Jared says: As we drove into Hampi our rickshaw driver stopped to say “welcome to boulder city” and we gazed out to a quite surreal landscape which is a mixture of massive rock formations, with ancient ruins scattered throughout. After coming through our first overnight train journey unscathed, with us both getting a good few hours sleep, we were still a bit on the sluggish side, however, the beauty of the place quickly woke us up. We went for a walk round the sleepy little bazaar area, where shops and even the police station are built among the ruins and there is a big old temple at one end. We walked up some steps at the other end of the bazaar to find 
numerous ruins and a view of a big bazaar and temple that we just weren’t expecting to be so close and accessible. But that is the beauty of the place, and we found out the next day as we took a rickshaw tour around the big sights. We didn’t drive for more than 6-7 minutes each time before we were stopping to see another amazing piece of the 1500s nestled among the huge boulders. It is amazing to think what the area must have been like in its prime, with the Hindu dynasty that populated the area reaching 500,000 people. This was all ended quickly with a Muslim onslaught and although the ruins have been pilfered for their most valuable parts (numer
ous elephant statues have no trunks for example), there are still places left the same as they were in the 16th century. We saw elephant stables, palace bases, bathing pools, watch towers, summer palaces and a number of other ruin types that overall gave a real feel for how the place must have been when it was a thriving community. It is also a very religious area, with the temples some of the best preserved of the ancient buildings. The best of them have graphic murals carved in the stone depicting different Hindu stories as well as numerous images of the various deities, among the ornately columned structures. All truly spectacular and again very different to other sights we have seen on our travels.
One other difference to other Indian places was the ratio of foreign tourists, This was the first spot we had been since Varkala beach that seemed more set up for overseas tourists than local ones. We experienced this in effect on the first day when we went for lunch at a restaurant recommended by the lonely planet. The Mango Tree was a great restaurant that was almost carved into the river bank, but as we walked in we were
a little taken aback by the full house of western faces. It was good to have a few fellow travelers to talk to about various experiences and journey plans, but one can only imagine what the place must be like during peak season, as we were there during a very quiet time. Hampi is such a must see place I think it was well worth us bearing the off season heat (40 degree days), to get the majority of ruins to ourselves, or close to it, on most occasions.
Tessa says: On asking most travelers of India where their favorite place was to visit, almost unanimously the answer was Hampi. So even though the thought of melting in the Hampi heat made us weary we boarded our first overnight train. We traveled sleeper class, three tier, n
o AC, I was on the lower bunk, Jared in the middle. We were relieved to find that most people stick to their reserved bunk however I did have a little girl maybe 4 years old sleeping beneath me on the floor and her Mother next to her between the bunks. The 13 hour ride was smooth and the fans kept us cool enough that we both got a fairly decent sleep and felt more refreshed than if we had been on an Indian bus for 6 hours.
The first person to greet us coming off the train was a friendly rickshaw driver named Rahul, he offered us a lift into Hampi for a fair price so we clambered into his wagon and set off. He suggested a guesthouse for us to stay in and after our positive experiences with our previous two drivers we thought we’d give it a shot. He took us too Suresh Guesthouse who was run by an overweight Indian man who seemed to just sit in the rooftop restaurant above the Guesthouse
yelling at a group of about 5 lads who seemed to do everything, from cleaning the rooms to running errands. Our room had neon green walls and was basic but only cost 300rp ($10nz) a night. Sitting in the rooftop restaurant having a very average breakfast of omelet a guy, Chris, that we met in Ooty and had spent a little time with in Mysore rolled up. Taking it as a sign that we were in the right place at the right time we set off on foot to explore some of the sites around Hampi Bazaar.
The only way I can explain the ruins of Hampi is a mixture of Angkor and Rome. It has majestic soaring temples with beehive shaped roofs and columned structures that would not look out of place in Rome. Visiting these ruins, reading and hearing about them I could imagine the throngs of people, Holymen, and Royals that used to work, worship, rule and live here. It’s as if this vibrant bustling past is imprinted in the very stone that we could now walk around on and try to glean a
better understanding of by getting closer to it.
The next day Rahul took us on a rickshaw tour of Hampi, most people seem to hire pedal bikes but with the heat of the day easily soaring over 40 degrees we opted for a little open air in the back of the rickshaw. A lot of rickshaw drivers call it “turning on the AC”. We also had a young boy with us from the guesthouse who was the nephew of the manager and was on school holidays. He had very limited English but eagerly clambered over the ruins and was on most occasions more curious of us white folk than he was of the scenery.
Towards sunset we discovered Rahul’s passion for photography grabbing our camera fro
m us he asked us to “pose romantic” for him so he could take photos at various monuments. Jared and I now have over a hundred photos of us “posing romantic” and some of them have come out beautiful. For the end of the tour he took us up a mountain of boulders where we could watch the sunset over the ruins. We were the only people there, we took a moment to watch the sun slink behind the boulders and reflect on our amazing day. It made us feel blessed to be able to have this quiet peaceful time in what can often be a harrowing whirlwind of emotions that traveling India is.
Accommo: Suresh Guesthouse, basic room, good fan most of the time but power was out most of last night which made it hot, ***.
Eats: Mango Tree, great location, tasty food. ****
New Shanti, great pizza and lasagna and good atmosphere ****.
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