Leaving behind the hustle bustle of Bangalore city & after a rather enjoyable overnight train journey we finally arrived at Hampi . It was around 7am as we headed from the train station to our destination in a village which was approximately an hour away by road & then a short boat-ride away. We were raring to go – had a packed day planned.

The taxi dropped us off little away from the river & as we walked down to the unseen boat we passed some very interesting & obviously ancient temples & structures. This entire area is a protected site – in fact an UNESCO World Heritage site. Going around a bend we saw a group of people waiting for the boat – along with 3-4 motorbikes, some bicycles, bags & I could swear there were a couple of goats too! The boat arrived & it was much smaller than I expected. My expression must have said it all – “are you serious that all these people, things & animals on this bank are going to pile into that little contraption & cross over to the other side?!!”  Well, the answer was yes....we squeezed in & that’s an understatement! The boat slowly settled really well into the water – & by that I mean just a foot or so of the boat was above water & we chugged away to the other side.