The monkeys that live in the trees by the Kiran Guesthouse in Hampi leap onto the roof, shimmy down the iron access ladder, and make a nuisance of themselves with anything they can find on the residents' balcony. I was warned on arrival to keep my door closed. Which I did. And thought no more about it.
Before I left the UK I spent a small fortune on upmarket safari gear. Three identical pairs of lightest weight cotton trousers, ditto identical shirts, all said to be mosquito proof, the idea being one set on, one in the wash, and one in waiting either way, and never having to bother my head about what I shall wear today.
So the morning of my last day in Hampi I washed out one set of clothes, attached them to the balcony rails, then packed them dry that evening ready to be worn at The Gathering the following day in Bangalore.
Fast forward to putting on clean clothes for The Gathering... To discover several shirt buttons missing, and evidence of their being chewed off!
SODDING MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!
Bo's'n's carers assured me before I set off that "There is always a way", and "All will be well".
The way was to get as far as Mysore and look for a tailor. Once the problem was understood, all remaining buttons were removed, and a new set that almost matched the originals sewn on.
One and a half hours' work, inc buttons, for 100 rupees (a fraction over £1.) Shirt buttons!
There are monkeys in Mysore too. They scramble about the Royal Palace and tinker with the bulbs that light the building for an hour at dusk on a Sunday, while a band plays robust British military marches in the forecourt.
97,000 lightbulbs of the old fashioned sort are used - give or take a few.
Before I left the UK I spent a small fortune on upmarket safari gear. Three identical pairs of lightest weight cotton trousers, ditto identical shirts, all said to be mosquito proof, the idea being one set on, one in the wash, and one in waiting either way, and never having to bother my head about what I shall wear today.
So the morning of my last day in Hampi I washed out one set of clothes, attached them to the balcony rails, then packed them dry that evening ready to be worn at The Gathering the following day in Bangalore.
Fast forward to putting on clean clothes for The Gathering... To discover several shirt buttons missing, and evidence of their being chewed off!
SODDING MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!
Bo's'n's carers assured me before I set off that "There is always a way", and "All will be well".
The way was to get as far as Mysore and look for a tailor. Once the problem was understood, all remaining buttons were removed, and a new set that almost matched the originals sewn on.
One and a half hours' work, inc buttons, for 100 rupees (a fraction over £1.) Shirt buttons!
There are monkeys in Mysore too. They scramble about the Royal Palace and tinker with the bulbs that light the building for an hour at dusk on a Sunday, while a band plays robust British military marches in the forecourt.
97,000 lightbulbs of the old fashioned sort are used - give or take a few.
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