Hampi

Having visited the UK for a wedding three weeks ago, I am now (rather unexpectedly) back in Blightly again, this time for just over a week to make some changes to my visa which cannot be done in India.  Travelling back and forth is disruptive although, looking on the bright side, this has given me the opportunity to see friends and family (including a lovely relaxing weekend in Gloucestershire), catch up with work colleagues, and purchase the Downton Abbey Series 4 DVD in the week of its release to take back to India.

Returning to the UK feels strange when you've been out of the country for several months.  London seems very quiet, clean, wet, cold and dark relative to Mumbai - I'm not adapting to the lack of sunshine or 30 degree temperatures very well!

Anyway, before I returned to London on Wednesday last week, we enjoyed an excellent long weekend in Goa and Hampi, making the most of the extra two days holiday provided for Diwali, the biggest festival in the Hindu calendar.  We hadn't heard of Hampi prior to moving to India, but have since spoken to several people who strongly recommended that we visit whilst living in Mumbai.

We flew to Goa and travelled by train (an 8 hour journey) to Hampi which is in the state of Karnataka, where we would be spending three nights before returning to Goa.  Hampi is a truly amazing place - it is a large area including the ruins of a vast and powerful Hindu empire which was destroyed by invaders around 500 years ago.  The landscape of Hampi itself is incredible - the most appropriate word I can think of to describe the way it looks is "pre-historic".  The site is structured around a river strewn with huge boulders, and these rocks sit in piles forming big rocky hills in the area.  The area was originally chosen because of its strategic location - bound by the river on one side and hills made from these rocks on the other.  Further information is available at the website linked below.

http://hampi.in/

Hampi is a UNESCO site and there is only one small area of hostels / homestays where you can stay within the site.  The accommodation is basic and geared to travellers, but our room was clean and comfortable, with a friendly and welcoming host.  Admittedly, the hot water didn't work (although I've found that showering with buckets of hot water can be remarkably fun) and they'd given one of the rooms we'd booked away before we arrived, but it otherwise did the job!  The future of this area (Hampi Bazaar) is, however, precarious and large areas of the village have already been cleared.  Those still living in the bazaar live under the shadow that a bulldozer could turn up at any time - the eventual aim seems to be for no-one to live or stay within the site itself.  For now, however, there are lots of basic accommodation options from which to choose.

We met up with Phil's younger sister Rosalind for the trip and packed lots of activities into our time in Hampi, including a cycling tour of the Royal City, a cookery class, eating lots of local food and a long walk around some of the older ruins and monuments on the other side of the river.

We travelled from Goa to Hampi (Hospet is the nearest station to Hampi) in Sleeper class, which is both cheaper than the AC carriages and much more fun.  The windows are open and lots of food / drink sellers (plus a few lady-boys!) wander up and down the carriages selling their wares.  We chatted to some interesting locals, but importantly you do still get a reserved seat in this class.

The main Virupaksha temple next to Hampi Bazaar - the only active temple left in the complex.  Once a temple / religious site has been damaged, Hindus consider that it cannot be fixed and is no longer sacred, hence there has been no effort to repair the other ruins on the site (and the belief is that this should not be done).

One of many huge statues carved out of a single rock - we were told these are the largest examples of such statues in India.

Elephant stables in the Royal City.  These 11 stables housed the ceremonial elephants used for state occasions.  The King's elephant lived in the most grand stable in the middle of the block.

The level of detail and engravings around the site are extraordinary.  Here we can see an example of death by elephant crushing, one of the punishments for those breaking the law.

The Vittala temple including the most famous monument in Hampi, the chariot.  These ruins are a 2km walk from Hampi Bazaar along an exciting boulder-y path.

There were a lot of monkeys in Hampi but they were not aggressive or particularly interested in us - a big improvement on the monkeys that I've previously come across in India!

On our second evening in Hampi, we booked to attend a cookery class, which turned out to be in the two roomed house (main room plus small kitchen) of our guide.  This was fascinating and we were welcomed and royally fed by our host, his wife and their (mischevous) four year-old son.  We prepared four main dishes (aloo palak, veg biriyani, aloo gobi masala, tomato curry, plus onion pakora and chapatti) over a single gas cooking ring (albeit a very hot one)!  Like our previous cookery class, I found the oil and salt content very high, but otherwise the ingrediants were fresh and healthy (and the end result very tasty!).

Enjoying our food.  As is standard, our hosts did not have furniture in their house and so we ate on a rug on the floor.  They did, however, have a television with an uber-channel package (loads more than us) which allowed us to watch the end of the final one-day tests between India and Australia in which India won the series.

Phil went for an early morning run each day to enjoy the countryside.  He encountered Lakshmi, the temple elephant, enjoying her morning wash...

On our third day, we travelled over the river to visit the villages and monuments on the other side.  We came across this biblical scene of women washing clothes and boys swimming in a shallow part of a river.  Aside from the plastic pots they were using, this scene could have easily taken place 2000 years ago.

After lots of traipsing around in the heat, we found a local cafe which had one thing on the menu - a thali made from whatever the owner had available in the kitchen.  This turned out to be a tasty selection and all for the princely sum of 60 rupees (60p) per head.

In the afternoon, we walked back towards the river crossing via a big hill with a temple (the Hamuman temple) on the top.  The sweltering climb to the top was worth it as the peace, breeze and views from the temple were spectacular.  As we visited on Diwali, the temple was full of activity, including people making homemade fireworks!

Jennie, Phil and Ros on the hill next to the Hanuman temple.

Upon returning to Hampi Bazaar, Phil and I took a late afternoon walk up Achutaraya temple hill just outside the village as we'd heard that the views at the top at sunset are very good.  We were not disappointed although did get quite lost on the way up.  Like lots of things in India, the path was not obvious!

Sunset from the summit.  It would have been the perfect idyllic experience, apart from the Indian family talking and arguing loudly at the top.  This was, however, an authentic Indian experience.

On our final evening (the first day of Diwali), we had a lovely meal in a small restaurant in the bazaar (a feast of tasty food is typically between 100 and 200 rupees per head).  The noise from the fireworks in the street was, though, extreme.  This went on for hours and you had to be very careful when walking outside as fireworks were being let off everywhere - mainly by young children!  Health and safety doesn't seem to exist in the same way in India as in the UK.  The street was strewn with debry later in the evening where you could see that the fireworks were mainly home-made from newspaper.

The streets were covered in these beautiful Diwali pictures, created skillfully from coloured sand.

After travelling back from Hampi to Goa, we stayed in a peaceful part of south Goa for one night before flying back to Mumbai.  We enjoyed an Indian massage at the hotel and went exploring the local area in search of a quiet beach (now an infrequent sight in most of Goa). After a complicated scramble down a hill and across lots of rocks, we eventually found this one which was, admittedly, beautiful.

Despite all the tourism, the sea remains delightfully clear and Goa retains much of its charm.  We will certainly be returning during our time in India.