Signs, signs, everywhere the signs…
Some were scary.
We were never actually approached by monkeys offering to guide us, but they might have been more helpful than the human guides, who tended to race past the features of the site while gabbling a handful of facts (almost always duplicated in signs posted around the site, and definitely available in our DK Eyewitness Travel Guide To India) before steering us firmly to a shop where everything was “made by my family, Madam, all very original…”[This and all photos unless otherwise noted are ©2018 Jayalakshmy Ayyer & Janine Smith]
Dear Tourist, before entering Hampi, please register with the police, wear clothes, and watch out for robbers, thieves, and rapists. Have a nice day and don’t forget to leave a good review on TripAdvisor.
“Vault of the doom…” Amen.
“Please do not get in to the water because of whirlpools and crocodiles.” Posted next to boats to take tourists to elephant preserve. (We didn’t go.)
Some were informative.
Of course, the metropolis was 3500 years ago…but what’s a few millennia between friends?
Oh…you mean THIS wall?
Yes, ladies. This…
THE CHAIR ROOM: you’ve got your gold chair, your silver chair, your red plastic chair…
Some were inspiring.
We didn’t see the riders, but there was plenty of evidence that the joy involved camels…
GOD PHOTOS. One stop shopping goes to new heights.
No. I did NOT get my pleasure blended, thank you very much.
Some offered a literal, phonetic approach to translation that was an artform in itself…
And some, frankly, came as a complete surprise.
Then there were the ones which emphasized that Indians were different from foreigners in one important way. (Of course, we realized the Indian taxpayers were supporting most of the sites we visited so we were happy to pay twice as much for entry fees.)
…Or even five times as much.
…Or even—wait a minute. EIGHTEEN times as much? And you’d like it in US dollars?
Whoa…and ANOTHER 4800 for our camera? Seriously?
Jaya’s objections were fierce, fearless, and…fruitless. (Janine and I wondered if we were going to have to come up with bail money.) But it was so worth it in the end because we saw…
(And we didn’t even need any signs…)
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Jacquie Biggar said:
I’m not sure whether I’d be scared or humored by those signs, but the leopard would make it all worthwhile! Magnificent!
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barbtaub said:
We never saw lions at the lion sanctuary, but the leopards were gorgeous!
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Mary Smith said:
Wonderful post – and the leopard is fabulous.
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barbtaub said:
They were really incredible. We were so lucky to see them. (We know this because our guide said, “You are so lucky to see leopards, Madam. Very, very, very, very, lucky.” He kept repeating this, each time adding and additional “very”, just in case we weren’t getting the message.)
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susielindau said:
The leopard was just hanging out???
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barbtaub said:
Yup. He had a couple of buddies with him, and all were just staring at us. We had to hang onto Jaya, or she would have been right over there getting up close and personal.
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susielindau said:
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Teagan R. Geneviene said:
I freaked out with the monkey sign! Akkk! But I loved the signs, Barb. Great collection. Hugs.
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barbtaub said:
Thanks! The signs are so much fun. (But I’m with you on the monkeys.)
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Andrew Joyce said:
I am ecstatic beyond belief to see you have your “Reblog ” button back. If anyone deserves one, it is you my sweet friend.
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barbtaub said:
Thanks so much! Apparently WordPress considers reblogs a privilege rather than a right, so I’m pretty happy they restored that little button.
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Janine Smith said:
Soooo guess you are pretty, pretty, pretty, PRETTY (+1,2,3,etc) happy?
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Andrew Joyce said:
Reblogged this on Andrew Joyce.
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TanGental said:
I got stuck at Jonny Depp which I didn’t even know was a thing but white spirit and thin earl grey tea has cured me… lovely leopard…
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joliesattic said:
Priceless and the leopard IS beautiful.
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Lucinda E Clarke said:
Brilliant!
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barbtaub said:
Thanks!
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THEJUS_PIUS said:
My first travel blog
Please read and support
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