one night in the relative luxury of a strange but cool Hospet hotel, soaking up the all day electricity and cable tv.
The next morning, bright and early we crammed into a rickshaw and drove to the train station, arriving around 530 am. Our train was supposed to arrive at 630 but turned out to be about an hour late. Now, trains in India usually do OK as far as running on schedule and we have learned that to keep times down they often stop for only 2 or 3 minutes at any given station. With this in mind we did our best to guess where our coach would stop so we could quickly jump on and find our seats. Finally the train arrives and sleeper coach number 6 stops in front of us; not to bad considering we were in sleeper class and on coach number 11. So, we pick up and boogie on down the tracks to find # 11, passing 7. . .8. . .9. . . and then. . . . . . . All of a sudden the class changes from sleeper (what we need) to reserved! Very confused and a bit flustered we send John down the tracks and we head back up frantically searching for SL # 11. All of a sudden the train begins to move and all I could do was jump onto the moving step of a reserved coach in order to not be left behind! Realizing that in my panic I had ditched Jenni I turned around to help her on as jumping onto a moving train is not that easy with a huge backpack, after all. Upon turning I see, to my surprise, someone "helping" her by running with the train, hoisting up her pack and shoving her into the compartment! Well, the maneuver worked and we were both on the train, albeit in the wrong car and without John; not such a big deal, we would just walk down the train until we found our coach. So walk we did, only to find out that we had unknowingly jumped onto one of two cars that did not connect to the rest of the train! Trapped! Foiled again!
Now, we were pretty sure that John would have jumped on as well so that was nothing to be worried about. What we were a bit concerned about was us being on the wrong coach and the fact that we also had John's tickets, which may not seem too serious, but people being thrown off moving trains it is not unheard of in India. We could do nothing until the next stop so we hunkered down onto a vacant bench next to a nice young Indian who soothed our nerves by checking our tickets and telling us that in 2 hours we could get off down the tracks where the train would stop for 15 minutes.
The "reserved" section of the train (basically just cussioned benches to sit on) turned out to be quite pleasant and eventually we did make our way down the train to our proper car, which for some reason was situated after the odd insertion of the two reserved coaches. There we found John who told us that he had in fact been asked for his ticket, and after trying to tell the ticket man what had happened and that yes, he did actually have a ticket, the guy got fed up and just left him alone.
After our glorious reunion we settled into the remaining 6 hours of gorgeous views and fun times found along the track from Hospet to Goa. This was our first experience in sleeper class, which is basically unairconditioned open air benches that fold up during the day and down at night to sleep on. The conditions are not quite spartan, but less comfortable than AC class. In this class however, the windows open so you can actually experience the views and feel like you are actually getting something out of your travels, all for about a third of the price of AC. There is also much more action in sleeper class: more vendors, more travelers, younger people, etc. so it is much easier to get into the groove of things, make friends, if only for 6 hours and generally have a good time. It does get up to 90 or 95 degrees, but that is only for mid-day and what you gain by traveling in this class is well worth any sacrifice and a little sweating.
Upon arriving in Goa we hightailed it from the Margoa station to a small town close by called Benaulim, which, besides all the aggressive vendors, is both quiet and beautiful. The beach here is stunning, accommodation reasonable (actually, ranging from very expensive to quite cheap) and the people are generally friendly. I have to admit however, that this town is sort of geriatric, considering it is a popular vacation spot for older travelers. In fact, the three of us may actually be the youngest foreigners here, but what this place lacks in a party scene it makes up for in relaxation and great food.
It is good that we got to rest here in Goa, because tomorrow we will be leaving on the most epic portion of our journey yet: The Long Haul To Nepal. After an incredibly irritating attempt (and finally success) of booking our train tickets northward, we now have our itinerary, and boy is it a dewsie! We actually were incredibly lucky as we waited too long to book and there just happened to be 14 seats open on the train to Agra on the exact day we needed, of which we booked 3. Other than that the trains a week before and after were full up so if we would have missed this train I am not sure what we would have done. So, here is our plan for the next week:

March 11 - Leave Margoa at 3 PM by train. Spend the next full day/night/morning on the train.
March 13 - 36 hours after leaving Margoa, arrive in Agra at 3 AM. Head to hostel, sleep, wake
up and spend the day at the Taj Mahal. Return to station and depart Agra at 11 PM
on overnight train to Lucknow.
March 14 - Arrive in Lucknow at 6 am. Get room, see movie, check out town or whatever to kill
time until evening. Depart Lucknow at 10 PM on overnight train to Gorakhpur.
March 15 - Arrive in Gorakhpur around 6 AM. After taking care of any last minute India
business, depart Gorakpur by bus to Nepal border town of Sunali. Sort out Nepal
visas and spend the night at the boarder.
March 16 - Depart on the early morning bus for a 1o hour ride to Pokhara, arriving at around 4
PM.

Wheewh! Typing all that actually made me sweat! That's right folks, for the next 5 days Jenni, John and I will be on trains and buses, not quite non stop but bear in mind the stopping that we will be doing will not afford much rest. I meant epic when I typed it! As I am sure many of you eager beavers are wondering how much this monster 1800 mile journey cost us, I shall enlighten you on that note. "It must have been a fortune!" I can hear you saying. Well brothers and sisters, I tell yah, one great aspect of India is cheap train travel and The Long Haul To Nepal is no exception. This trip has set us back, um, around 21 American dollars. That's right, 21 smackers! Can you believe it!?! True, we will be in unconditioned cars for 4 whole nights, but for 21 bucks who freekin cares!?! It is also made cheaper (and more bearable) by the fact that we are taking overnight trains so we are skipping out on nightly accommodation for part of the trip. Pretty amazing me thinks. No doubt it will prove to be yet another amazing adventure albeit a rough one!