Oh shit

Wednesday 23 October

We arrived in Hampi around 7:30am. The night bus had been a complete success and, although bleary-eyed, we'd both had a surprising amount of sleep.

Out of the bus it was chaos. Touts covered every inch of the coach station asking if we needed a guest house, a tuk tuk or a map. Not taking a polite 'no thank you' for an answer, each one continued to badger, harass and harangue. Barely able to see and half asleep, I managed to hold onto my temper by a thread. Jamie grabbed bags and we quickly exited the bus station... touts in tow.

Stopping for chai was not a tactical move, but 90% of the touts left. The chai was just the pick-me-up we needed to clear our heads and formulate a plan.

We'd been tipped off about the excellent food at Archana and the happy smiles from head of house Ravi from Mike and Dianna, so decided to head there for breakfast before choosing a guesthouse.

Still at the chai shop (the chai still too hot to drink or hold on account of being served in a metal cup) when 'Raj,' one of the touts with a big pann-stained smile, popped back over and Jamie struck a deal for him to take us, bags, and the girl we'd met on the bus called Ann to Archana for a bargain 10 rupees.

The view from Archana, Hampi, was sensational. The restaurant on the roof looks out over a banana plantation that has a river running at its base with the huge boulder mountains stretching out to the horizon.

Breakfast and another hot chai, and we were ready to house hunt. Raj was at hand to point out a few choice sleeps, but after a little searching, we went back to Archana where Ravi had kindly been guarding our bags. We agreed on a long stay and set a good price.

In our comfortable room, we rested all morning... too lazy to explore the ancient city surrounding us. We took lunch upstairs and headed for the police station, passports in bumbag, to make the obligatory report of our intentions whilst staying here in Hampi.

En route, getting directions to the station from some fellow travellers, I walked straight into a massive pile of cow poo... in flip-flops.

I tried to wipe my feet with some paper napkins, but they didn't come close to feeling clean. Some holy men had seen the whole debacle, but in an attempt to befriend us and charge us for a photo, tried to shake my hand. I insisted they absolutely did not want to do that!

The police station was down the old bazaar, where ancient ruins had been painted and even defaced with Coca-Cola logos. UNESCO had been battling for the locals to relocate to a site just outside this beautiful ruined city. They had moved just enough to what is now called Hampi Bazaar, and wares are no longer sold in the protected site. The police had evidently been harder to evict.

We signed a register and walked back to the bazaar, marvelling at the huge temple structure that stood proudly before us.

After another nap and some quiet time reading, we decided to check out Virupaksha Temple in the heart of the town. Entrance was a small 2-rupee charge. In the main temple grounds, we were greeted by the temple elephant, who looked like the best looked-after and happiest elephant in India. A short walk round and we dodged some monkeys before grabbing a fantastic cashew curry and hitting the hay.

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