Jo Herrings Adventures

Hampi – home of Temples After an overnight bus and a half an hour local bus I arrived in the temple town of Hampi. After collecting my thoughts (at 6am a tough ask – those who have bused with me know!) I found a room beside the river in the simple lodgings of Kiran Guest house. Any night spent on a night bus results in me lazing around with little more than a sunset excursion to take in my new environment. As I sat along the Ghats of the Tungabhadra River washing people bathe, and wash their clothes, I met Jo – a Liverpudlian (favourite word EVER!). She literally picked me up and took me to dinner in the beautiful surrounds of the Mango Tree, a terraced restaurant in the groves at the edge of town, overlooking the river and offering sweeping views of the valley. Lakshmi the temple elephant after his morning bath Hampi Township ruins I enjoyed Hampi on foot starting at the river Ghat to see the famed elephant Lakshmi from the Virupaksha temple being bathed by his ke...

Karnataka and Bangaluru is in central southern India. Home to India’s silk capital Mysore, burgeoning Silicon Valley’esque city, Bangalore, and whiling away in the rocky alcoves north the temple filled town of Hampi.  I have broken the post into two so you can see what I got up to over a couple of cups of tea.  Mysore – MySilk I took a taxi with 3 savvy young professionals on Sunday of Easter all heading back to work at HP and Samsung in the countries Tech cities of Hyderabad and Bangalore respectively. I tried to bargain for a room at the Park Royal (simply because I fancied saying I had stayed there!) not a chance! Settling down the road I made a home for myself in Mysore for a couple of days enjoying the cooler climate (I guess about 28C).  Mysore Palace Gate.... I was a bit slow for the Palace shot! I  started at the cities Palace lit with 10,000 lights and as I entered the Palace grounds, large rain drops started to cascade down and as ...

Hampi is the site of many Hindu temples and is a beautiful spot set amongst hot rocks in a valley that makes you sigh with perspiration. It is here and now that the government has issued a 7 day notice to the residents of Hampi Bizaar closest to the famed Virupaksha Temple to vacate their premises. They have offered land some 6km from the township to the villagers on a rock with no running water or fertile land, away from the river that runs alongside Hampi and its famed temples. Its biblical to build on a rock but the proposal to relocate these folks away from the river they currently frolic in doing their daily chores and enjoy relaxing beside seems baffling. If you are going to displace people (rehousing is not an option they are literally told they can move to the rock or make their own arrangements), shouldn’t you offer an equal alternative. Somewhere sewage systems can be made, electricity implemented to all homes, oh and how about some of that precious resource WATER. (I ...