Tales from the Trail

Well I finally headed south to some very welcoming warm weather. I spend 5 very chilled days by the beach.

My beach front home for 5 days

View from my shack

Another view from the shack. Yep, the cows are even on the beach

Beads anyone?

Sunset on the beach

Someone’s very impressive birthday message

Sending a parcel home. The parcel was wrapped in cotton, stitched together and sealed with hot wax.

Hampi

Unreal and bewitching, the forlorn ruins of Hampi dot an unearthly landscape with heaps of giant boulders perched precariously over miles of undulating terrain, their rusty hues offset by jade-green palm groves, banana plantations and paddy fields. (OK, so this is straight from the lonely planet book but aptly describes this World Heritage site). The ruins date from the 14th to the 16th centuries.

Vittala Temple complex

Vittala Temple complex

Vittala Temple complex

Vittala Temple complex

The whole area of Hampi is quite large, so I hired a small motorbike for 4 days to get around

A river dissects Hampi into two. A bridge was completed in 2010 but fell down 2 days before it opened. This is the river crossing that I used each day.

View from my guest house – rice paddies, coconut trees and amazing boulders

Old aqueduct and water storage system

A local man cooking for a group of us in his home

The man’s son

And a neighbour

Paddling in a wicker boat

More ruins

Rice fields and ruins

Hampi skyline

A local man living in a small temple up in the boulders for the past 4 years

View from the top of Hanuman (monkey) temple

The walk down from the Hanuman temple – more than 500 steps

Sunset from Hanuman temple