Lovely Little Hampi

I was not prepared to come face to face with the gap-yearer’s Calangute in the beautiful boulder and ruin strewn landscape of Hampi.  The village is crammed with general stores that have ditched their Indian mainstays of paan (betel nut derivative), chana (split pea) packets and Pantene sachets and replaced them with Nutella Jars, Rizzla and a respectable range of L’Oreal Paris shampoos.  On the quiet side of the River where we chose to stay, it is easier to buy an excellent Pizza straight from a wood fired oven than it is to buy a Dosa and despite signs everywhere requesting that people dress respectfully I have seen as much western flesh here as I did on the Goan beaches albeit more pert here!

[here lies the inevitable “however”]

…For all its laid back, hippy-kid commercialisation, Hampi and her surrounding villages really do deserve to be seen.  The uniquely confounding scenery is scattered with tenderly maintained temple and palace ruins which are pleasantly under-visited by the tourist circuit hoards.  The sheer spread of the ruins and the undulating landscape provide ceaseless potential for bicycle voyages of discovery and there are a plethora of enchanting sunset viewing locations.  Our sweet circular cottage was fronted by a swing bed terrace wrapped in sweet smelling honey-suckle-like climbers.  And just in case that was not relaxing enough, the terraces sit just above acres of emerald paddy fields which step gently down to the river which nestles below the boulders some 300m away.