Blogs from Hampi, Karnataka, India, Asia - page 22

Our Hampi story begins with a 12 hour night bus from Mapusa. A comfy affair with full on double beds enclosed in compartments. After a bit too much 'fizzy pop' it wasn't long before we forced the bus to stop for a comfort break. As we were getting out Caz misjudged the steps and carried on going into the ditch. For a while Mark was confused and couldn't understand where Caz had gone. Comedy - it was time for bed I think... Waking up early in Hampi, we rolled off the bus, past the hastle of rickshaw hawkers and into the nearest nice looking guest house. For the rest of the trip we we in the hands of a 'rickshaw mafia', we had an amazing time and wouldn't change it for the world but in the ... read more

Now camped out in Soofia's home-town Bangalore, but first Hampi... Hopped on the day train to Hospet for Hampi from Margao in Goa and met a nice couple on the train.. Very nice ride; first up through the mountains and jungle, past waterfalls. Then across a fertile plain with huge fields of sunflower, red peppers, corn, and other crops we couldn't identify. I hopped of the train to get some small bills at one stop and semi-accidentally bought almost 2 bunches of bananas; at least the price was good. At Hospet we disembarked into the typical group of rickshaw touts and used the rude, but most effective tactic of politely saying 'no thanks' once, then ferociously ignoring. We decided to book our tickets onward to Bangalore right then, since we were at the station. Booking tickets ... read more

Hampi is located a quarter of the way up India towards the center amidst a sublime boulder scattered desert. The town itself is small and relies on the tourism that flocks to examine the fascinating temple ruins of Vijayanagar which dates back to 1336. It is an extremely hard place to explain and describe but would be one of the most unique places I’ve ever been. During it’s peak period the city would have been covered kilometers, but only a small portion of the once mighty empire remains. The buildings, temples and bazaars appear to be something from Rome with it’s arcade of columns, pillar temple facades, aqua ducts and public bathing enclosures. Then there is the landscape which is something out of this world. Boulders appear to be placed on boulders to form mountains, its ... read more

Hampi is quite chilled out, with the main bazaar, temple and bustle on the south side of the river, and a calmer scene north of the river with really nice places to stay packed with Israelis and travellers. Have spent few days wandering around the ruins of Vijayanagar which used to be the capital of one of India's largest Hindu empires. Have also spent lots of time just boulder watching - the landscape is really strange - looks a bit like huge boulders have just been placed on top of each other... I'm sure with my geography alevel i should understand. I've been here 3 days and plan to leave tomorrow for Bangalore - civilsation and chaos. ... read more

Well a happy 2007 to everyone we hope that the festive season was exactly that and that the start of this New Year is all as you have planned. At this moment, we are both in Kathmandu Nepal, this place is so refreshing friendly, we like it a lot. So much has transpired since our last entry, we’ve been living life to the fullest of late and I guess our blog updates… well, have not been put on a back burner, as such, just not enough hours in a day if you know what I mean. The Intruder After being so grounded by the majesty of the view upon Hanuman mountain, our first morning in Hospet proved to be equally memorable only in a not so memorable way, as you will understand shortly. Hotel Malligi is ... read more