Hampi Days

(Flickr photos pending broadband hitting India)

Hey all. So, I finally managed to free myself from the inert pull of Palolem and Goa... close your eyes literally for a second and you have been there for a week... dare to meditate and put yourself into a trance and you might never come back!

So, myself and Mark left on Thursday... a 6 hour sleeper train from Goa to Hampi... we travelled in Sleeper Class which I think is the 3rd lowest class and the lowest I have travelled so far. I was pleasantly surprised by the pleasant journey. Empty carriages, beautiful scenery, nice travel partners, fantastic service (literally everything is catered for by the million and one Wallahs selling all sorts of treats at knockdown prices) and only two cockroaches... all for about £3, money well spent.

We got into Hospet around 4pm and got a rickshaw the 17km to Hampi... a pretty crazy ride. All was going well for the first 10km or so... the usual fare of blind corner over and undertaking, potholes, cows, Tata trucks etc etc. Then we came to a bend in the road, nothing special about it... just like any other bend in fact. Other than the fact that it turned out to be a portal to another dimension! A portal to another time! A time when great lizards terrorized the earth and giant and huge dragon birds blocked out the sun... it was a gateway to another land... a gateway to the land that time forgot!

Ok, this (as with pretty much everything that I write (including that)) was not strictly true. But the landscape as you enter Hampi changes dramatically... the litter in the fields turns swiftly from plastic bottles and bags to fifty ton boulders, seemingly placed there for some purpose well beyond our need to know. They slowly become more and more dense until they pile up into massive rock mountains a hundred meters tall... interspersed with beautiful Hindu temples and luscious paddy fields and palm trees, it really is some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen... and beautiful and relaxing and inspirational to be staying in.

I thought that I was pretty relaxed in Goa but have reached a new level here... really need to stop doing this lest i actually melt into the ether. Anyhows... need top head as it is late and I must eat! Let me finish by giving a brief summary of the activities I have been up to since my arrival the day before yesterday:

• Watching the sunrise across the prehistoric landscape sitting cross legged on a rock on a semi-dried up river bed... twice.
• Walked through boulder strewn landscapes stumbling across stunning and humble temples alike.
• Stumbled across an off-the-beaten-track-trail to a waterfall, through alien rock formations (see photos) to swim at the top of it.
• Got blessed by an Elephant
• Marvelled at an amazing statue of Ganesh (now my favorite God)

And tomorrow I plan to do a little more... Hampi fricking days!!!