Journey to Hampi

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Today was a long drive north to Hampi. There was a noticeable change in the landscape. Here it is drier, like a scrubby desert. The soil is a red colour and there are many collections of boulders. The boulders are ancient granite that over a very long time has gradually weathered. The road to Hampi included a fast motorway section that had very little traffic and an ordinary road that was very busy with lorries. On this section there were hardly any cars, just lorries. Accidents arecommon on this stretch. The lorries come from all parts of India. Their registration plates indicate the state they come from. Some came from Rajastan.

We met our new guide and he introduced Hampi and showed us Krishna's temple. All the temples at Hampi are ruins because the ViJayanagara empire was defeated by the Muslim Deccan rulers in C16. The ruins were uncovered by the British in the middle of C19. A big theme in Hampi temples is the Ramayana story. This story relates to Sita the wife of Rama being captured and taken to Sri Lanka.



The journey to uramma heritage where we are staying was interesting. It is in the village of Anegundi which is across the river from the main Hampi area. There is a very small ferry across the river. It takes motorbikes and foot passengers, but not cars. Cars can reach the village, but it is a very long way round. We took the ferry with our luggage. On the other side it was a very short tuk tuk journey to the cottages.

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