After attending a friend's wedding in Mangalore on the evening of
27-Dec-2014, I visited Goa to see the relics of St. Francis Xavier in
the church of Old Goa. It took me 4 hours to get to the relic from the
entrance to the new church and finally I was out. I used the free "ring
services" arranged by the Government of Goa (Kadamba Transport
Corporation) to reach a certain point from where a second bus of KTC
took me to Panaji for a fare of rupees 10.
I had a train to catch from Hubli to Bangalore on the following afternoon. My initial plan was to stay at Hubli and discover the city a bit, but because I lost a lot of time in the church, the plan had gone for a toss. It was about 8:30 PM by the time I arrived at Panaji and walked into the Ruchi Restaurant for dinner. I was almost certain on going to Hubli the same night and hence preferred to have a light vegetarian dinner and refrain from meat and drinks (although it was Goa with New Year round the corner); I wanted no nuisance from my end to the co-passengers in the ghat route to Hubli.
After dinner, I did try finding an accommodation in Panaji. But a single non AC room on that day was priced at 3.5k per night. I saw no point in spending that money for a less than 12 hour stay so walked to the Panaji bus station.
In the bus station, there were 2 buses : Panaji - Rona and Panaji - Shirahatti, both Sarige services via Hubli. The one to Rona seemed crowded so I boarded the Shirahatti bus and found a place for myself on the last seat, very close to the exit. This apparently was the last service of KSRTC to depart from Panaji and it did so, at 9:30 PM sharp. The fare to Hubli was about rupees 176 and the conductor told me that the bus would reach the city at around 3:15 AM. After that, I dozed off...
It must have been around 11:25 PM or so when we had arrived at the Goa border checkpost where the bus stopped. Passengers' luggage (including my backpack) was thoroughly frisked by the officials to spot anyone carrying drinks illegally. The same procedure was carried out at the entry point of Karnataka, as well. This was something new to me as I had not seen such intense frisking near the Karwar border when I travelled from Panaji to Bangalore in 2012.
I was about to doze off again when the person beside me yelled using all his energy - "Conductre, ootakke elli nilsovriddirri??? Hotte bhari hasithati" (or something like that). No sooner had he said that than the bus deviated from the road to arrive at some dhaba kind of a place. I too alighted to see what it looked like...I was glad that I had dined at Panaji as this was definitely not a place I would really eat in. TV9 Kannada news channel was being played inside the dining area; I learnt of the Church Street blast in Bangalore through that.
I had dozed off almost immediately after the bus departed. When I woke up, it was about 3:10 AM and we were moving in a city, which I knew was Hubli. I saw a Big Bazaar towards my right and then to the left was a shop with a board that carried the address written in Kannada - "Gokula Rasthe, Hubballi". It was just a few jiffies before we arrived at the New Bus Station of Hubli City.
Amongst everyone seated near me, the only person who was awake was an old man with whom I was really pissed off at Panaji for his manner of speaking to his pals. Although I had not spoken to him (nor had he to me), his ease of using vulgar vocabulary had irritated me a lot. In fact he seemed to be speaking Konkani or Marathi but the cuss words coming out were of Kannada..... I asked him whether the bus goes to the old bus station (the conductor had alighted then). He said 'yes' and asked me about my destination. I had to reach the Hubli railway station and I knew that the old bus station was closer to it. The old man was talking to me about a 'bridge', the bus going to the bridge etc. but honestly I did not understand much of it then. He was'nt entirely speaking in Kannada and I could not grasp his language much.....
When the bus arrived at the old bus station, he patted my back and said "Hale bus stand". I thanked him and greeted him with a smile; he pleasantly waved his hand.
Lodging at Old Bus Station - Hubli
As soon as I alighted the bus, I saw the board of one Akshaya Lodge (or so) inside the bus station itself. There seemed to be other good lodges on the road, but none of them were open. So I went up to the first floor hoping to find a room; I had a strange feeling when I saw too many people lying on quilts in what was supposed to be a lodge. I had never seen anything of that sort before in my life.
The person there saw me and I told him that I needed a single room until the following afternoon.
He had a weird question for me - "AttachedA, Non AttachedA????"
I was a bit taken aback. "My goodness, what's this guy even asking me??????". But almost instantly I surmised it to be about bathrooms but could it be???? Almost all households have rooms with attached bathrooms today,....would people in different rooms be allotted a common toilet in a lodge????????????????? The confusion persisted.
"Attached", I said. He said that none of the rooms were empty and that he could allot one only in the morning. Although I had no hope there, for curiosity I asked him whether the people who were lying on the floor with quilts spread out, had opted for the non-attached accommodation....
"Enu lodge nodiye illa anno haage matadthiralla. Idu bare bed ashte". I was confused even more. Are there lodges that give you just quilts and permit you to lie on the floor???????? That was weird....... But I was angry with the man's comments but did not react. "The idiot, does not know how to speak to customers", I thought. But the man himself did not look like someone educated, so chose to ignore him there. I'l see if I can find him on tripadvisor and avenge it all (but I am not at all hopeful).
My last hope lied with the auto drivers. But the one person whom I asked said "Railway station bali nodi. Alli nimage lodge sigabahudu". He did not seemed to be interested in showing me one himself, so my last hope of finding a lodge near the bus station, had crashed. I decided to walk to the station and that formed the rest of my "nightout" in Hubli.
