Trip to the Hampi Ruins

As far as my favorite modes of transportation are concerned, overnight buses in India rank near the bottom.  But since last-minute train tickets were impossible to buy due to a three-day holiday, we were left with little choice if we wanted to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site called The Groups of Monuments at Hampi.  Despite no bathrooms, no sleep, and incessant honking on the overnight buses, this trip was the crown jewel of our travels in south India, and I'm so glad we went.  UNESCO writes this about the site:

"The austere, grandiose site of Hampi was the last capital of the last great Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar. Its fabulously rich princes built Dravidian temples and palaces which won the admiration of travellers between the 14th and 16th centuries. Conquered by the Deccan Muslim confederacy in 1565, the city was pillaged over a period of six months before being abandoned."

We packed only a few things in our backpacks:  sunscreen, mosquito repellant, hand sanitizer, our sunglasses, a hat, a few extra clothes just in case, and "borrowed" two washcloths from the hotel.  We almost missed our bus to Hospet (about 9 miles from the Hampi ruins) because our auto driver didn't know which bus station to take us to, so he dropped us off at the main bus station.  Fortunately, a helpful ticket agent put us on a bus that was going to the terminal we wanted, and we managed to board the correct bus.  The overnight sleeper buses had a double-wide berth on one side, which was the type that Muir and I booked, and a single-width berth across the aisle.  Each sleeping berth was outfitted with a privacy curtain and a few inches of dense foam cushion, with one side slightly higher, simulating a pillow.  The foam cusion was covered by a waterproof pleather-y material and the whole thing was topped with a blue cotton chambray sheet.  I think there were supposed to be wool blankets, but we didn't have any.  Nevertheless, the night was warm enough to sleep without any covers.  There was a raised metal rack near our feet where we stored our backpacks, and with our feet under the racks, even Muir managed to lie completely outstretched.  If that doesn't sound luxurious enough, let me repeat that there was no bathroom on the bus and we were looking at a 7-hour ride through the boonies of India.  Not to mention that the roads were VERY bumpy and there was honking from all manner of vehicles outside the whole night.  I don't think either of us slept more than an hour or so in 20-minute stretches.

We arrived in Hospet just after 6AM in complete darkness and staggered off the bus to find ourselves on what appeared to be a practically deserted street with structures only one-building deep on either side of the road.  I don't recall any street lamps.  Most of the light I remember came from the illuminated signs above the shops and one large restaurant on the corner.  Even so, we were greeted by an auto rickshaw driver named Ravi, who offered to chauffer us around Hampi for the day for 1500 Rupees, about $30 USD.  We had already decided that we wanted to hire an auto driver to take us around for the day because the weather was going to be around 90 degrees, sunny, dry, and the ruins are sprinkled over an area of ten square miles, which was more than we could probably cover in one day on foot.  After a trip to  an outhouse, we were off!

Our tour of Hampi lasted from basically sunrise to sunset, and I've posted the photos and videos below.

My two favorite sunrise shots

Dog vs. monkeys.  I think they were fighting over bananas
that some other tourists were feeding to the monkeys.

After sunrise, Ravi drove us back to get breakfast at this really fun rooftop restaurant and hostel.  I think it was at the Rama Guest House.  They served delicious lassi and had a decent selection of non-Indian breakfast items.  I had a crepe and scrambled eggs.  Muir had a set breakfast of porridge, eggs, toast, and juice.

After breakfast, we watched the locals bathe their captive elephant.

After that it was lots of ruins.  I do not remember all of their names, so I won't make myself look foolish by trying to recall them all.  Just enjoy some of our photos.

Huge statue of Ganesh

Another statue of Ganesh

Collection of ruins with an Indiana Jones-like sundial in the center.

The (modern-day) Hampi bazaar can be seen behind this temple.

Stone pergolas, once part of an ancient bazaar.
Hampi was known for it's wealth of gold, silver, and diamonds,
which could be bought and sold at the grand bazaar.

Entrance to the Krishna Temple

Inside the Krishna Temple

A scary-looking statue of a god

Bats on the ceiling of the Underground Temple

Indian woman and statue of god Nandi in the
Underground Temple

The queen's summer palace.  It features both Hindu and Muslim architecture.
The first floor ceiling was made of one foot of mud below two feet
of water which served to cool the air underneath.

The elephant stable!  Notice the variety of geometric domes
topping the stables.

Bananas!

Lunch and our shady view at the Mango Tree Restaurant

Wall of carvings

Ornate columns

Black marble column inside a building

Giant black marble bath (?) inside the Royal Fort 

Intact statue

Bamboo bowl boats to the Monkey Temple

Ok, I should probably pause here to talk about the coup de grace of our tour around Hampi, which was a river boat ride on one of the above bamboo bowl boats, followed by a hike through some rice paddies, ending with a climb up 675 stairs to the Monkey Temple.  We booked our passage at about 5:30 PM and managed to make it to the temple for sunset at 6:15PM.  Then we turned around and paddled back in the waning light until it was completely dark by the time we reached the starting dock again.

*I tried to find the movie that the tour guide mentioned, and I think it was The Myth, which was shot only seven years ago, in 2005.

My only qualm with the boat ride was that they switched bowl boat captains on us in the middle to a boy who must have been no more than ten years old.  The use of child labor put a damper on that part of the trip.  If I had known, we wouldn't have taken it.

Sunset!

We were ferried down the Tungabhadra River

More gorgeous sunset!

Tired and dirty, but happy