You have to see this place to believe it, and even then it does not look real!

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Nameste This computer keyboard does not have a shift button and the tab and arrow buttons do not work, so please excuse my lack of paragraphs here folks! I am now in mysterious, enagmatic World Heritage listed Hampi in the state of Kanataka. Hampi is an astounding boulder strewn landscape. It looks like something out of the age of the dinosaurs, or planet of the apes, or a hologram of a science fiction location. Weaving through the piles of boulders are lush banana plantations, rice paddies, coconut palms and the most incredible ruins. This place was once a thriving settlement of 500,000 citizens and the ruins that are left are incredible. Almost organic and part of the natural geograpy are temples and stone structures, statues and engravings in the rocks. The boulders themsleves are huge, some bigger then houses, all piled up on top of each other, and every so often there is a tiny domed temple perched high and inaccessible right at the top. Today I went to the royal centre, which houses the palaces of the queen, a lotus temple and the amazing elephant stables. I caught an auto rickshaw, and the driver asked if we (I am hanging out with a swedish guy called max) if we liked music. We said yes so the driver put on this club music at full volume and then proceeded to drive like a madman to the pulsing beat. It was pretty hysterical and had us laughing like hyenas as we rattled, swayed and bumped our way through an ancient landscape to a modern beat. Hampi is truly one of the most bizarre places I have ever seen. It is extremly strange and almost impossible to convey what it is like in text only. The trip here was a nightmare. The night bus was supposed to take 9 hours from Goa, but instead took 18, yep thats right folks, twice the time! To compound this, Max and i had seats right at the back over the axle. The seats were supposed to recline and lock down, but they were broken, so at every bump (exaggerated by the positioning over the back wheel) the 'bed' just bounced, hitting the floor painfully. By the time we got to Hampi we were shaken and rattled to the point of insanity. For the first 4 hours it was really hilarous, and at one stage I was actually crying because i was lauging so much. At hour 17 I felt like crying for real. I am staying in the most incredible guesthouse. It is over the river, referred to by the locals literally as 'over the river', where it is a lot more chilled out and serene compared to the main accomodation area in Hampi bazzar. To get there you catch the boat across the river (10 rupees) which is a thrill in itself, as the boat is a simple row boat with an out board and the boatman waits until he has as many passangers as possible before he makes the short trip across. When I crossed when I got here, there were 16 people and 9 heavy packs. Needless to say the boat was sitting pretty low in the water. At the guesthouse the rooms are stand alone rendered mud brick affairs, with thatched bamboo roofs. They also have a hanging bed outside on the verandah for chilling out on. The are all set in beautiful grounds, with palms and flowers. At the front of it all is a retangular pavillion with low tables, matresses and cushions, hanging lamps, a bamboo roof, and all open to the view, which is a Jurassic landscape of boulders, lush green palms and the river. Needless to say, I am spending many a relaxing evening eating, indulging and playing cards with my fellow travellers, which to date includes Isralies (there seems to be as many of them as every other nationality combined), some English, french and the afore mentioned Swede. I am catching a train to Bangalore in 3 days, (which allegedly takes 10 hours) but first I have many more boulders to stare at. I intend to break my trip in Bangalore for a night, catch a Bollywood flick and then make my way down to southern Kerala for some time on the backwaters. Of course it is possible that I may never leave magical Hampi, and spend the rest of my days bumbling around the temples, boulders and palm trees.

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