Hampi Rocks!

After a fantastic couple of days, which turned out to be closer to a week in Palolem, we felt it was time to get going. We said goodbye to our awesome neighbours and arrived at the bus stop half an hour before the bus was due to leave. Again, we forgot about Indian time. An hour later the bus arrived, and a carsick girl came running out with a plastic bag.

Bangalore? Hampi? Chennai? Noone had a clue.

Sleeper buses in India consist of bunk beds, with two passengers sharing a bed (will post pictures later). Thomas was a little nervous when he was seated (or laid?) with the carsick girl, and I was put with an already sleeping American. Luckily no more excitement occurred that night... We somehow fell asleep, and woke up to this:

I really like my camera's panoramic mode :)

View from the other side of the river.

Hampi is a small village built among old ruins and contains dozens of Hindu temples scattered along the rocky hillside. The town is split by a river and the part closest to the temples is purely vegetarian, so we had a forced (but lovely) vegetarian breakfast at a rooftop restaurant and went exploring. 

Early morning rush on the streets of Hampi

We quickly found a bicycle rental and started making our way around to the other side of the river. Indian time applies and the ferry left when enough people arrived. While waiting we found out there is an "elephant shower" by the river every morning so we will check that out tomorrow. 

Seeking passage across the river with our bikes.  

We made a reconnaissance hike looking for bouldering routes for climbing, and tomorrow we`ll rent equipment and try some easy bouldering, plus we`ll see what more this exciting place has to offer!