Liz Cirelli

Following our sleepy tour of the Kerelan Backwaters, Sophie and I made a lightening-speed pit stop in the historical town of Fort Kochin. Despite it being steeped in rich history, the experience of the town itself was a little disappointing...it was saturated with tourists - and Sophie & I couldn't help but feel like walking wallets at times here. This may have been due to the very limited time we had (about 4 hours) but nothing really made a truly lasting impression on me. I'd like to go back there to learn more about the ancient martial art of Kalaripayattu - a 3000 year old art form that lays claim to being the mother of all martial arts.

From Kochin, Sophie and I embarked on a rather epic journey to get ourselves to the enchanted town of Hampi. It took us no less than 2 over night sleeper buses and a day in Bangalore to get there. We snuggled up on sleeper bus number 1 - and 12 hours later (and with very minimal sleep) we arrived in Bangalore. I think for sure I'm slowly getting used to these bumpy sleeper bus rides, but I still haven't mastered the art of full sleep on these things yet...which can be a little frustrating, when you're surrounded by a throng of fully asleep (and loudly snoring) Indians. I wish I could sleep as well as they do! We were greeted in Bangalore by Praveen - a contact and friend I'd made through the DJ circuit - who took us under his wonderfully hospitable wing for the day. He showed us the largest Shiva statue in India, standing at 65 feet, where Sophie & I payed our respects and took a few moments to meditate. We were then treated to a delicious meal in a very London-esq posh eatery. I'll be honest, I did absolutely lavish the experience of 'fine dining' once again, and as I reclined in the big comfy chair that enveloped me, I reflected for a moment upon (and gave thanks for) the things I was missing from back home. We just about had time to grab a quick drink in a snazzy bar, then it was on to sleeper bus number 2...and forwards to Hampi. We managed to fall soundly asleep on this bus, only to be awakened 6 hours later by the bus conducter telling us to get off as we'd reached our stop! Of course we were half asleep - but somehow we managed to throw all our stuff into a huge plastic bag that Sophie somehow miraculously had...and sleepily stumbled off the bus.

It was 5am in Hampi...the sun was rising in the distance, and the land was cloaked in the dusty warm hues of the early morning light. We had to catch a rickshaw into Hampi Bazaar - the ride was absolutely freezing and bone-shatteringly bumpy. We settled into our guest house & as the sun rose higher in the sky, the utter awesomeness of Hampi's landscape was revealed to us...as far as the eye could see were huge hills, constructed of enormous boulders - and ancient ruins holding thousands of years of secrets. Hampi is certainly a mystical and enchanting place - it is believed to be the mythical monkey kingdom, Kishkinda - and many of the events mentioned in various Hindu sacred texts are claimed to have happened here. It has connections to the ancient Dravidian civilization, which can also be linked to the same civilizations responsible for the the pyramids of Egypt and the ancient Mayan civilizations. Very, very interesting. Walking around the many ancient ruins, one certainly becomes aware of the intense history of the place. Despite being exhausted from our long journey, Sophie & I pushed on through & explored the ancient Virupakshu temple. Believed to have been built in the 7th Century AD, it is apparently one of the oldest functioning temples in India. Here we found an underground shrine dedicated to Shiva - where we took a few moments to meditate once again in his presence.

After an early night & some delicious food, Sophie & I felt well and truly up for a full-on Hampi exploration...and decided to hire ourselves scooters. I lasted about 30 seconds on a test drive, before I collided into a water fountain and promptly came flying off. Very luckily the rucksack on my back absorbed practically all of the impact & I escaped with only a few minor cuts & bruises. (Mental note to self - next time let go of accelerator before colliding with inanimate object!) Undeterred by my minor mishap, the courageous goddess warrior Sophie bravely scootered the both of us around. We took a trip to the hilltop Hanuman temple, believed to have been the birthplace of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god. 572 steps (and lots of huffing & puffing in the midday sun) took us up the hill to the temple, where we received some prasad and listened to some of the priests singing bhajans. Following a moment of calm in the temple, we stepped outside to absorb the utterly breathtaking view of hills and hills of boulders rising up from the lush green rice paddies.

Sophie had acquired a taste for motorized 2-wheeled adventures, and the following day she amazingly scootered the both of us around the fascinating ancient temples & ruins that surround Hampi. One temple we entered had a particularly eerie atmosphere - I stepped into a small side chamber and felt a presence oppose my energy so powerfully that it literally forced me exit the temple immediately. On the other hand we also visited a beautiful underground Shiva temple that had been flooded due to the irrigation from the neighbouring banana plantations. The water gave the temple a divinely ethereal and peaceful feel - Sophie & I chanted a few 'Ohms' and felt some immensely powerful & positive energy emanating from within the temple. We ended our little tour de Hampi with a visit to the spectacular Vittala temple - possibly the most extravagant architectural structure of Hampi. The impressive temple halls are all carved from huge granite pillars - the intricacy of the carvings really do make the mind boggle. The front pillars of the temple are famed to be musical - upon tapping them softly it is claimed that you can hear a soft musical hum emanating from them. Sadly years and years of curious tapping has seen the pillars substantially eroded and they are now off-limits to the fingers of curious tourists. A stone chariot also stands in the courtyard of the complex - as you stand and stare at it you can't help but imagine the stories it has to tell - and wonder if some ancient ingenious mechanical device once saw this huge chariot in motion. Hampi certainly does make me wonder...how did those hills of boulders get there? Exactly how old are some of the ruins we saw...? Who exactly built them...? Such a fascinating, mystical place.

Next on the agenda...Rajasthan - the land of the kings - real India. To get there we had to take a night bus to Mumbai (which was a rather gruelling 14 hours), then we treated ourselves to a flight...and what a treat it was...oh to cover so many kilometers in such a small space of time! It was definitely a very welcome change to our epic bus rides of late. Our first port of call was the beautiful city of Udaipur, given the title of India's most romantic city - and it really isn't hard to see why - it really is out of this world gorgeous. We stayed in one of the oldest guest houses in the city that had a pretty little courtyard and intricately carved stone arches that formed a balcony overlooking the lake. We settled in to watch the sun setting behind Lake Pichola, absorbing the utter beauty of our surroundings. And it was in this gorgeous little city that mine & Sophie's tummie finally submitted to Indian bacteria...and we both fell ill. For the best part of 4 days neither of us could leave our guest house - but we didn't really mind - we loved our little stone room with the metal orphanage-style beds - and our 300 year old guest house provided us with possibly the prettiest view in the whole city...so it wasn't exactly a chore to be restricted to the confines of its rather elaborate (and, yes, totally pretty) walls.

Apart from its beauty (and not quite as much of a pleasure to behold), the other immediate thing that strikes you upon entering Udaipur is the smell. The city employs the use of open sewers...ensuring the omnipresence of a distinctly sulphurous odour wherever you venture. Not great, but your nose does adjust over time (and when you have a dodgy tummy and are emitting slightly eggy odours yourself, it does make for a pretty handy cover up). When our tummies started feeling better Sophie and I eventually ventured out into the city. We attempted to visit the city palace on our last day, but in alignment with the energy that seemingly surrounded our stay in Udaipur, we arrived after it had closed! We managed to glimpse it from the outside, and enjoyed finally being able to wonder around the city...but that's all we were granted in our sightseeing quota for Udaipur. All was not lost though...thanks to being around the guest house practically all day every day, Sophie & I managed to make some wonderful new friends...so what we lost in tourism, we more than made up for with human connections and lots of giggles...