Well, I was hoping to post a few of the pictures of Hampi that I've taken since we arrived at 7am this morning (after a not very restful night-coach from Goa.) Unfortunately three pictures was going to take 96 minutes, broadband doesn't seem to have reached Hampi yet.

This is a truly incredible place. It looks like a set from Indiana Jones movie with monkey strewn temples rising up out of a weird folded and bouldered rocky landscape. And yet there's a town among the ruins where the population lives off tourism and we have to continually fend off patter from hawkers, touts and rickshaw men. Very oddly Matt and I have been very popular with Indians wanting photos with white people, we got trapped for about 15 minutes by an ever increasing group of photo seekers. Have now vowed to ask a 20 rupees charge!

There's a festival going on in Hampi at the moment, a political festival (I've no idea what this is either) rather than a religious festival. So the place is full, Inidan tourists greatly outweighing tourists of other nationality. There are loads and loads of police patrolling about, dressed in immaculate khaki's and white shirts and sporting Stetson hats or berets.

We've got a tiny room, and for the first time took the first room we saw. Our unappointed guide was going to show us three places, the other two had let their rooms already. No room at the Inn in Hampi when there's a political festival on.

We saw this morning a troupe of drummers dressed in bright red, each on taking a turn to spin on the spot whilst also keeping rhythm on their drums. They were accompanied by dancers dressed as the main Hindu gods. Also seen the temple elephant whom it seems bestows a kiss on your head with her trunk if you give her the right combination of peanuts and small change. Can't quite work out how much to tip an elephant for a kiss.

I'm uploading this before the power goes out again, hopefully I'll find somewhere better and get some pictures up too!