After another sleepless night on the "luxury" sleeper coach (like a tractor really) we worked out why the ride was so bumpy - after seeing a speed bump sign flash by, the drivers must go over speed bumps at 60 mph. We booked a hotel in advance this time so on arrival we jumped straight in a rickshaw and went straight to the hotel which was clean and cool.
We spent the whole day with a rickshaw showing us all the main sites - well worth it as Hampi is huge and walking would take ages. Punpa, our driver, was the bad boy of Hampi and as soon as we left the village he asked us if we liked music and then turned on his bass bin (yes, you really CAN fit a bass bin in a rickshaw!) so we saw Hampi to the sound of banging Hindi house music. Brilliant.
The temples are beautiful and some of the statues are amazing. We especially like Ganesh - the God of luck with the head of an Elephant (you'd love him too, mum/Anita). The last one we saw had musical pillars made from granite that resonate when you tap them all at different pitches (dad/Francis, you'd love this) so they would have 100 people all tapping at the same time to make this incredible sounding like an orchestra. Each pillar was supposed to sound like a different thing: a bell, water, an animal, etc. so the music would tell a story.
We went to Geeta's on S&P's recommendation and I have to say (El here) that my lady finger curry was the BEST curry I've had in India, and in fact, in the world.
The next day we just had a quiet wander around Hampi Bazaar and ended up in Mango Grove restaurant (thanks for the tip John McCauley) and just chilled out watching a great view of the river and the weird boulders that dominate the landscape - it is almost like something out of a star trek set!
We headed off in the evening to catch the overnight train to Bangalore. The train was only 1.5 hours late and we almost travelled on the wrong one too (thanks to the helpful gentleman opposite us who made us get off!).
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