Hampi - Matanga Hill

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Despite the best of intentions with regard to getting up early to see ‘sunrise hill’ after a rubbish nights sleep due to the noise we decided to stay in bed a little later instead... It actually turned out rather well. There was no way we would have been able to navigate the route up in the dark and it would have been rather dangerous.

There seem to be a number of ‘sunrise hills’ and ‘sunset points’ in Hampi depending on who you talk to. We took it to be Matanga Hill. We walked up from the Hampi bazaar side. This was a fantastic walk with great views and some interesting, original steps and slightly scary boulders to walk over. On the way up we found a short cave system in between the boulders that eventually led to a shrine. I think this is one of the best things about Hampi - you can go and explore where you like and there seems to be something of interest pretty much everywhere.

At the top of the hill there’s a temple and great views of the area from all sides. We decided to walk down the other side of the hill - this path is much more straightforward with steps built in all the way up. We had been hoping to then walk over to the Royal Centre (the other side of Hampi), but discovered that the little footbridge had been washed away! Deciding not to risk trying to climb over the river on a fallen tree (to Stephens disappointment), we went back into Hampi bazaar and found that the river walkway was now open again.

After lunch we headed over to our new accommodation - a hotel on the edge of the other side of the site, in Kamalapuram. It has towels, loo roll, large doors, curtains and a swimming pool (and it’s only £5/night more than the other place!). It’s quiet but the walk to the temples from here is along a road so doesn’t feel quite as special as being in Hampi itself. Hopefully the extra sleep will be worth it though!

The afternoon we went for a wonder from our new hotel. Once off the road wondering around is very pleasant. The landscape is flatter and less interesting than from Hampi bazaar and there’s more distance between buildings. We saw Chandrashekara, Saraswathi and Ranga temples, an octagonal bath, another step well and the remains of basements of palaces. Once we got to the main attractions of the royal palaces we decided to head back and see them on another day when we were less tired.

After a lovely swim, we had a delicious meal in the hotel (Clark’s inn) before heading to bed for an early night.

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Photos

Exploring on way up Mantanga hill
This little cave entrance led us around to a small shrine after a little walk requiring a bit of squeezing between boulders and torch light

Octagonal well
In Royal Centre

Lakshmi Narasmiha
6.7m high

Comments

[Keep Smiling]

Explorers...
...not tourists! I'm really enjoying your adventure. Despite the weather, it seems that monsoon time is better for exploring around Hampi than the dry, sunny months as there are fewer backpackers around. P.S. I wonder as I wander (see your final paragraph - I was a proof reader in a previous life!). ;0)

[Mcewans]

Oh dear, you’re welcome to keep proof reading. As a scientist my grammar isn’t always very good... or my spelling for that matter. Glad you’re enjoying it! We’re certainly having a lot of fun and yes, it’s definately nice avoiding the crowds :)

[Keep Smiling]

The Austrian artist and writer Gunter Brus once said: 'Writing without making mistakes is like vomiting hot air'. (Given Stephen's later illness, this seems appropriate!).