All of the northbound travellers I met over the last couple of months advised me not to miss Hampi. So here I am. And they were right. The ruins of this ancient city lie scattered over many miles of mesmerizing boulder-strewn terrain, which looks like it's from another world, especially at dawn and dusk. The ruins are scattered across both sides of the river, and since there is no bridge (apart from the remains of an ancient one), coracles are available for taking people from bank to bank. I hired a bike for a day and cycled between some of the ruins' main sites.

Lakshmi, the elephant of Virupaksha Temple goes for her regular morning bath at the ghats by the river, alongside all the locals doing their daily washing, so I couldn't miss that this morning. And later I will take lunch at a riverside restaurant underneath the mango trees that I found yesterday. Being another religious site, it's back to vegetarian and no alcohol again, but the food at this particular place is delicious.

I finally experienced one of India's Post Offices yesterday where they pack your items into a cotton bag and seal it with wax. Seems very antiquated, but apparently the service is very reliable.

Tonight I will get another sleeper train heading further south. Indian trains always have names, which can sometimes be quite elaborate and sometimes even comical, since there is no consistent spelling of place names. The one I saw on my way over here from the coast is my favourite so far - the Hubli Humpi Express. Are there are even any children's TV programs with a train name as good as that one?