Hampi Part 1

As we were approaching the entrance to Hampi we were pulled over and stung with what I have christened Surprise Hidden India Tax (or SHITax for short), our rickshaw was surrounded by a group of around 8-10 men who were demanding 10 Rs for entrance to Hampi (the alternative was to walk the last couple hundred yards) after much hesitation and 'disscussion' we paid the SHITax and proceeded to Hampi bazaar, Once again we were set upon this time by prospective guesthouse owners, assuring us their rooms were cheaper and nicer than the others in the vicinity. Eventually we managed to get out the rickshaw and pushed our way through the crowds and entered the bazaar, leaving the money hungry guesthouse touts to pounce on the next rickshaw full of tourists.

Virpraksha Temple

Ambling through the winding streets of Hampi we eventually spied a guesthouse we recognised from the lonely planet (if my doubts of the Lonely Planet had not already to be confirmed a night in this place was to set it in stone...hindsight is a wonderful thing!) and so we found ourselves checked in to Vikky's Guesthouse. The room was small and it was verging on pricey by Hampi standards however after a long train journey and an hour of hassle we were reasonably content. 

Arriving late in the day we only had enough time to have a quick look around the ruins of Hampi. The main street  still has many of the original remains of the once mighty Vijayanagara capital, however they are now mainly occupied by locals who make their living from the steady flow of tourists. The huge Virupraksha Temple Tower dominates one end of the main street, untouched by the destruction of the Muslims on capturing the city and still a functioning place of worship today. 

As Hampi is a religious town it is a strictly meat and alcohol free, this provided for a reasonably limited menu, on visiting one of the many roof top restaurants which specialised in Korean food I was quickly warned off the Korean menu by the owner! (whether this was an attempt to safe effort in the kitchen or a genuine gem of advice I'll never know). We toasted are safe journey arrival to Hampi, with our mineral water, and sat in darkness for the majority of our time in the restaurant, this being a taste of things to come with Hampi's erratic power supply.

We headed back to our humble abode were it was only now, through slightly refreshed eyes we started to doubt our choice of stay at Vikky's. It was upon brushing my teeth I noticed that my feet were starting to get wet, looking down I was to realise that the sink just had a hose that led onto the floor where the water would slowly trickle towards the main drain at the other side of the bathroom, leaving toothpaste smears as it went. On return to the bedroom we decided to put out the mosquito net kindly provided, as there was nothing to hook it to we improvised with string and hairclips, eventually getting a stable arrangement we noticed there was already a variety of wildlife within the net, mainly bedbugs. After dispatching the 4 or 5 we could see (albeit knowing they would only be the tip of the infested iceberg) we decided to abandon the bet and take our chances with the mossies. It was at that moment a large ant crawled over my pillow further upsetting the dynamics. Deciding it was best to sleep with the light on (in a hope the bed bugs would be photophobic) I was almost drifting off when my friend leaped from the bed screaming and blazing screaming "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!?" and announcing she had had enough and was leaving, it was only once she had ran out of the room (disturbing the sleeping night man outside our door) that I spied a lizard had made its way in through the window. It left of its own accord and once again we put our heads down and decided that we would leave in the morning...