Historic Hampi

It really seems like a long time since we've last posted, I suppose because the long, lazy days at the beaches evaporated and we've just spent the last 3 days in Hampi.

We experienced our first "sleeper bus" and first non-government (read "tourist") bus to get from Palolem Beach to Hampi, and let me tell you, the government buses are not all bad.......

The fellow who sold us our ticket advised us to get to Chaudi (a few km from Palolem Beach) for 6:30pm, as the bus was supposed to arrive at 6:45. So, obedient Canadians that we are, we arrived by 6:15. We boarded the bus at 10:30 pm. And the place we were waiting was not much more than a cross street with a couple of shops that sold water and some sweets. Bus after bus headed for Hampi came and went, and when we'd check with the bus conductors they'd say "next bus" and hand back the ticket. When ours finally DID arrive, there were people in our berth, it wasn't air con as promised, but by that point, we would have been happy to get on just about any bus going anywhere! The people in our berth left (yes, it's a lay down kind of berth) and although we had to sleep with our packs because there was no room for them anywhere else, the night passed, we got some sleep, and when we finally opened our eyes at 7:30 a.m., we were treated to sunrise on the ancient pillars of Hampi's old bazaar. That, and a bunch of touts wanting us to take their auto rickshaw into town. -sigh- We'll fill you in on the reasons for the late bus in person. It's a good story in itself!

A quick dash into town with all of the other travellers, a check-in at "Rocky's Guest House Cum Travel Agent", some breakfast and a shower and we were off to the races. Or perhaps more accurately, the temples.

Hampi is a place that defies description, at least by the words in my vocabulary. It's temples are a World Heritage Site that dates back to around the 16th century, and is set amongst the most surreal, mystical landscape of giant boulders. We've never been anywhere quite like it, and the photos fail to capture the real beauty of the place.

There was much fun to be had during the 3 days and 2 nights that we were there. Most of the first day we just wandered around with our jaws hanging open, amazed at what we were seeing. We walked to where the bus dropped us in the morning and climbed along paths that led to some of the many temples in the area. To my happy surprise, we ended up at a large temple that most tourists ignore, so it was blissfully quiet. It was wonderful just being in the moment, sitting on the steps of the ancient ruins, pretty much all alone.

If you looked up, w-a-y up, you could see a small temple set atop a steep sided hill of red boulders. Well, of course this meant that we had to go up! I sucked up my fear of heights, ignored the fact that hiking in flip flops might not be the best idea, and followed Mark up to the top. The view was spectacular, and we had it mostly to ourselves for a while. There was a woman from Paris who we hiked with for a while, the sleeping security guard (who, when he woke up wanted us to pay him "20 rupees for up and down" which we ignored) but when a few more people found the place, we headed down on a different path. This led us past a troop of cute black faced monkeys. At least they were cute when they weren't baring their teeth at each other. We made it back down without mishap, had a dosa for lunch and went to our room for a well deserved nap!

There's a temple elephant that lives in Hampi. Her name is Lakshmi. Mark seems quite taken with elephants this trip, so it was imperative for us to head to the river to see her get her bath. This happens in the morning at 8:30 (thank goodness for guide books!) so after visiting the main temple in town at 7:15, we had a quick breakfast and headed to the river. Sure enough, there was Lakshmi, looking like a grey boulder in the river, getting scrubbed down by a couple of elephant handlers. Once her bath was done, she lumbered up the stairs back to the temple, but not before "blessing" those who want to be blessed. If you give her a 10 rupee note, with her trunk she'll pass it to her handler, and then "bless" you by gently laying her trunk on your head. It's really kind of cute.

We rented bikes, which made for a pleasant way to get around. No honking from cars or auto rickshaws, just the wind in our hair and hours and hours to go temple hopping. It was a very nice change, but I'll never complain about my 3 speed city bike again. This was a one speed, and it had pretty high gearing which made hills a challenge. Even Mark had to get off and push!

Hampi is a very historical spot, obviously, so many many schoolchildren go there for field trips. They all know at least 3 phrases: "What country are you from?", "What is your name?", and "How are you?" It's cute, until about the 100th time. Then it gets a bit tiresome. Oh, and they also all want to shake your hand.

Strangely, I was also asked to pose in many photographs with many people, most of them men. I was not dressed inappropriately I didn't think - just my pink t-shirt and capris, but either I look like someone famous that I don't know, or they are hard up for interesting photos and I'm the most interesting thing around. It was kind of odd. I should have charged 10 rupees per photo, I'd be rich!

We went across the river on the third morning to rent bikes on the "more chill" side, but the bike selection was crap. I really shouldn't have complained about the previous day's bike at all as it was a Porsche compared to today's rusting and rattling Hyundai Pony. We pedalled around to the Monkey Temple, climbed the 575 steps to the top, and enjoyed the view. Inside the temple they gave us piping hot chai and put a bindi on our forehead.

We have now taken our next overnight bus back to Bangalore, and have started to do some shopping for home. We have purchased very little in the way of "stuff" during most of the trip - who needs to carry it around? I figure that our weekend in Bangalore will be the shopping days, and then it will be home sweet home after 20 hours of flying on Monday.

I'm not sure that we'll get a chance to post again, but if we don't, it's been great writing this. It serves as a wonderful diary for us down the road, and it's much easier to write when we know that people are reading! So Thanks!