Hampi

Hampi is a place unto itself. Mountains of reddish boulders the size of RVs rise like drip castles out of bright green rice paddies that stretch into every flat space. The rice patties feed off the dark rivers that slither through the landscape like eels and we in turn feed off them. At any given moment I expected to see Wile E. Coyote hurtling across the sky, falling victim yet again to some hilariously flawed ACME product.

Hampi is a backpackers dream: cheap lodging, good food, and limitless excursions. It hosts some 1200 temples and one beautiful lake scattered among its boulders. Surprisingly, our unorthodox travel priorities found us at the lake 1200 times and only once at a temple. Hanuman’s temple, where we watched a two-foot monkey muscle a bunch of bananas away from a six-foot Canadian. The monkey had five of the bananas in its mouth before the Canadian knew what happened (see photo below). And they want a seat on the security counsel. Ha!

Without hesitation I can say that this was my favorite place in India. Go. Try the lemonana (mint lemonade) or anything else on the Israeli menu. The Israelis have been visiting Hampi long enough to leave some delicious recipes in their wake. Trust them. Also, rent a motorcycle. When it breaks down, put more gas in it. Apparently, that is how they go.