The one in Hampi and Festive Greetings!

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9 hours on a Government bus later.... (Government being a public bus, the cheap alternative but a pretty decent ride)... and we arrived in Hospit where we jumped on a rickshaw a trundled to Hampi, where we spent the week roaming around in awe of the amazing scenery!

Hampi is like no other place I have been... at times I really felt as if I were in a film set and that dinosaurs may roam into my vision, they really would of fitted in! The village is in the middle of 15th century ruins of the old town of Vijayanagar, so ruined temples and walls stretch out far amongst the brilliant landscape of giant granite boulders, paddies and banana plantations. Very little has changed since in the landscapes appearance, even the village of Hampi hasn't developed a great deal and certainly hasn;t taken any of the ancient charm away from it's surroundings. The area is a world heritage site and even in the rickshaw there you quickly understood why -we spent the week exploring and being mesmorised by the temples and boulders and just kept asking "How did they get there?" or "How have they not toppled over yet?"... millions of years of erosion has had a magical effect.

We spent our first day roaming the village of Hampi itself and taking in a shop or two, before wandering up to hemakuta Hill where you really get a feel for the place - you can walk up through the scattered ruins, jain temples and boulders and get a breath taking view over the bazaar and river. The fact you can walk freely around and clamber on whatever you so desire is amazing, unlike back in England where every stone would be roped off and security making sure you touch nothing... the freedom here to explore allows you to really get a glimpse of what it might of been like when it was first built. Everywhere you look there is something to catch your eye, whether it be an odd shaped boulder balanced in a way that defies gravity, statues that stand proud or even the detail of the carvings in the side of temple walls and on the side of boulders. At the bottom of the hill is the Virupaksha Temple and one of the eldest temples around with the main shrine being dedicated to Virupaksha, a form of Shiva! Every inch is detailed and beuatifully crafted, inside stands the temple elephant- Lakshmi, who collects a rupee from your hand, passes it to it's attendant and then blesses you on your head! Amazing really and the fact no chains or shackles were involved was a lovely sight in itself! To get to our accomodation we had to jump on a 'ferry'... a ferry being a small row boat with an engine attached that they cram as many people on as possible and 'ferry' you over to the other side, away from the shops and over to a calmer spot where we stayed. Our accomodation was a small concrete hut that the three of us ladies shared, our evenings were spent in the restaurant gorging on yummy curries, laying back on the cushions on the floor and even being treated to a few movies!

Thursday we spent the morning on bicycles and peddled our way out to some small surrounding villages where we got glimpses of their working ways- working the paddies, the cows, children at school, children out of school - all shouting "hello" and demanding we take photos of them. One small lad even tried pulling me off my bike so I'd take a photo, whilst another cheekily sat on the back of Anna's wanting a ride back to Hampi! Unfortunatley it was my turn to feel ill this week and so the ride was called off short and I returned to spend the rest of the day sleeping off the nauseous feeling! I did wake in time to go down to the river with the others and watch the bright orange sun set from the warmth of a boulder as we drank chai. Friday we upgraded the push bikes to motor bikes... or a moped for Anna and I! There was 7 of us in total and so we trundled off in convoy, Anna taking the handles to start and me enjoying the breeze through my hair and the outstanding views of temples that hurried by. We stopped at the Krishna temple to oggle the architecture for a while and then drove on to take in a few more and stopped to fully breathe in the view (Still no dinosaurs though!) I eventually decided to have a try at riding the bike... a wobbly start but I was away, then Anna jumped on the back and the fear and responsibility proved all too much - driving slow on a moped really doesn't work and so I wobbled all over the place. When the guy in front braked I panicked and veered to the side only to be greeted by a barking dog... I panicked even more which for some reason caused me to lift my leg up and loose a sandal.... I called it quits quickly afterwards and let Anna drive the rest of the day. My girl racer days are truly over! We roamed the roads for several hours, stopping in a small village to have a chai - which seemed to be the event of the week for the locals, who all quickly gathered around us and watched us drink. We slowly made our way back to Hampi, saying 'hello' to all the running children as we passed through their villages (I felt like a celeb on the back of the bike!) and stopped for a final drink in Hampi by the river!

