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For our first weekend away, here in India, we went to visit Hampi. This is an ancient, and sacred, set of ruins about 300kms north of Bangalore.

The ruins are of the ancient capital of Vijayanagara, the last great Hindu empire, destroyed by the Mughals in 1565. It’s a flood plain, with a landscape like that of the moon. And though it’s roughly a nine hour drive from Bangalore, I would recommend it.

Highlights:

• Being blessed by Lakshmi the elephant.

• A gentle drift by coracle on the river.

• Lazing at the Mango Tree restaurant on a hot afternoon.

Though it’s a 600 step climb straight up the side of a mountain, I wish I had visited the Monkey temple. If you go and you’re feeling energetic, I recommend it.