Halfway down India, in Hampi.

Friday, November 04, 2016
Hampi, Karnataka, India
And off to Hampi we went.
A 5 hour bus, then an overnight 12 hour sleeper bus .
The quality of the sleeper bus has now hit an all time low.
More cramped than usual, grimy covers, no window to seal ourselves in with, and pit stops that literally made me throw up in the flower bed.
Im still nauseous in patches from the Delhi Belly.
We travelled through Ahmedabad at sunset.
It is the capital of Gujarat, and I had considered visiting here, as there were the evasive Step wells in the area.
Oh my goodness, lucky for us that we didnt visit.
The industrial pollution was so bad, that we coulnt see sky, and could taste the pollution.
Huge smoke stacks belched out acrid smoke, as far as the eye could see.
We arrived in Hampi about 7h30, got a tuk tuk to our GH, and settled in to a dark little room, whose saving grace was a nice ish restaurant above our room.
After bkfst, the tuk tuk driver took us to the first temple .
I couldnt appreciate it as waves of exhaustion and dizziness assailed me.
It was really hot too, so I returned to our room, got a migraine and went to bed for the day.
Martina braved a day of sight seeing .
The next day I ventured out for half an hour, then back to relax and catch up on my blog.
That evening I braved a very tomatoey spaghetti.
Eew, it was so rich, and had what tasted like sand, in it.
I was so hungry, I persevered, and ate half.
Noooo, that wasnt a good idea!!
The Delhi Belly kicked right on back into gear.
Charming !
I spare you the details this time.
Lets just say that it strips any vestiges of energy from your body.
Thank goodness we were 5 days in Hampi.
Eventually, I got out of the room for a day, on the 3rd day.
Martina and I went past the temples, down to the river, watched the single Temple elephant having his daily scrub, caught a boat across to the other side, walked past all the hippy guest houses, wished we had known about this peaceful side of Hampi, next to cut rice fields and boulder strewn hills.
Martina turned back, she wished to rest, I hired a scooter and driver and put-putted 6 kms to the entrance of the Monkey Temple.
The surrounding lush green rice fields, palm trees, water buffalo, massive boulders strewn everywhere, ancient stone aquaduct were delightful, especially on a slow bike .
Looking up the steep mountain, to where the temple perched on top, and finding out that there were 575 steep steps up to the top, made me recalculate my sanity (which at the best of times is questionable)
It was our 2nd last day, And I was determined to at least see some of Hampi.
Otherwise the 17 hr trip here was a waste of time!
So up I went, a rather dizzy, hot hike, but the lovely scenery made up for it.
I was ecstatic when I got to the top, and walked around to gaze at the astounding view.
Sadly, it was hazy on the one side, so my photos werent very clear.
A group of brown sari clad Army women wanted photos with me.
I marvelled at how pretty a uniform could be, when its in a sari form.
There was a festival from today, in town, for 3 days, and the commercial helicopters were flying 10 minute stints,with mostly local tourists, over the sights.
I spent some time on top of the mt, and blissfully, the walk down was easy.
Back to the river on the scooter, chatting away with the driver.
Ive heard so many peoples brief life stories along my trip, its interesting .
And they, in turn,are just as curious about us.
I bought some colourful hand bags close to the river, at a delightful ladies little stall.
The view across the river was so picturesque.
On the other side I visited the temples.
I got to see a step well at last, though it was basic in design, not ornate at all, but had a great reflection in it, of the main temple.
Only found out halfway through my visit in the one temple that I wasnt allowed to photograph inside the temple.
I took a few more quick shots, and got a stern rebuke from a white moustached official, who waved a finger at me.
When I left the temple, I passed him, gave him a big smile, wink and thumbs up.
He just laughed at this cheeky white woman!
All in all, I so enjoyed my excursion today.






Comments

Mrs Cranna
2016-11-27

Dear Elise,
Its so interesting to follow your amazing journey
Enjoy !

2025-02-17

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