Hampi

We got to Hospet in the morning and found a bus to take us to Hampi. This town lies in the ruins of Vijayanagara which was the capital of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire. Once we got off the bus, there were dozens of rickshaw drivers waiting to take us to hotels. Luckily we decided to walk because it turned out that we were a 2 minute walk from all the hotels. It's very tempting to just hop in a rickshaw once you get off a bus, but this is when you can be charged a lot more because you have no idea where you are. We checked out a couple places and finally settled on a place run by an older couple. Once we settled in the room, I found red marks all over my thighs and lower back. I found a bug crawling in my pants and realised there had been bed bugs on the bus. My cousin was alright since she was sitting in a different set of seats. I showered and washed the clothes I'd been wearing. All the hotels in Hampi seemed to have rooftop restaurants so we went up to ours for a quick bite to eat.

After lunch, we walked to Virupaksha temple located on the main street of Hampi. It is considered the msot sacred pilgrimage sight in Hampi. Monkeys climbed over the intricate carvings on the entrance way. There was an elephant named Lakshmi who blessed visitors to the temple by tapping them with her trunk once she received a coin from them. A group of men asked if we would take a picture. We assumed they meant a photo of them with the elephant, but they actually wanted a picture of us. We refused, and were surprised that even in the presence of an elephant that gives blessings, they were still interested in a couple of foreigners.

After visiting the temple, we walked up Hernatuka Hill to check out some old ruins and temples. The hill was high enough that you could see for miles, and the terrain was very interesting because it consisted mainly of hills made of large boulders. Hampi is a really peaceful place and I loved walking through old ruins and sitting on boulders while watching the view.

For dinner we went to Mango Tree which was a restaurant recommended in our Lonely Planet guidebook. It was built on a cliff by the edge of the water surrounded by trees. We ordered mango lassis and cashew nut curry, then headed home since we were waking up early the next morning.

We woke up early to see the elephant Lakshmi being bathed by the river. There were many locals washing there as well. We took a rickshaw to the Royal Centre of Hampi, where many more ruins had been preserved. It is a little tricky to bargain for rickshaws in Hampi because there are not allowed to travel without a passenger. It is best to reserve a return trip to avoid being stranded somewhere. Also, to get around this rule, many drivers travel with one of their friends so it can be awkward getting into a rickshaw when there is another stranger. After the Royal Centre, we visited Vittala temple via a footpath along the river.

We had been told by several travellers to check out a nearby waterfall so we set out the next morning to find it. We got almost all the way there but we were having trouble figuring out how to cross a patch of tall bushes. A man on the other side pointed out the way and then showed us to the waterfalls, which was really more like a stream rushing through a ton of boulders. The water had eroded them in to interesting shapes and it was a lot of fun to navigate our way around. The man told us that he lived in a small hut under one of the boulders and he made a living by taking tourists on boat rides back to the main city. We decided instead to walk but thanked him for his time.

Once back in the city, we decided to do a little shopping. Many of the shops had been built into the structures that remain from the Vijayanagara Empire. We bought a couple things, but noticed that the experience was very different from the other places we had been. Hampi has recently become a new tourist destination and I don't think all the shopowners are used to dealing with tourists yet.

That night, we took the bus to Mysore. It was definitely my most uncomfortable bus ride so far. The roads were incredibly bumpy and at every bump the windows would slide open so it was freezing all night. On the plus side, the bus was pretty empty so we were able to lie across several seats.