Saturday 9 March 2013

Hampi

After a 12 hour bus ride, which we were unsure we would survive, we made it to Hampi. Made some fwends on the bus and followed them to a guesthouse called Goan Corner, which we accessed via a paddy field. It was very picturesque, if a little wobbly with our backpacks. We decided to do some sightseeing. At the first temple a tour guide convinced us to sign up to a bike tour on the following day, so we headed to Vitthali Temple, as it wasn't on his tour.

Through the paddy field to our hostel

 After trekking in the blistering midday heat, we were about to give up hope and let the rabid dogs eat our dried up corpses, when a man in a round boat saved the day and took us in his boat to the temple. He was a nutter and kept spinning around. On arrival at the temple, it turned out that it cost 250 Rs to get in, and being the tight wads that we are, we decided against it. What idiots. Instead we decided to go and get some food.

Cute


Impromptu boat ride


The next day saw Kat being defeated by the shits, so Imy set out with our new pals on the bike tour. Imy was pretty happy with her chubby self for making it up the first big hill, even though the tour guide had promised there would be no such hills. We saw two temples dedicated to Ganesh before heading off to a hundred other similar looking temples. By 1pm, it was game over and everyone was templed out. 


Ganesh


Lion-headed deity in a cobra's mouth


That evening, Kat was making her way to the loo for the 50th time, only to be confronted by a snake just chilling in the bathroom!! The loo is no longer a safe zone. 

SNAKE!!

During the night, we woke up to the buzz of mozzies in our ears. The mozzie net is no longer a safe zone. 

Imy, the ultimate mozzie swatter

The next day, Imy took Kat on a repeated tour of the temples. On the trip across the river to the temples we saw a snake charmer working his magic on a cobra! Too many snakes for our liking. We then stumbled upon a Bollywood movie being shot and Kat got a photo with some of the dancers. 


Kat and her Bollywood mates


We went to a restaurant beside the river and they put The Boat That Rocked on. Our favourite waiter had us in stitches when a Japanese woman kept demanding that he showed her items on the menu...our favourite was when he came out of the kitchen with a pineapple and a jug of milk to show her what a pineapple smoothie was. 

On our last day in Hampi, we fancied ourselves as explorers, and climbed up some boulders. A man appeared out of nowhere with a bag of cakes. After refusing to buy said cakes, he wandered off back into the rocks...never to be seen again.

Hampi boulders

Hampi has been our favourite place so far, with incredible Flintstone-esque scenery and amazing temples. We reckon it's a must-see for anyone coming to India. 

Next stop: Mumbai!...time to clog Kat up with immodium.

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