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 had to avoid stepping in the evidence that the joy involved camels. Lots.
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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Teagan R. Geneviene said:
Horsefeathers, Barb! This is a laugh riot. I have to admit that I would probably have turned and ran at the first “monkey” sign. Not a phobia… I just do not like monkeys. (Shrugs.) I nearly snorted my coffee at the “Do not write on wall” sign. That’s just inviting trouble. 😀 Hugs on the wing.
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barbtaub said:
Thanks Teagan! And I must admit—NOT a monkey fan myself!
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Cathy said:
Those signs 😂 Joy Rides and Blow Johnny Depp not to mention pleasure rotating when you blend…seeing a theme running through 😂
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barbtaub said:
Why Cathy—whatever can you mean?
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robertawrites235681907 said:
A great and informative post, Barb. The last picture is hilarious.
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barbtaub said:
(My book cover is hilarious?) Thanks. I think…
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robertawrites235681907 said:
Yes, “Do not wash hands in plates” is brilliant and so funny.
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Mary Smith said:
I love these, Barb. Hope you didn’t have any stray monkeys coming in the window – sure you didn’t fancy having your pleasure blended?
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barbtaub said:
We did speculate about what form pleasure blending might take, but this is (mostly) a family-friendly blog so…
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Aislynn d'Merricksson said:
OMC, those signs. 🤣 That leopard picture is just gorgeous!!
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barbtaub said:
It was INCREDIBLE to see the leopard hanging out in the wild. We were so lucky!
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People with Roots on RootsTravelApp said:
Greetings Barb Taub! Please see if this is relevant for you. This is Devesh, marketing team representative from Roots Travel App. At Roots, we are enabling experiential travelling for a Modern Day Tourist.
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barbtaub said:
Hi Devesh, I’m not at all sure what you’re asking here. But please take it offline and send request through my contact page.
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People with Roots on RootsTravelApp said:
Building a community of (travel related) bloggers is one of such attempts to know about the roots of a city.
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