Happy Hampi highlights

As we've travelled north a place we'd only heard good things about was Hampi and more often than not, when you meet people you like, their recommendations are right and so it proved.

Hampi was the capital of the last major Hindu empire four hundred years ago and it's main temples remain important, the result is a village that is a cross between an archaeological park, a pilgrimage site and a small market town. Physically Hampi is other wordily, there are lots and lots of rocks, think Arizona desert, or South African Kops, interspersed with the ruins, all surrounded by fields and spread along several miles of a river valley. We ended up spending four nights on the wrong side of the river, eating well and doing things we all enjoyed.

Our guest house had a pizza oven, which was a nice change from rice & curry, we ate in an open-aired building, with low tables, cushions and mats, watching the sun go down over the rice paddies. There were Monkeys everywhere - big and small - which Patrick loved, although the monkey scaring techniques employed tended just to scare us.

Erica's highlight was the funny time she had sending a parcel - she was forced to send two parcels after getting excited about a quilt in Panaji, as well as a couple of additional treasures. The husband was to quote her, 'RAPT to carry them'. Anyway she went to the Post Office, the man then walked her round to the tailor, who suggested coming back in an hour while they sewed up the parcels in cotton; once she'd collected them it was back to the PO where the man wax sealed them; she then addressed them, filled out about three forms in great detail, handed over a couple of copies of her passport, a wedge of rupees and there we had it, two and half hours later, her treasures were on their two month journey back to England. She found it hilarious.

For Patrick, it was the bouldering, the monkey temple at dawn and pizza after pizza, after Maaza, after pizza. We have to admit to a mild 'Maaza' addiction, despite the mango drink being a 'Coca Cola' product, we cosume too much. On the climbing front Patrick had brought his rock boots and his chalk bag and we hired a good local guide who showed us the best boulders, if you have to be dragged away from your snow-boarding I suppose the next best thing is bouldering.

Ruin/site highlights were the monolithic Ganesh, which had it's own temple built around it; the incredibly carved black basalt pillars in one of the sanctums, which looked like they'd been finished yesterday, not five hundred years ago and our tour of the main temple, which included too many things to mention, although the blessing we got from the temple elephant was popular.

After a great two weeks travelling together, from Hampi Laura and Patrick head south to a national park and an orphanage and we go north to Bijapur and Mumbai. While I'm sad, it's been v. good and we have to remember we've got two weeks in the Alps in July, which doesn't sound too bad.....