We started our five night Diwali trip in Hampi. We were going to go by train but with four tickets, once I started doing the calculations, it wasn't that much more to rent a car for the entire trip (way less than for 1st class on a train, probably less than for 2nd class as well) and we'd get to see a lot more of the in-between places that way. The drive from Bangalore was 5 or 6 hours and not too bad as far as India drives go
Hampi was eerily amazing. The main ruins on the tourist path were spectacular but just that: spectacular tourist ruins. When we started walking around we realized that the entire landscape was dotted with the remains of the city that once stood there. I saw it described as (in its heyday) larger than Rome and more beautiful than Lisboa and after a couple days there it's easy to imagine.
Hampi was eerily amazing. The main ruins on the tourist path were spectacular but just that: spectacular tourist ruins. When we started walking around we realized that the entire landscape was dotted with the remains of the city that once stood there. I saw it described as (in its heyday) larger than Rome and more beautiful than Lisboa and after a couple days there it's easy to imagine.
Which one is the monkey?
First day there we just walked around until it got too dark to see anything
Our first morning was my favorite part of the trip. We'd walked around Hampi Bazaar and some of the nearby ruins at sunset when we came in but what I was really itching to do was to get down to the river and see what birds I could find (some archaeologist's wife I am, huh?). Kekai, who can barely stand to put down the binoculars, readily agreed to come with me at dawn. Kalani and Tim not so much so, but come morning Tim decided to join in and, after a lot of moaning, Kalani also decided to join us.
We'd tried to find access to the river the evening before but had only found some mosquito-infested restaurants perched above shrubby banks. But while sipping tea and swatting mosquitoes I'd seen a banked stone path leading out of town along the river that looked promising. As far as Tim was concerned it started off good: some tight passages between rocks with carvings inside and the birds weren't too boring. Kalani was most fascinated by the whirlpool warning near the calm waters and Kekai couldn't keep his eyes off the lapwings. The road dead-ended at an old temple that was still in use and a dirty little path continued along a narrow stretch between the temple and the river before widening out into a floodplain then more rocky outcrops (lots of rocks in this part of India). As we gazed at the rocks, one of the boys shouted, "hey! There's a ruin up there," and, sure enough, there was. Now we had a destination and took off across the boulders to see what was up with that ruin. Once we got going, we realized the rocks were strewn with old structures (mostly just stone, but a few with the mud tops still standing), carvings on the stone, large stone steps, and a few temples. We spent several magical hours exploring before returning for breakfast and an autorickshaw drive to the main structures of Hampi.
We'd tried to find access to the river the evening before but had only found some mosquito-infested restaurants perched above shrubby banks. But while sipping tea and swatting mosquitoes I'd seen a banked stone path leading out of town along the river that looked promising. As far as Tim was concerned it started off good: some tight passages between rocks with carvings inside and the birds weren't too boring. Kalani was most fascinated by the whirlpool warning near the calm waters and Kekai couldn't keep his eyes off the lapwings. The road dead-ended at an old temple that was still in use and a dirty little path continued along a narrow stretch between the temple and the river before widening out into a floodplain then more rocky outcrops (lots of rocks in this part of India). As we gazed at the rocks, one of the boys shouted, "hey! There's a ruin up there," and, sure enough, there was. Now we had a destination and took off across the boulders to see what was up with that ruin. Once we got going, we realized the rocks were strewn with old structures (mostly just stone, but a few with the mud tops still standing), carvings on the stone, large stone steps, and a few temples. We spent several magical hours exploring before returning for breakfast and an autorickshaw drive to the main structures of Hampi.
After breakfast we hired an autorickshaw to take us on an all-day trip to the main ruins. They were truly amazing but too much for one day. By the time we got to the Vithala Temple Complex we were all almost too tired to appreciate the magnificence of it. Plus you're no longer allowed to tap the musical pillars (completely understandable given the number of tourists passing through) which I would have loved to have heard. But everything was spectacular anyway.
The final cool thing we did was to take a coracle down and across the river and hike up to the Hanuman temple. Ever since watching the Ramayana shows in Indonesia as a kid I've been fascinated by Hanuman so it was cool to be able to visit the place said to be his birthplace.