The portion concerning KSRTC ends here. The next part revolves around the railway station and it can be read here.
I had a train to catch from Hubli to Bangalore on the following afternoon. My initial plan was to stay at Hubli and discover the city a bit, but because I lost a lot of time in the church, the plan had gone for a toss. It was about 8:30 PM by the time I arrived at Panaji and walked into the Ruchi Restaurant for dinner. I was almost certain on going to Hubli the same night and hence preferred to have a light vegetarian dinner and refrain from meat and drinks (although it was Goa with New Year round the corner); I wanted no nuisance from my end to the co-passengers in the ghat route to Hubli.
After dinner, I did try finding an accommodation in Panaji. But a single non AC room on that day was priced at 3.5k per night. I saw no point in spending that money for a less than 12 hour stay so walked to the Panaji bus station.
In the bus station, there were 2 buses : Panaji - Rona and Panaji - Shirahatti, both Sarige services via Hubli. The one to Rona seemed crowded so I boarded the Shirahatti bus and found a place for myself on the last seat, very close to the exit. This apparently was the last service of KSRTC to depart from Panaji and it did so, at 9:30 PM sharp. The fare to Hubli was about rupees 176 and the conductor told me that the bus would reach the city at around 3:15 AM. After that, I dozed off...
It must have been around 11:25 PM or so when we had arrived at the Goa border checkpost where the bus stopped. Passengers' luggage (including my backpack) was thoroughly frisked by the officials to spot anyone carrying drinks illegally. The same procedure was carried out at the entry point of Karnataka, as well. This was something new to me as I had not seen such intense frisking near the Karwar border when I travelled from Panaji to Bangalore in 2012.
I was about to doze off again when the person beside me yelled using all his energy - "Conductre, ootakke elli nilsovriddirri??? Hotte bhari hasithati" (or something like that). No sooner had he said that than the bus deviated from the road to arrive at some dhaba kind of a place. I too alighted to see what it looked like...I was glad that I had dined at Panaji as this was definitely not a place I would really eat in. TV9 Kannada news channel was being played inside the dining area; I learnt of the Church Street blast in Bangalore through that.
I had dozed off almost immediately after the bus departed. When I woke up, it was about 3:10 AM and we were moving in a city, which I knew was Hubli. I saw a Big Bazaar towards my right and then to the left was a shop with a board that carried the address written in Kannada - "Gokula Rasthe, Hubballi". It was just a few jiffies before we arrived at the New Bus Station of Hubli City.
Amongst everyone seated near me, the only person who was awake was an old man with whom I was really pissed off at Panaji for his manner of speaking to his pals. Although I had not spoken to him (nor had he to me), his ease of using vulgar vocabulary had irritated me a lot. In fact he seemed to be speaking Konkani or Marathi but the cuss words coming out were of Kannada..... I asked him whether the bus goes to the old bus station (the conductor had alighted then). He said 'yes' and asked me about my destination. I had to reach the Hubli railway station and I knew that the old bus station was closer to it. The old man was talking to me about a 'bridge', the bus going to the bridge etc. but honestly I did not understand much of it then. He was'nt entirely speaking in Kannada and I could not grasp his language much.....
When the bus arrived at the old bus station, he patted my back and said "Hale bus stand". I thanked him and greeted him with a smile; he pleasantly waved his hand.
Lodging at Old Bus Station - Hubli
As soon as I alighted the bus, I saw the board of one Akshaya Lodge (or so) inside the bus station itself. There seemed to be other good lodges on the road, but none of them were open. So I went up to the first floor hoping to find a room; I had a strange feeling when I saw too many people lying on quilts in what was supposed to be a lodge. I had never seen anything of that sort before in my life.
The person there saw me and I told him that I needed a single room until the following afternoon.
He had a weird question for me - "AttachedA, Non AttachedA????"
I was a bit taken aback. "My goodness, what's this guy even asking me??????". But almost instantly I surmised it to be about bathrooms but could it be???? Almost all households have rooms with attached bathrooms today,....would people in different rooms be allotted a common toilet in a lodge????????????????? The confusion persisted.
"Attached", I said. He said that none of the rooms were empty and that he could allot one only in the morning. Although I had no hope there, for curiosity I asked him whether the people who were lying on the floor with quilts spread out, had opted for the non-attached accommodation....
"Enu lodge nodiye illa anno haage matadthiralla. Idu bare bed ashte". I was confused even more. Are there lodges that give you just quilts and permit you to lie on the floor???????? That was weird....... But I was angry with the man's comments but did not react. "The idiot, does not know how to speak to customers", I thought. But the man himself did not look like someone educated, so chose to ignore him there. I'l see if I can find him on tripadvisor and avenge it all (but I am not at all hopeful).
My last hope lied with the auto drivers. But the one person whom I asked said "Railway station bali nodi. Alli nimage lodge sigabahudu". He did not seemed to be interested in showing me one himself, so my last hope of finding a lodge near the bus station, had crashed. I decided to walk to the station and that formed the rest of my "nightout" in Hubli.
The portion concerning KSRTC ends here. The next part revolves around the railway station and it can be read here.
Thanks for sharing an amazing post. It's really useful for people who wants to visit restaurants. You can also get very memorable experience by visit Luxury Hotel in Hubli
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