The land that time forgot

I never intended to go to Hampi, but in India a journey always directs itself. Since I was going from Goa to Karnataka and the inner resistance to an 18 hour train ride was not transcendable, I decided to take the night bus to Hampi, get a night of good sleep there and then continue on another night bus to Bangalore. With the ‘little’ added bonus of seeing the enchanting sites of ancient Hampi. Well. Sometimes one should just go places! I am so glad I did.



Life had a few nice things in store for me. It started already on the night bus where I shared the seat with Melanie, the loveliest lass from Scotland. We had the same amount of time to spend and similar ideas of where to stay and what to see, so we decided to share the experience. We took the little boat over the small river to ‘the other side’ in Hampi, a bit off the hustle and bustle of the more touristic areas, which proved a very good decision.



Volcanic eruptions have created a vast landscape of giant boulders, and it feels totally like being on another planet, maybe like Planet of the Apes! Well it is at least said to be the birthplace of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god. Do bear in mind that the pictures really do not make the place any justice. It is an absolutely breathtaking place.





Hampi is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the banks of the Tungabhadra river, and used to be the very heart of the Vijayanagara Empire from the 14th to 16th century. Most well-known is probably the Vittala temple with its stone-chariot and musical stone pillars. Lonely Planet and other guidebooks say that it may be dangerous to stay at the sites after sunset due to risk of robbery and the like, but I believe that is when the dinosaurs come out, and they just don’t want us to see.



At the Virupaksha temple I had little baby temple monkeys swinging in my shawl – they are totally mischievous fellows!! They would have robbed me of any food if I had some. Lakshmi, the temple elephant, did not say much but was happy being stroked on her rough elephant skin.

Everything makes your eyes widen, and along with the Vittala temple I found elephant stables, the Lotus Mahal and the Queen’s Bath to be the highlights. Oh yes indeed I would like to have a bath like that, with a soothing swimming pool size bath embellished with pretty pink ornaments! It is intriguing to imagine Hampi at the height of its day with elephants, horses and all the paraphernalia of a wealthy culture.





The second day we rented bicycles to get a little further away. I liked my pink Miss India bike even if I could not get my Scandinavian legs straight. After climbing the many hundred stairs up to the Hanuman temple we met the Hanuman guardian (and collector of money for keeping an eye on the shoes that you have to remove). The temple is in use and while we were up there the devotees were chanting so loud as to be sure they really awakened the monkey gods. The view over the landscape from up there is stunning.




You could explore Hampi for days on end but I feel very content with what I have seen in this short time. The stay ended at the Mango tree restaurant overlooking the little river at sunset. Best thali so far! On a banana leaf as it should be!