The endless boulder garden

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The night bus rides always seem to be a blur between states of consciousness. It is impossible to fall completely asleep because every 15 minutes your body is launched completely in the air from hitting a big bump. Amazingly though, the Indians on the bus sleep like they were in a comfortable bed. The early morning sun revealed an amazing landscape as we approached the small town called Hampi. Boulder ridden hills surrounded us in every direction. It was as if an earthquake rattled the mountains apart ages ago. The small village sat by the river and reminded us a lot of Mamallapuram. We found a small guest house in the alleyways close to the river's edge. The town had a very laid back atmosphere and we could tell that tourism was the soul source for the inhabitants' income. We spent the next few days exploring the hundreds of ruins that surrounded the village. They were the remains of one of the larger empires in the south about 600 to 700 years ago. The highlight is the Vittala Temple ruins. When struck, the pillars of the temple resonate different musical intonations. A large stone chariot greets you as you enter the complex. The stone wheels actually used to be able to roll. The ruins surrounding Hampi used to be inhabited by over 500,000 people. It is very eerie roaming around the empty ruins and imagining that they used to full of people. Hampi was so easy to relax in, we hung around for a few days. We found one our favorite Indian restaurants here too. It was called the Mango Tree. To get to it we had to walk about a mile down a dirt road and through the middle of a bannana plantation. The restaurant is situated on the bank of the river underneath an enormous mango tree. The view from the tables is spectacular and there was also a huge swing tied to the one of the tree's branches were you could swing out over the river bank. We went a few times and endulged in delicious cups of banana juice. This town and its ruins is definitely one of the highlights of India, I am glad we didn't miss it.

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