HAMPI A Hundred Days Off

It is a hundred days since we left England and, after a turbulent start, things are going much more smoothly now we're headed north, up the west coast.

Our man Jilam picks us up at Hospet train station and whisks us to his Sandhya homestay to dump our bags, then straight out for a day in the tuktuk.

We're here in boulderville, Hampi, a vast landscape of sand, temples and... boulders, millions of boulders.

It's an incredible place, and we've arrived just in time for a huge three-day festival of lights, dancing and singing.

Starting in the main Virupaksha temple, we are mobbed by a troupe of little dancing girls and boys, who must either think we are exotic or hilarious.

They insist we watch their performance, waving at us from the wings and then onstage before they dance.

Afterwards, we tell them we thought they were great (well, they were) and are again mobbed for questioning, stares, giggling and LOTS of selfies.

Outside again, we go around the stages,  exhibits and sideshows to see the festival, and are constantly mobbed for selfies by the youth and some oldies, too. Mental, but great fun.

During the days, we visit more temples and monuments, and check out the local Hampi waterfalls for some peace and quiet among the rocks.

After cycling out and getting lost in a banana plantation*, we emerge from the mud to pick up a guide, Swami, who leads us over the stones along the river, where Kim goes for a dip in the rapids and I admire the view.

After three days we take the ferry to the north side of the river, to 'hippy island', where we bed in at Mowgli.

Green, sunlit paddy fields* greet us outside our cabin door each morning , along with a German couple doing their yoga.

It is very peaceful here and only a day out on a scooter ripples our tranquil waters.

We visit some more temples, get monkey hassle, climb 570 steps up to the Hanuman temple, then check out the northside waterfalls.

They're not up to much and not worth photographing- less impressive, too accessible for Indians to throw their litter about - but the sight of a small boy curling one out in the street while shouting "Hello!" made us laugh.

At least he didn't ask for a selfie.

* the south side has bananas, the north has rice paddies.