Blogs from Hampi, Karnataka, India, Asia
The river at Hampi
Leaving Palolem and Goa behind we began our journey to the remote and ancient ruined city of Hampi, an upsettingly long 400km drive away. Whilst driving up a hill and approaching a blind bend, a bus which had previously tried to pass us gave it another try. As the bus drivers cab just about passed ours the bus driver swung violently left and directly into us. Fortunately we managed to stop very quickly but the bus had by this point scrapped past the right hand side of our truck with some force. In the panic and shock of the situation, my first thought was that I must immediately eat the piece of chicken in my hand, I felt sure the situation could not be resolved until I had done so. As you can tell I (along ... read more
Hej igen! :) Endelig fik jeg bevaeget min numse vaek fra stranden. 3 uger i det fantastiske Goa, en uge mere end forventet. Det sted er farligt! Man bliver fanget i dets skoenhed. Derudover havde jeg noget lidt skroebeligt helbred i nogle dage, saa jeg blev ved med at booke en togbillet og saa ikke bruge den. Men det lykkedes til sidst, og nu befinder jeg mig i en af de smukkeste byer jeg nogensinde har oplevet. Vi ankom igaar efter en syv timers togtur fra Goa, oestpaa til Hospet, og derfra en tuctuc tur paa 20 minutter til Hampi. Togturen var ret fantastisk og smuk, rejsende paa sleepers class - et trin over generalclass, hvor alle bare sidder paa skoedet af hinanden. Vi havde en slags seng og masser af plads, pengene vaerd naar vi ... read more
We left Varkala and started our 26 hour train journey in the morning. It wasn't bad at all. The landscape was amazing and we had really nice people around our seats. The train got busy at times but I often had my lower birth to myself. Ant spent most of the time sitting at the open door enjoying the landscape. We arrived in Guntakal, Karnataka at 10.30am the next day, earlier than expected which was a bit of a surprise to us. We decided to treat ourselves to a taxi to Hampi rather than having to wait 4 hours and then boarding another train for 3 hours. The 3 hours taxi ride was worse than the 26 hours on the train. The roads are awful here - some are paved but not very well, they have ... read more
Virupaksha Temple
Anna and I spent one last night in Goa in the city on Panjim, a former Portuguese colony that is now an amalgam of Indian culture and Portuguese influence; Panjim feels very different from other Indian cities with it's cobblestone alleys, Baroque-style architecture and ornate Catholic cathedrals. Walking the streets was almost a nostalgic experience that reminded me of the romantic charm of Buenos Aires. The street food is also a blend of Portuguese products (more meat than I usually see) and Indian spices, we indulged in a strange dish of lentil stew, cabbage, topped with deep-fried bread, and then topped with corn and spices...good! Also lots of bakeries with beautiful baked-goods (see photo) so it's probably a good thing we only had one day here! It was nice to visit Panjim but I didn't mind ... read more
DSC05183
A World Heritage Site, Hampi is a place where you can lose yourself among the wistful ruins, or simply be mesmerized by the vagaries of nature, wondering how millions of years of volcanic activity and erosion could have resulted in a landscape so captivating (lonely planet). Since the minute I arrived to Hampi I fell in love with it. It is like heaven on the Earth. I even forgot a very long journey from Goa and all I wanted was to get a room quickly so I could go for a walk. The bus was supposed to arrive around 6 am to Hampi but it broke down on the way so we had to wait for 5 hours until replacement bus came. There were some English women who kept asking driver (who did not speak a ... read more
hampi 001
Waking in Gokarna town at 6am we checked out and headed to the bus station. Once chris had scrambled onto the bus rooftop to securely fix our backpacks (much to the amusement of the locals), we boarded the bus and embarked upon a 9 hour journey to Hospet en route to Hampi. Departing the bus we took a rickshaw 12km to Hampi Bazaar where the rickshaw driver recommended Archana Guesthouse. Taking a look inside we decided to stay and so bargained hard over room prices, eventually agreeing on 200 rupees/night. With accomodation sorted we then headed out for dinner before heading back to bed ready to explore the next day. The only real way to describe Hampi is Siem Reap (Cambodia - Angkor Wat) meets Rome meets the flinstones - a playground for historical and ancient ... read more
Hampi seems like weeks ago, time is really weird out here. We left Goa to get an early morning train to Hampi. We literally had no idea how to catch this train, so we trekked up and down the platforms asking people and looking for other travellers. My first experience of Delhi Belly was about to kick in so with half an hour to wait, no toilets and no clue where to stand I was not in best spirits. And then the train got delayed. Anyways after seriously contemplating the tracks as ways to relieve myself from the agony the train arrived yay!! The journey was uneventful. Trains are great though all day you just get people wandering up and down selling tea and food! We got to Hospet and claimed two rickshaws to get us ... read more
IMAG0776
Hampi is a backpackers enclave where people go and stay to escape the stresses of travelling in India. It is an extremely relaxing and beautiful place. Getting there was great as well, with the train ride seeing more random food vendors, than I had seen thus far on this trip. With my Delhi Belly well and truly by the wayside, I gorged on food for almost the entire train ride, from when I woke up, until when I got to Hampi. I also became the star attraction for a group of 7 children, who ended up making for the best company I had had whilst travelling by train in India. We played cards, snakes & ladders and Chinese checkers, for four hours or so. They were good kids and were very eager to practice English as ... read more
in Hampi
If the roads weren’t so crap the sleeper bus would be the way to travel. It was cheaper and more private than the 2AC class train, the double bed very comfortable, it’s just a shame that every now and then you would be woken as you were temporary suspended in midair as the driver hit a bump, pothole, or possibly a fealess tuk tuk that had no lights working, which there are many. With little sleep, we arrived into Hospet at 7am and were straight onto a tuk-tuk for a 10km journey to Hampi and straight into Venu Guesthouse. It’s the low season at the moment so accommodation was easy picking, as usual . A small rest and we were off to explore Hampi, I picked up a tourist map and commentary of Hampi from one ... read more
Fisherman on Tungbadhra river
Our arrival into Hampi (Hospet train station) brought with it the expected result that we’d become accustomed to upon getting to any touristy destination – touts! One spotted us before we had even got off the train and started the chatter soon after we got off. We dumped our bags and thankfully, the refusal to engage the tout whatsoever concluded in him leaving us in relative peace. I went searching for a rickshaw (he was there again) and then went and grabbed Zoe who’d stayed with the bags. The rickshaw drivers all seemed more intent on sitting around and chatting and didn’t seem overly inclined to make a deal. Tout to the rescue – our aforementioned friend came to the rescue and took us up to the bus stand for a half decent fee (despite trying ... read more
