The Ruins of Hampi, the Beaches of Goa.

The evening after the last blog post, was a beautiful one. I feel my last photo didn't quite do it justice, so here is a more accurate depiction.(it also happens to be probably the best photo I've ever taken, which helps.)

Watching boys playing volleyball on the beach in Gokarna.

Since Gokarna we have  been to Hampi and are now all the way back in Goa. About 10 hours to Hospet, half an hour to Hampi, 12 hours to Panjim (Goa's capital) and finally an hour or so to Anjuna beach. Hampi had a large collection of abandoned temples, making the town itself into a tourist hotspot but it only took a little imagination to revert the village to a genuine market town trading goods up and down the river. The temples were beautiful. but i was surprised given their religious nature, to see so many unashamedly sexual sculptures. It appears that while people are expected to dress very modestly, religious depiction does no tiptoeing.
For the journey to Panjim we took a night bus. Had almost reasonably sized bed type things to sleep on. Wide enough to lie on my back with shoulders touching each edge and long enough to lie as long as I didn't stretch. Indian people are on average, shorter than me. The bed was nowhere near long enough for John. Being at the back of the bus meant occasionally a bump would lift us all right off of our beds.
Panjim and Goa generally are odd. Being ex-Portuguese has resulted in it operating a little differently, Christianity is widespread and everything starts later in the day. I'm not sure if it was an effect of local wealth, Portuguese influence or Christianity, but women here seem slightly emancipated compared to their restricted role in the rest of India.
Arrived in Anjuna (a Goan beach town) yesterday morning and saw the flea market. In amongst all the usual tat we found some exquisite hand crafted wooden items. Personally I was much more excited by delicious smelling tea leaves and spices. Some spices were familiar from home but all had a stronger fresher smell than those on supermarket shelves and the tea stall s had leaves infused with all sorts like mango, strawberry and chocolate. No artificial flavours here!
Jamie

Quite bit has happened since my last post so yet again there's so much to tell, I'll try to keep it brief.
Hampi was such a beautiful place as I'm sure you can see from the pictures. As Jamie said it's quite the tourist hotspot but that wasn't a downer on our stay. We met a guy named Thomas on our second day in Hampi, he joined us for lunch and we haggled a shared boat ride downriver with him which was really nice. There are some pictures from the boat ride we've put up.
One day after watching some baby monkeys wrestle (which was one of the funniest things I've seen yet), I gave some biscuits to a group of monkeys and, as expected, was swarmed with in seconds. It was a bit shocking at first when they all ran towards me and surrounded me, screaming and jumping, but once I'd moved away from a nearby 30 foot drop it became much more fun!
The sleeper class bus ride from Hospet to Panjim wasn't too bad; I didn't get much sleep but it was a good experience. There was a guy selling snacks as we got onto the bus and after finding out we were English he immediately said 'Oh lovely jubbly, cheap as chips'! Other sellers have said similar things; we hear 'cheaper than Asda price' quite a bit.
The flea market at Anjuna sold quite a lot of crap but as a whole was nice. The persistence of some of the stall owners was incredible. Lots of them would ask you to promise you'd return before you left the market and some would shake your hand in greeting but then hold onto it while they tried to sell you things! The beach at Anjuna is beautiful and we'll be staying here for another night after tonight before moving up north. We're not entirely sure where yet but somewhere between here and Varanasi.

Peter

Playing with Monkeys in Hampi

The morning after that beautiful sunset, (I slept horribly thanks to hideous sunburn) we set off for Hampi on a direct bus. The area around hampi was truly beautiful. Hills and vegetation scattered around dusty half-desert, with lmassive sand-coloured boulders piled seemingly at random around the landscape. The ruins of the abandoned city could not be in a more picturesque setting.
We were staying in a small (pink and green) guesthouse in Hampi Bazaar, on the river. It was a lively and bustling place, although felt almost exclusively aimed at tourists. We spent the next few days wandering the picturesque ruins and temples in the blistering sunshine, and eating delicious food overlooking the river. As mentioned above, we met a charming French touriste named Thomas, who became our companion for a couple of days, accompanying us on a picturesque (seriously the whole place was picturesque) boat trip up the river and joining us for meals and Chai here and there. He even recommended a restaurant for us! What a nice guy.
We left the gorgeous city of Hampi after three (or four?) nights, and caught a sleeper bus from the nearby of town to Hospet, that would take us to Goa overnight. We shared a small compartment at the back of the bus with a German couple for most of the night. It was cramped to say the least, especially for me with my long legs, which put me at a bit of a dilemma. I couldn't really sleep on my back, as I couldn't lie my legs straight,
which forced me onto my side, an equally uncomfortable position as great concentration was required not to tip over every time the bus turned any sort of corner. The ride itself was incredibly bumpy also, and as we were over the wheels we felt every bump, occasionally being thrown clear into the air. Needless to say me or Peter didn't sleep a wink. (Jamie slept like a baby, that boy is not human.)
Panjim was a nice place, but didn't really have much going on. Odd to see the Portuguese influence so clearly (Goa was owned by the Portuguese until 1961, when it finally became part of India again.), with Christianity everywhere and Portuguese style buildings.Moving on to Anjuna was much more interesting. We got to see the famous flea market held every Wednesday, which attracts tourists from all over Goa to come see the various crafts and spices on sale. Relaxing on the beaches at Anjuna has been as fun as you would expect, the sun has shone and the sea has been warm. You really couldn't ask for more.
However, all this relaxing has made us restless, and so tomorrow we embark on a crazy long journey that is going to take us halfway across India to Jabalpur. We are planning to get way off the beaten track, before coming back onto it to spend some time in the Kanha National Park. We might even get to see a tiger, which would be nice. As a result, this may be our last post for a while, as we can never predict how internet services will be. Till next time,

John

As always, please leave a comment below, and more photos can be seen in the slideshow to the right. 

Bobble head dolls on sale at the flea market.

One morning in Hampi we woke up at dawn and climbed up to the top of a hill to see the sun rise over the ruins, which was a beautiful experience to say the least. What also was quite entertaining, however, were the hordes of monkeys (i know more monkeys) that also hiked to the summit, to bother the tourists at the top for food. They resulted in probably the second best photo I've ever taken. Which can be seen below.

Sunrise over Hampi.

More monkeys. =D