From the top of Anjaneya Hill, Hampi.

*UPDATED SEPTEMBER 19: Scroll to the bottom of this article to watch a one-minute video blog I filmed for Flight Centre and Intrepid in Hampi last year. Hopefully it gives you a taste of why this part of India is so beguiling.

This place could seriously be the next Angkor Wat. Or the next Bagan. Or the next Borobudur. The globe is not short of amazing religious structures, but it is rarefied territory when a location covered in religious monuments is of just as much appeal due to its natural setting. Hampi in southern India is one of those spots.

Click here to link to my latest New Zealand Herald article, this one all about why Hampi is an absolute must-visit if you are ever going to the subcontinent. And somehow it is still flying under the radar despite ancient temples that lie either within or perched above seemingly freeze-framed boulders of enormous size. Add to the mix rivers, lakes, rice-fields and banana plantations and you have one of the most staggeringly beautiful – not to mention peaceful – places in India.

Hope you enjoy the read and thanks once again to Intrepid Travel and Flight Centre who made this adventure possible. Click here to read my earlier Herald article about this trip, this feature about the famed backwaters of Kerala.

And if you’re more of a visual person, here are my 30 personal favourite photographs from my time in Hampi:

Me reading my Hampi article in the paper!