Saturday was Noarah's turn to feel ill and so Anna and I left her to sleep the bug off and went exploring by foot, taking in more ruins, more boulders and some wonderfully serene ghats where a few local women washed their feet, before taking a snooze in the shade of the rocks. I really can't express the atmosphere in words, the beauty of the place is like none other... the detail chiselled in to boulders that sit in the middle of no where is wonderfully interesting - you can' help but ask yourself 'Why?'. We spent our final night in Hampi, again watching the sun set below before a yummy dinner of curry and a film in the comfort and calmness of our restaurant. Bliss.

Sunday we all moved on and unfortunatley for us had to part ways with the Beautiful Noarah... It was sad to say goodbye to her, someone who we've become such good friends with in such a short period of time. But she was off back to Wales for the christmas period and so we parted and jumped on our separare buses to the next destination. We'd booked a sleeper bus to Goa, a bus that you pay quite a deal more than a train ticket as it's direct and supposedly a better, easier experience.... for Anna and I it is an experience we never want to repeat again! The bus was a painted up tin can and even though we'd asked for seats/beds at the front we were told to sit in the back corner- above the wheel and right next to the broken exhaust pipe! Our beds didn't lock into any position and so when we lay on them we were thrown around with every hole and bump in the road.... think your worst ride at alton towers, but less safe! The journey was hellish for me and I had very little if any sleep for the 10 hours it hurtled around corners, but for Anna it was Hell's worst nightmare.... the bug we'd all been knocked down with returned to her for a second time and so spent the journey being very sick! Not a pleasent experience and so when we turned up at Palolem beach in Goa, we almost kissed the ground to be off it. We arrived 4.30am and thankfully were with a guy who'd been to the beach before and so was able to find us accomodation at that time of day.... we slept thinking the nightmare was over, for me it was but for poor anna it continued as she woke to find her body, head to toe, covered in bed bug bites! they have literally had christmas dinner for the next 10 years in one sitting on her skin... the bus being the culprit! So not a great start to the week, especially not for Anna... how I escaped without even one bite is beyond me, but the knowledge of Christmas being only a few days away and the fact our beautiful friend Laura B is joining us is keeping us from getting down!

So yes... Palolem beach... a hot spot for tourists it would seem, and the beach itself is overly-geared up for the crowds - more restaurants and bars than I can remember. I've found us a little haven of a beach hut to spend the festive season and so now we wait for the arrival of Laura and the big day itself! What better way to kill time than on a beach and swimming in the sea! And what better alternative to home than the beautiful indian beach surroundings I find myself in... it's not the real Beeches, like back at Oakley down nor is it as amazing or warm... but it's a good second best!

Which leaves only the following to say....

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!

Have a wonderful few festive days, I hope you all unwind and soak up the love of your families and friends who join you. Feast on the treats that the day brings, and have an extra serving for me! I will be thinking of you all and will be sending ridiculous amounts of love in the air... I've told father Christmas to scoop it all up and leave it under your tree's! Enjoy!

Love to you all!

Lessons Learnt:
Train, train, train, train... always go by train overnight!
Don't let the fear drive the moped or you'll end up losing a sandal!
There is no place like home at christmas... Miss you!! xxxx

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Comments

[RAY/MAGGIE LEE.]

XSMAS GREETINGS
HI SALLY /ANNA. MANY THANKS FOR THE BLOGS AND MY BIRTHDAY AND CHRISTMAS WISHES. HAVE AGOOD CHRISTMASTHERE IN THE SUNSHINE-WEWILL BE THINKING OF YOU ITS STILL VERY COLD HERE-AT LEAST THE SNOW HAS GONEFOR NOW.WE ARE AT WE ARE AT ALIXES AND GRAHAMS FOR CHRISTMAS, BESTWISHES TO YOU BOTH FROM THE TO OLD BUGGERS IN RUSTINGTON THE OTHER OLD BUGGER IS IN WALES. LOVE AUNTIE MARG /UNCLE RAY XXXXXXXXXX