My entire Hampi trip can be summarized by the word - Bewildering!
I really could write on and on about it, but I would like to use more pictures than words. The place speaks for itself and the golden era that the times during the Vijayanagara empire had been and namely Krishnadevaraya (then his progeny) had shown while keeping the Moghuls at bay for over a 100 years. The aqueducts and plan would still hold good, trust me. At least on a small scale. Try checking the hyperlinks to get what I mean.
Be it the sheer beauty of the ruins, the simplicity of the people, the river, drastic changes in nature, the whole place was mindblowingly beautiful.
I have always believed that the behavior of people change with the place they are in, even if the effect is the slightest, it does. I did. I could think clearly, worry less, and just let go! Believe me, there’s nothing better than planning a short getaway on the fly, preferably in the company of someone you like or all alone.
The auto ride to the train station was exactly as expected. We reached at the nick of the time only to realize that the canteen was out of any decent food and the overbridge to platform 9 and 10 has been closed for repair, yada yada. Land on platform 8 and you hardly have the time to look for the underpass, so what do you do? You sprint! You sprint over the wet, muddy, goo-laden railway tracks and scramble up the platform just in time or so you think. Because, d-uh! the train has been delayed by 45 mins owing to unknown reasons! An idle chat ensued while a very pretty German gal walked over to just say a "Hi" and make some inquiry. A new acquaintance made alright.
The moment the train left the Bangalore station, things started to unravel and uncomplicate, literally.
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We got down at Hospet and took a Rs.100/- bumpy auto-ride to Hampi. Scenic, again. It is a given.
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We reached on the evening and we decided to look around ourselves at places of which my trip-companion knew of already. We took the cycle and saw the ancient market places and the Achutaraya Temple...
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You need not worry about food at all! It is like a cottage industry there and you get an amazing variety. Hell! The first time I heard of Falafal was when I was in Egypt this May, and here, they "actually" serve Falafal since before I was born! I feel so retarded!
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There are many places to visit - Virupaksha temple, Jain temples, the bazaars, this, and that. We saw it all and here’s the testimony...
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We trekked to the Vittala temple and I am happy that we did. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have realized how nice people can be. Out there, the corruption hasn’t reached, not even the police, and that’s saying something, innit?
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A friend had asked me to crossover to the other side of Tungabhadra where the real beauty lies. Alas! we couldn’t. The river was flooding, and coracles or boats were stopped from ferrying, and the bridge had submerged, but honestly, I am going back there. I will do the other side later. By road, like the European clan went, it would be over 40KMs. Not wise given the time we had in hand, an extended weekend. The river managed to keep me occupied, really. There we were, sitting on a rock, soaking our feet in the water, and the next day, it was 15 ft under water! The tea stall we went at, was semi-submerged. It was unbelievable!
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I have not said it all, but this post has been long and exhausting. To write, I mean. I almost need another trip to Hampi to rejuvenate ;)