Blogs from Hampi, Karnataka, India, Asia - page 8

I had been to a study tour off late to hampi...the place is MagNifiCent n EnthRaLliNg..!! The place is very wel marketed by KSTDC quite wel...The Hampi UTSAV is organised yearly to popularise the historic n cultural feats of Golden Period of VIJAYNAGAR Empire in the History of South India....The drawbacks i found was the lack of facilities such as water, toilets, resting sheds...the guide we hired was non-english speaking n dat caused a problem for students who were not from karanataka..apart from these i'd suggest the govt to look into coming out with tar roads where possible & lay few benches for the visitors to rest while they are exhausted...... read more

Hot Hampi Wow! what a contrast. We found ourselves in the middle of a "lunar" landscape, large smooth boulders lay all over as if sprinkled from the sky. Forming hills and defying gravity by balancing in the most unlikely way, one on top of the other. For at least a thousand years this has been a holy place. Evidence of stone temples and forts was everywhere, spread out over a vast, mesmerizing landscape, cut through by several crystal clear rivers. We stayed in the old town of Hampi Bazaar, made almost entirely of local stone. The bazaar itself seemed unchanged, and families still lived in the most basic accommodation....going to the river each morning to bathe and wash clothes, and often sleeping under the stars at night, trying to escape the desert heat. We took a ... read more

The bus to Hampi is a sleeper and this is far more comfortable than the awful journey from Mumbai. After 18 hours on mountain roads we roll in to Hampi accompanied by an entourage of eager rickshaw drivers shouting up at the open windows promising cheap rides when we reach the town. Hampi is a crumbling ruin of a time long forgot with temples and other ancient buildings lining the huge thoroughfare in to town. Like many places in India the modern populace occupy the ruins and today this is still a thriving community, though the main if only commerce is tourism. Across once grand temple entrances hang the usual nicknackery and a host of touts and beggars eagerly await the daily bus full of business. We decide to stay on the other side of the ... read more

Well, I had originally planned to publish a photo update several days ago with many older pictures, but the computer I was using at the time would not allow me to upload photos. So I will combine the photo update with a quick description of Hampi, the last city I visited. Hampi is a tiny town located on the Deccan Plateau of Southern India. It is situated in a river valley and surrounded by some of the largest boulder fields I have ever seen. Most of the surrounding area is arid, but the river valley provides a green oasis where coconuts, bananas, rice, and pineapples are grown. Hampi today is a shadow of its former self. This tiny town was once located at the center of the powerful Vijayanagar Kingdom, which dominated southern India in the ... read more

Hampi & Bangalore Hi guys, last time I wrote it was from Palolem in my beach hut. A lot have happen since then, first we decided to go to Hampi, again one of the highlights in our Lonely Planet. We booked a sleeper bus from Chaudi to Hampi for 700 Rupees per head (it's an ok price), surprisingly the ride was not bad, we even manage to sleep most of the trip. When we got to our destination at about 7:00 am, an army of rickshaw was waiting for all the new tourist, of course they all knew the best guest house and could offer us tours trough all the ruins and temple worth to see in the area. Daphne and I had already booked at Sri Lakshmi Golden Beach Resort, according to our guide it ... read more