Namaste!

Life is good :-) :-) We have made it to Ahmedabad. We like this city. It really took some hard work to get here - horrendous air quality and road conditions but we have made it. More stories of this journey will follow in due course.

Before I rewind to Hampi I must mention very quickly an amusing little story of the second pickpocket attempt that I fell victim to, this time in Mamallapuram, way back.

Standing atop the old lighthouse, I watched the amazing dexterity of a monkey who was sitting next to the railings near to me. Drinking water can be bought in plastic bottles but even more popular for the locals are small bags of water (this is also evident by the amount of litter that they create too). It was incredibly interesting to watch the monkey try to squeeze the packet with his small hands in order to get the last of the water out, he was trying to figure it out and was moving his hand along the packet trying to move the water to a point where he could drink it. I was so very impressed to be this close to him and watch his incredibly effective hand movements. K did point out that if he was really smart then he would hold the packet up to his mouth and use gravity to assist the flow of water :-) The monkey soon looked up and saw me watching him and now turned his attention towards me, I was still transfixed by his behaviour and did not expect him to jump up the railing and try to make a grab for my mosquito repellent. Having been a kung fu trainee in the past I still possess some skill to react quickly and I managed to prevent him from snatching away one of my most prized possessions by clutching it first. He then darted off to the other side of the lighthouse and I could see him watching me for any other opportunities to make a snatch. I got away safely and so did the mosquito repellent. I am remembering this now because I spoke to my nephews on the phone last night and they are very much like monkeys themselves, although I have not known them to try and snatch mosquito repellent from strangers (well at least I hope not) :-) :-)

Now to glorious Hampi....

Going back a couple of weeks to Hampi... Hampi, such an amazing place it would not be fair for me to not share the delights of the seat of the Vijayanagara empire with you. To give you some background information (to enhance the photos that you will see) this empire was the largest post-moghul empire, stretching over at least three states (present day Karnataka, Andra Pradesh and Maharastra). It's seat was established by Saint Vidyaranya (1336) and was renowned for renovating many temples throughout India, it also held literature, music and the arts in high acclaim and re-established Indian culture. It also had a focus on caring for it's citizens and their welfare. The end of Hampi came when later day Mogul invaders sacked the city and reduced it to ruins.

Once there we found ourselves amongst a landscape stretching for twenty six square kilometres that was strewn with boulders, vegetation and 15th century ruins. Everywhere that we looked we saw splendid remains that showed the vast wealth and grandeur of the culture of it's previous inhabitants. We saw gateways, fortifications and secular buildings amidst the boulders that these great monuments were themselves constructed from. The stone cutters marks still adorn the edges of rock where natural fissures were taken advantage of in order to remove vast quantities of stone for building a spectacular city. Hampi is a World Heritage Site, a status well deserved due to it's beauty and glory that can still be seen amongst the remains. Everywhere that you look you are spoilt with either the beautiful landscape of this area or with imaginative creation via manmade structures. There is also a wonderful river that flows amongst the boulder covered hillocks and ruins. In a nearby town (approximately seven kilometres away) a huge water tank worthy a reservoir status supplied water all year round distributing via a vast network of aqueducts and channels. The amazing thing is that this very same tank is invaluable even today and is still in use.

K and I love to go exploring and we certainly found the perfect place for it, our motorbikes gave us great freedom to go to places that were less frequented by tourists due to their pressing tour itineraries or not having the luxury of such ease of mobility. We climbed boulders and enjoyed beige coloured lunar landscape vistas, we stepped up to the top of a hillock and looked across Hampi Bazaar and also we gave ourselves an early morning start and practically had the Vittala temple to ourselves. Here we were delighted to see the stone chariot with lotus designed carved stone wheels that once turned on their axles. As we explored the kilometres of ruins we saw stepped water tanks, audience chamber halls and platforms, secret underground meeting chambers, palaces and some of the remains of the seven layers of walls that protected the royal enclosure. We saw towers, guards quarters, merchant housing, more bazaars, underground and overground temples, the royal mint, the queens bath and paved avenues lined with long stretches of pillared corridors. There were elephant mounting platforms, elephant stables, storage halls and many staggered gateways. You are safe to assume from this list that there was an amazing infrastructure in place here.

Sitting alongside Hampi Bazaar in a cafe supping fruit juice, it was fantastic to people watch and see the hoards of excited pilgrims and Indian tourists going to the main temple. Cows made their way up and down the street sniffing about for fodder and chewing/licking everything in sight - including plastic chairs. Monkeys swung down from the outer perimeter walls of the temple and snatched bananas from the costermongers. The small town was relaxed despite it's main trade being that which caters to the tourist. The small lanes lined with houses added to the atmosphere as families interacted with one another in public spaces as well as feeding their cattle, goats and chickens. Grandma sat on the floor in the street and watched her young grandchildren play with steel bars with no sign in preventing them from whacking each other. Dogs stood on walls and watched the world go by, bats flew through the air at night and cockerels cock a doodled at dawn and dusk.

Hampi was amazing but we had to get moving in the end having trebled our scheduled time there. Onwards we travelled onto new and exciting exotica... but that is another story for tomorrow.

I must sleep, the internet cafe is closing and tomorrow we shall get the photos to you having spent many hours this evening sifting through them.

So for now, sweet dreams and goodnight from Ahmedabad.