On 16th October 2010 me, Laura, Alessandro, Juuso and Peter set off for Hampi, a small town and world heritage site of hills and valleys, dotted with temples and the remains of palaces, aquatic structures, royal platforms, treasury buildings an masses and masses of boulders - Huge ones!!

We paid well over the odds for a private jeep to take us there, apparently in comfort, as the monsoon rains had mashed up all the roads leading to Hampi. As it turned out, I think we would have been safer and more comfortable riding on the back of a 2-legged donkey! As we had been warned the roads were in a terrible state. It's no exaggeration to say that the pot-holes were the size of Britain!! We bounced along feeling like our backs were breaking as we flew into the air over each hole and landed on the solid seats for a total of 9 hours!! The driver didn't seem at all phased by the hair-pin bends or the wet roads as he talked away on his mobile whilst driving inches from a sheer drop off the side of a mountain! We all managed to be brave(!) and laugh about it until the driver (who it turned out had never been to Hampi and didn't even know the way) crashed the jeep into a police barrier at 40mph - That took the fun out of the journey!!

Anyway, we all got there in one piece, except for minor bruising and I think I lost a fair bit of hair!! I have to say Hampi just did not do it for me!! The most accurate way I can think to describe it is Bedrock!!! It's full of rocks, rocks and more rocks!! The guys loved it though so maybe it's a man's kind of place - Something about bouldering and hanging of narrow cliff edges didn't quite appeal to me!!

We hired bikes and cycled around the temples including a trip to the Monkey Temple (my bike was broken and had a flat tyre so it was pretty hard work in 39 degree heat, but I soldiered on!!) We climbed the 572 steps to the temple which is home to hundreds of wild monkeys and their babies and I have to admit it was a fantastic view of the town from the top - Still looked like Bedrock though!!

Finally, on the last day I took one for the team and had to put my hands down and Indian hole-in-the-floor toilet!! Not for fun of course!! I dropped my very expensive gift from my dad sunglasses in the sodding toilet!! I did deliberate for some time, I think I may even have shouted the F word (sorry mum) and stamped my feet but in the end I sucked it up and took the plunge! Not my proudest moment but one I will NEVER forget - No matter how i keep trying!!!

We decided after 3 days that this holy town, where alcohol is banned (see what I mean?!!) had outstayed it's welcome with us and booked our escape out of there heading for Mysore where we would be conned, banished and have the pleasure of bribing the police!!.........