Sorry it’s been so long since the last post. The internet connection at the office has been crummy at best and I’m having trouble finding time after work to visit the internet cafes. Anyway, time to talk about Hampi! This past weekend I went on a fabulous adventure with some of the volunteers from work and some other people working in B’lore who are friends of Naomi, a volunteer with me at Belaku. Hampi is an old capital of the Vijayanagar Empire that ruled southern India between ~1300 and ~1500. The empire was sacked in the mid-1500s by the Mughals who came down from central Asia and what’s left that the Mughals did not destroy is extraordinary.
The town Hampi reminded me a bit of Greece with its rocky hillsides and goats running around the roads and hills. The entire area was littered with huge boulders that were just begging to be climbed, though most of them seemed to be mocking gravity by staying perched just so. The actual town center was fairly typical – dirty, dusty, and too many flying bugs near the food. Something about it was charming though, and I really enjoyed the weekend.
We left Friday night and took the overnight train from Bangalore to a small town called Hospet, from where we took autorickshaws the ~15 kms to Hampi. The train ride was actually really fun after I got over my tears at seeing only Indian toilets at our end of the train car. I used lots of antibacterial gel this trip, but I’m actually starting to be converted to the benefits of the Indian loo… you don’t have to touch anything so in nasty public places it can actually be cleaner than a western toilet. But seeing as Eric doesn’t want to hear anymore about toilets, on with the weekend. Three of us got in each rickshaw plus three suitcases and it was quite a crowd. We found ourselves in strange positions throughout the drive with suitcases hanging precariously off the back and sides of the rickshaw.
But once we checked into our surprisingly decent hotel, $4 per night per room!, I had the most amazing cold mug and bucket shower. I never thought throwing a bucket of cold water over me would feel so good, but it did wonders for all the train dirt I'd accumulated overnight. The group of us then decided it would be really fun to rent scooters and ride around to all the sites. Hampi's ruins are spread out nearly 20 kilometers around the town and there's so much to see that everyone who'd been there before recommended renting some sort of bike to get to all the sites. I asked about helmets and the other people shushed me because it was pretty clear that there was no possible way to rent a helmet. We didn't see anyone in town even wearing them. The hypochondriac in me went a little overboard and I had terrible visions of us getting hit by crazy trucks, but everything turned out ok. We did, however, get a very loud and angry lecture from Saras, when she saw the pictures, about how we're never allowed to go on scooters again, with or without helmet. Back in Hampi though, I tried driving a little on the empty roads outside of town, but between having to stay on the left side of the road and having to keep the bike upright it was all a little much. So another volunteer Aditya drove our bike, it was two per bike, and did a very nice job keeping us upright and on the road despite my deathgrip on his backpack for most of the ride.
The town Hampi reminded me a bit of Greece with its rocky hillsides and goats running around the roads and hills. The entire area was littered with huge boulders that were just begging to be climbed, though most of them seemed to be mocking gravity by staying perched just so. The actual town center was fairly typical – dirty, dusty, and too many flying bugs near the food. Something about it was charming though, and I really enjoyed the weekend.
We left Friday night and took the overnight train from Bangalore to a small town called Hospet, from where we took autorickshaws the ~15 kms to Hampi. The train ride was actually really fun after I got over my tears at seeing only Indian toilets at our end of the train car. I used lots of antibacterial gel this trip, but I’m actually starting to be converted to the benefits of the Indian loo… you don’t have to touch anything so in nasty public places it can actually be cleaner than a western toilet. But seeing as Eric doesn’t want to hear anymore about toilets, on with the weekend. Three of us got in each rickshaw plus three suitcases and it was quite a crowd. We found ourselves in strange positions throughout the drive with suitcases hanging precariously off the back and sides of the rickshaw.
But once we checked into our surprisingly decent hotel, $4 per night per room!, I had the most amazing cold mug and bucket shower. I never thought throwing a bucket of cold water over me would feel so good, but it did wonders for all the train dirt I'd accumulated overnight. The group of us then decided it would be really fun to rent scooters and ride around to all the sites. Hampi's ruins are spread out nearly 20 kilometers around the town and there's so much to see that everyone who'd been there before recommended renting some sort of bike to get to all the sites. I asked about helmets and the other people shushed me because it was pretty clear that there was no possible way to rent a helmet. We didn't see anyone in town even wearing them. The hypochondriac in me went a little overboard and I had terrible visions of us getting hit by crazy trucks, but everything turned out ok. We did, however, get a very loud and angry lecture from Saras, when she saw the pictures, about how we're never allowed to go on scooters again, with or without helmet. Back in Hampi though, I tried driving a little on the empty roads outside of town, but between having to stay on the left side of the road and having to keep the bike upright it was all a little much. So another volunteer Aditya drove our bike, it was two per bike, and did a very nice job keeping us upright and on the road despite my deathgrip on his backpack for most of the ride.
The ruins we saw were just incredible. They looked very much like some of the Greek and Roman ruins, though they're obviously many years younger. It was clear how viciously the Moghals had destroyed the capital when I realized that these ruins that looked so much like ancient Greece were only about 500 years old. We went to so many temples and they were quite beautiful, though by the 8th temple they started to blur together. The group leader, the only person who'd been to Hampi before, decided that it was too far to go back to town for lunch and we should just buy an ice cream from the kiosks that never seemed to appear. I was not happy to be hungry, tired, and at the 9th temple, but seeing as I didn't know where I was I didn't have a choice to go off on my own. We found a banana and coconut vendor from whom we bought some fruit and though it was delicious, it wasn't quite enough to make up for being tired of sightseeing three hours before we were actually done.
That night when we were finally done with all the temples, we went to a lovely place for dinner where we sat outside on the stone floor and had really delicious dinner. I don't understand all the fuss about eating outside (so many bugs!) or sitting on the floor (a thin straw mat does not make it more comfortable!), but the food was heavenly so it was all worth it. We shared a slew of Indian dishes, all vegetarian and rich and delicious, and for desert I had nutella pancake which is essentially nutella crepe. It was one of the best meals I've had out since I got to India.
The next day we saw another slew of temples, a queen's bath, and some really pretty gates. Mostly we just rode around and enjoyed the scenery and tried to avoid sunburn and mosquitos. The train ride back Sunday night was exactly how I imagined train rides in India to be... we all crammed together in the compartment and stayed up for hours telling stories and laughing. It was great!
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