Dropped off after a sleepless night on the bus, a group of us walked to the stone steps by the ghats, on the rivers edge to wait for the small ferry to begin working. We watched a beautiful sunrise illuminate the water gliding round huge round rocks that dot the whole of the area and shine warm early morning light on the extraordinarily lush green fields.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
Not long after the sun came up the locals coming down to the waters edge to wash themselves and their clothes. We paid for ourselves and our bags to be boated over along with a huge number of other people and their bags, I was relieved and surprised that we didn't sink, the owner of the motorbike parked on the prow of the boat would no doubt have been more than cheesed off.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
It took us an unusually long time to find a place to sleep and we retraced our footsteps a couple of times, we ended up in a small concrete hut with a thatched roof under trees to keep the heat off in a hotel complex that looked far too expensive for but turned out to have the best value rooms (and the crumbliest bathrooms). While we waited for the current guests to move out we had an amazing breakfast, possibly the best ever and then fell asleep with our happy tummies nice and full.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
We did the washing and then went out for a stroll next to the river running past our hotel, we left around 5pm thinking that the heat of the day would have worn off but the sun was so strong, it was a relief to make it down to the river. Our hotel backed onto some lush green paddy fields which cooled the air blowing in through the open air restaurant (and made snoozing there possible). We followed a path along the water and came across a group of “proper travellers” (dread-locked with suitably faded and worn clothes) they weren't the most talkative but I guess they were nice enough (Djalma liked talking to them but I didn't) and so I took myself off to try and take some pictures of the numerous kingfishers which were out trying to get their evening meals. I didn't manage any decent pictures but I did take photos of Djalma doing his 'hey ya' thing (just as rare as the elusive kingfisher...). After the sun set we headed back for dinner at our hotel where we ate and swatted hungry mosquitoes in between mouthfuls.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
The next day we tried to get up early and have breakfast before it got too late but didn't manage the early start too well. We rented out a bike, bought some petrol and went out exploring. We drove through herds of cows, past even more impossibly green rice fields dotted with colourfully dressed women to the lake which irrigates the whole area and makes the jewel-green possible.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
Djalma went in for a dip while I sat and baked in the sun feeling rather self-conscious about my white slovenly body (not helped by two young slim pretty German girls who rolled up in cute bikinis). Bumping into the same group of real travellers as the previous evening we said hello and goodbye and got back on our bottom scorchingly hot black leather seats and rode off further down the road looking for some picture opportunities and some peace and quiet. After following the river for a while down a road that looked like it wasn't leading anywhere we took a little break near some smaller paddy fields before jumping back on and heading back in search for some lunch.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
My stomach not feeling all that wonderful after a couple of hours bumping along the roads we went back early in afternoon and while I rested Djalma went out riding by himself, tearing up the roads and generally trying to burn off the petrol that we probably wouldn't have used otherwise. He came back and collected me for the ride out to the Hanuman (monkey god) temple.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
We walked up the numerous steps stopping several times to admire the breath-taking view (and catch our breath) just before we reached the top we came across a couple of monkeys sitting particularly close to the steps, thinking one was in the mood for a cuddle, Djalma let one with a red collar jump on him and has he lifted his arms to hold it the damn animal bit him twice, once on the arm and once on the neck. The monkey jumped off of its own accord and sat watching Djalma try to scare him by shaking a water bottle in his face. Fortunately for us there was a small kitchen with running water and hardcore soap, we spent a good ten to fifteen minutes soaping and rinsing his bites before walking round the top of the hill and the temple to admire the views, which were gorgeous.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
The Hanuman temple sits on the top of a hill looking out over the surrounding countryside; the enormous piles of the orange red boulders, the fertile rice fields, the country lanes and the river running through it all.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
The temple itself is home to lots of mischievous monkeys and is a favourite spot for watching the sun set, after watching one family biting each others bottoms and a lone monkey running along the top of the small wall with a big pair of someone's underpants covering its face we walked across the labyrinth of boulders towards the west where we sat with everyone else and watched the sun disappear behind mountains and the moon ascend into the darkening sky.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
The next day Djalma took himself to Hospet for the first of many rabies injections while I lay in bed feeling very ill, but not until we'd both been outside to get drenched in colour for Holi.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
We were lucky to be able to take part in it, the South of India generally doesn't celebrate this festival (even now I'm still not entirely sure as to the reason for the celebrations) and Hampi is the one area in the South where people observe this festival. Observe isn't really the right word, full on, in your face, hands in your face, powder in your face not to mention the coloured powder dissolved in water and squirted or poured all over you by complete strangers.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
I wasn't really feeling up to the party vibe but it was fun to watch locals and travellers alike getting their groove on in a big, constantly moving group, dancing or just generally shaking parts of their body to the guys banging on drums, everyone drenched in colour. Some people were black from all the pigment, others had the misfortune of being plastered in old petrol, which was not so cool. We climbed up one restaurant's wall to watch the dancing with the camera safely out of range from the paint spray before heading back home.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
I bumped into Monique on the way back, which was a lovely surprise and we made vague arrangements to meet up where she was staying, but I headed back keen to have a wash and lie down in the peace and quiet of my room. Djalma came back and we left together, I really didn't want him to go by himself to get an injection but when it came to crossing the river, swimming, I just wasn't up to it, I waited and waited to see if he got across okay but the sun was so hot that I straggled back to our room feeling like a miserable excuse for a wife.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
The next day we met up with Jess and Jonny and walked in the general direction of some waterfalls. We crossed over the river and walked along a path through some banana plantations until we came to an area which dipped down and round through boggy patches and rocks and we got lost. There were some guys hanging round offering their services as guides and in the end after asking for directions and having been told that it was too difficult we accepted one man's offer of help and followed him to a huge boulder strewn river where we promptly kicked off our flip-flops and jumped in the cool water.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
I write like I was the first one in, on the contrary the murky fresh water scared the pants off me especially because the rocks were covered in slippery muck where they were submerged making it difficult to pull yourself up and disgusting to slide along. Jess and I managed to pull ourselves onto a big boulder in the middle of the water and sat there drying off while we chatted and the boys tried to find places to climb up and jump from. After an hour or two mucking about we started back not wanting to miss the last boat across the river. The boys swam back while Jess and I got the boat with all their stuff.
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
After cleaning up and putting on some fresh clothes and dry pants we met up again to go up to the Tee Pee hotel/restaurant where Monique was staying and Jess and Jonny had arranged to meet two Ozzie sisters. We kicked back enjoying some cold Kingfishers and chatted. At some point after we finished our dinners and were on another round of beers Monique wandered over and joined us. We sat and talked for ages, working our way through more beers and then onto some Old Monk whiskey and coca cola, the good company and the alcohol buzzing through my system. Talking to Monique was talking to a long lost sister both in terms of a common family story but more so just the ease of talking to her – it felt like picking up a conversation left off just last week with a good friend. At one point, discussing girly love life stuff we walked up the hill where people sometimes sleep and continued our conversation underneath the stars and just like good girlfriends do, we had al fresco pees, now that's a real girlfriend!
 |
| From Hampi, Karnataka, India |
We left at around 2am and staggered back home to sleep the sleep of the pleasantly drunk – the one where you wake up ridiculously early because of all the sugar in your system. The next day we had breakfast and then met Jess and Jonny for the long trip into Goa.
No comments:
Post a Comment