Bourne to be wild........

We are back on the beach, and Vicky is trying to emulate her all time hero (second only to me) by running along the very same beach that Jason Bourne did (just before his girlfriend got shot in the head). After dragging Vicky away from stoking the sand where his feet may have touched we hired a scooter for a day and roared our way up the coast watching everything fly past in a blur as we raced along at braekneck speeds of up to 40km/hr!!

We stopped at a few different beaches and drove through some beautiful little fishing villages, only having to turn around once when we got to the end of a road and there was nowhere else to go apart from the sea.

So, after all that excitement we returned to the beach for some more relaxing. I'd better head back now, I'm sure it's not healthy for Vicky to be licking the sand!

Hampi

Arriving in Hampi was like entering a film set for Jurassic Park or The Hobbit. It's a ruined city covered with sandstone temples and huge boulders. A river runs through it that provides lush greenery and you can cross on a wicker coracle boat which is fun. There is a very relaxed feel about the place especially as the season is coming to an end which suits us just fine! Walking among the scenery is spectacular and one day we hired bikes and enjoyed the breeze that came from speeding down the hills, at one point Glen almost ran over a 2.5 meter cobra but luckily his quick reflexes meant we got away unharmed.

Go Go Gokarna

Time seems to have escaped from us in beautiful Gokarna, the days have passed and what have we done? Eaten, the food here has been fabulous and we have enjoyed countless dosa's, Ice-creams and several superb ways to enjoy cauliflower. We've relaxed on the beaches and walked the coast line, losing the trail for jungle like path only twice. We've watched the local cricketers and the huge numbers of people making pilgrimage here to see the temples. We are staying at a lovely little place amonst the spice and herb plantations. It is clean and has a generaton for the fan so we stay cool when the power cuts out. The lady and her son that own it are kind and friendly and we have a little veranda where we can spend the odd evening enjoying an Indian rum.

Chembra Peak

The 2nd highest peak in South India (why do something predictable and climb the highest), we climbed up tea and coffee plantations through coconut and banana groves sat around at the top for an hour and still made it down before midday - we made an early start to avoid the worst of the heat but still shed a few pounds of sweat! After that excertion I think it's time for some more beach time!

Theyyam Performace

We were given a phone number to contact about a ritual that was taking place - 6 phone calls, 5 new numbers and a returned call later we were given the name of a place. Feeling like we were heading to an illicit rave we jumped in a rickshaw and headed to a temple. We arrived to see just the last hour of a 6 hour festival where dancers don outfits (like the one above), enter a trance and take on the characteristiocs of a deity and dance around. Impressive!

Houseboat on the Backwaters

The 'Gateway to the Backwaters', many people come here for an overnight trip on a houseboat and we were no different. We were inundated with offers of houseboats to rent, but for this one time we decided to treat ourselves and go luxury - we weren't disapponted! We arrived to board our boat, met the 3 members of the crew (for just us!), the huge boat which included large and comfortable living and dining area, a bedroom with ensuite, and a kitchen (or galley) for our cook to prepare our food.

We had booked a 2 night trip, and the next 48 hours were spent living it up in true luxury as we were waited on by Shibo, Beba and Radeesh. We were given garlands as we boarded, a fruit bowl to help ourselves from, comfortable seating in the sun and shade and the food......the food was amazing, the best we've had in India and we couldn't even manage to finish the 7/8 dishes that were brought to us each meal time. And then there were the Backwaters themselves, we had already had a taster, but this was beautiful, and having the 2 days allwed us to go a bit further than the normal tours. The scenery was consistently stunning as we crossed lakes and navigated narrower canals past palm groves, paddy fields and little houses and villages. There were kingfishers diving and Cormorants fishing and water snakes gliding across the water. People were fishing from their little canoes, swimming, washing or just crossing to the otherside. And we took it all in from the comfort of our boat while sipping ice cold beer (Kingfisher appropriately) listening to nothing but the bird song and the occasional stroke of paddle through water.

As we were returning to dock, Shibo asked if we were happy, we said 'no.....it's ended too soon'.