There and back again - Hampi

Just before the wedding, we sent friends and family to Hampi, while we stayed in Goa overseeing last minute preparations. Of course we were going to visit it soon too as it isn’t too far away. A year has passed and we reached the point, where staying in Goa and not visiting Hampi is just embarrassing.

And so we decided to take a road trip with couple of friends, just last weekend.

It is truly a stunning place, but getting there was quite a nightmare! We trusted Google maps to choose the best route for us, and ended up doing a lot of cross country/ off-road driving, on the road itself. To be fair, part of it is the best quality highway I’ve seen in India. The rest…well, the closest comparison would be the moon craters. 

Hampi is a small town in Karnataka, about 300 km from Goa. It is believed that the region was first mentioned in 3^rd century BC, but majority of monuments belong to Vijayanagara period (XIV-XVI CE). Though never completely forgotten, Hampi became a point of interest in 1970’s and is now a Unesco heritage site.

 

Apart from the fantastic architecture, the scenery is quite unique. The rock formations shaping the landscape are quite bizarre. Temples are precariously squatting among enormous boulders, stacked in delicate balance. It is one of those places where you can easily believe in some “higher power”. Why, it must have been a giant emptying bags of stones, not a volcanic rocks and centuries of harsh winds…

After the nigh drive, we decided to rest in one of the guesthouses situated across the river form all the temples. I would definitely recommend staying there, rather than in Hampi or near the monuments. The views are breathtaking and the atmosphere is much more relaxed.

In the evening, we went to Hanuman's temple situated on top of one of the boulder stacks. After climbing some 500 stairs, we witnessed beautiful spectacle of sun setting over the eerie landscape. 

Next day, we ventured to “the other side”, crossing the river in a tiny boat. I know that people often complain, that after day of visiting, it all turns into a blur of carved columns and statues, and you are unable to tell one temple from the other, but I found our trip very engaging and interesting till the end. 

I was especially happy to see the famous water tank, though it’s definitely not the biggest attraction around Hampi. Ever since I’ve seen Paheli – beautiful Bollywood fairytale, I’ve been dying to see it. Probably it’s the influence of the movie, but there is something magical about this place. 

The whole trip was fantastic, but if I could plan it all over again, I would definitely give us one or two more days. I feel, we didn’t have enough time to explore all the monuments, and just driving around, breathing in the scenery would be a treat!