Happy Journey Hampi
Lakshmi, the temple elephant was lying in the river by the boat crossing enjoying a good scrub from here keeper.
"You cheat me and you angry on me?" Welcome to the other side of the river. I arrived in Hampi early in the morning and instantly headed to cross the river to find a place to stay. Isaac, the owner of the Hema Guest House was about to show me a hut when he got into a fight with some of his other travel patrons. It was early and I was too tired to pay attention after a bumpy 11 hour bus ride. The place was clean and quiet. That's all I wanted.
Once I checked in I went for a walk past the rice plantations to another hut complex called the Goan Corner to have tea. It was recommended to me by someone in Goa and although it is a bit dirtier than Hema the guest house has a great atmosphere. I instantly recognized that the place would suck me in just like Arambol and took off to book a ticket out of town. There's a place to sleep on the roof for 30 rupees at the Goan Corner but I was happy with the 100 rupee hut at Hema.
The landscape of Hampi is absolutely unique. I've lamented the fact that my digital camera wasn't working more than once in the last 24 hours. The village is set amongst a hilly landscape of giant boulders and ancient ruins. Staying here is like living in Pompeii. This was once the most powerful Hindu empire and the ruins of temples, baths and palaces are a testament to its once powerful past.
As I explored some of the ruins behind the main temple I started chatting with another traveler until we got to a spot surrounded by a banana tree plantation. The structure looked like it would have been a bath in the past. I just stood there, the man I had been talking to wandered away and a woman walked towards me. She approached and we started talking and spent the entire day together. Her name was Sarah. We met for breakfast the next day before heading out for another day of exploring the elephant stables and old mosque. It was as if I had been waiting for her. Interestingly enough she mentioned it the following day over breakfast. It was a strange experience meeting a complete stranger as if they were an old friend. India.
At one point on our walk yesterday a group of girls and women saw my camera and started running towards us as if they couldn't wait to have their picture taken. After I took a picture they all asked for treats. It was strange seeing old women beg for cookies along with small children. Later, further down the road a group of about a hundred school children surrounded us and started shaking our hands. That got a bit freaky though because all of a sudden we were being mobbed by other groups of kids and we had to get out of there quickly.
We found a place with reasonably cool fresh lime sodas and sat watching the bazaar. Sarah sailed to India from Southeast Asia. She had been planning on doing an eight month sailing trip with her aunt but that was cut short and she jumped ship to join a French man who was heading back to Europe via India.
I met a French man waiting for the bus out to Hospet last night. He is on his way to Kochin just as I am. We plan to meet when we reach our destination. I don't have his email address. In India anything is possible.
"You cheat me and you angry on me?" Welcome to the other side of the river. I arrived in Hampi early in the morning and instantly headed to cross the river to find a place to stay. Isaac, the owner of the Hema Guest House was about to show me a hut when he got into a fight with some of his other travel patrons. It was early and I was too tired to pay attention after a bumpy 11 hour bus ride. The place was clean and quiet. That's all I wanted.
Once I checked in I went for a walk past the rice plantations to another hut complex called the Goan Corner to have tea. It was recommended to me by someone in Goa and although it is a bit dirtier than Hema the guest house has a great atmosphere. I instantly recognized that the place would suck me in just like Arambol and took off to book a ticket out of town. There's a place to sleep on the roof for 30 rupees at the Goan Corner but I was happy with the 100 rupee hut at Hema.
The landscape of Hampi is absolutely unique. I've lamented the fact that my digital camera wasn't working more than once in the last 24 hours. The village is set amongst a hilly landscape of giant boulders and ancient ruins. Staying here is like living in Pompeii. This was once the most powerful Hindu empire and the ruins of temples, baths and palaces are a testament to its once powerful past.
As I explored some of the ruins behind the main temple I started chatting with another traveler until we got to a spot surrounded by a banana tree plantation. The structure looked like it would have been a bath in the past. I just stood there, the man I had been talking to wandered away and a woman walked towards me. She approached and we started talking and spent the entire day together. Her name was Sarah. We met for breakfast the next day before heading out for another day of exploring the elephant stables and old mosque. It was as if I had been waiting for her. Interestingly enough she mentioned it the following day over breakfast. It was a strange experience meeting a complete stranger as if they were an old friend. India.
At one point on our walk yesterday a group of girls and women saw my camera and started running towards us as if they couldn't wait to have their picture taken. After I took a picture they all asked for treats. It was strange seeing old women beg for cookies along with small children. Later, further down the road a group of about a hundred school children surrounded us and started shaking our hands. That got a bit freaky though because all of a sudden we were being mobbed by other groups of kids and we had to get out of there quickly.
We found a place with reasonably cool fresh lime sodas and sat watching the bazaar. Sarah sailed to India from Southeast Asia. She had been planning on doing an eight month sailing trip with her aunt but that was cut short and she jumped ship to join a French man who was heading back to Europe via India.
I met a French man waiting for the bus out to Hospet last night. He is on his way to Kochin just as I am. We plan to meet when we reach our destination. I don't have his email address. In India anything is possible.
posted by LOTC at 1:07 AM
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