Hampi is a small village predating and situated in the ruins of Vijayanagara. A bright, sun-soaked land of stark contrasts, it stands on the spot of the ancient capital of the Vijayanagara empire straddling a piercingly green river lined with with lush vegetation amidst a sparse red rock landscape reminiscent of Utah. The bones of this once massive empire are evident, huge looming ruins and smaller scattered features showing the extent of the huge city itself. At one point the second largest city in the world, the town has long been a featured stop on most traveller’s trip to south India due to this incredible heritage and fascinatingly alien landscape. Intricate and extensive rock features of many kinds provide a perfect playground for intrepid boulderers and some areas lend themselves to rock-climbing. Long years of travellers coming to the area and staying to explore the amazing terrain have led to guesthouses springing up all over the area offering cheap beds, motorbikes and equipment for the climbers. Every evening during season there is a drum circle on top of a nearby rock formation for everyone to enjoy the sunset with a little bit of music. The local shop provides instruments including their own hang-drums for the locals and travellers to enjoy at a fair price. Going to visit the ruins is an absolute must for those in the area. With so many things to do, many end up staying months, truly getting to know this incredible area and all it has to give. Taking a trip through the local sights with us is an easy way to get a picture of how anyone planning a trip to South India can really enjoy Hampi.

The Bridge over the River Kwai (French: Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai) is a novel by the French novelist Pierre Boulle, published in French in 1952 and English translation by Xan Fielding in 1954. The story is fictional but uses the construction of the Burma Railway, in 1942–43, as its historical setting, and is partly based on Pierre Boulle’s own life experience working in Malaysia rubber plantations and later working for allied forces in Singapore and Indochina during World War II. The novel deals with the plight of World War II British prisoners of war forced by the Imperial Japanese Army to build a bridge for the “Death Railway”, so named because of the large number of prisoners and conscripts who died during its construction. The novel won France’s Prix Sainte-Beuve in 1952

Construction of the bridge serves as a symbol of the preservation of professionalism and personal integrity to one prisoner, Colonel Nicholson, a proud perfectionist. Pitted against Colonel Saito, the warden of the Japanese POW camp, Nicholson will nevertheless, out of a distorted sense of duty, aid his enemy. While on the outside, as the Allies race to destroy the bridge, Nicholson must decide which to sacrifice: his patriotism or his pride.

Boulle’s portrayal of the British officers was satirical, for example, Colonel Nicholson is a military snob. Boulle also examines friendship between individual soldiers, both among captors and captives. The victorious Japanese soldiers cooperate with their prisoners, who strive to establish their superiority through the construction of the bridge. [Sourced from Wikipedia]