Escape from the City: A Weekend in Hampi

Getting out of Bangalore and experience Hampi, one of India's most beautiful cultural treasures: That's what we want to do on our third weekend in India.

Friday at 5:30 p.m. we are picked up by our driver, 355 km from Bangalore to Hampi - about 7 hours drive. The first two of them we spend in a traffic jam through Bangalore, only after that it's 'clear ahead'. We doze off and listen to an audio book, which is actually quite good. In between we stop for dinner.

Shortly before 1:00 a.m. we stop, a gated railroad crossing. When finally the train has passed, the driver starts the engine again - but only the grumbling of the starter comes. The car won't start!

The driver Veeresh gets out and looks and immediately discovers a flat tire. This is quickly and professionally changed. But the car still won't start. In the meantime it is half past two in the morning. A few buses pass by, dogs play on the street and in front of the small Hindu temple a few tuktuk drivers are sleeping.

Veeresh tries to start the engine by all means, both by fiddling with the engine, but also with a quick prayer. It stays like this. Nothing works anymore.

After a few phone calls to the hotel, they send a tuktuk to drive us the last seven kilometers. Arriving at the accommodation, we are a bit surprised. There is no soap, no toilet paper and the towel is not really clean either. But for now we have arrived, after all. Tired, we fall into bed.

The next day we wake up much earlier than wanted. On the Banana Farm, where we sleep, life begins. Around 7:30 a.m. we give up and peel ourselves out of bed. For breakfast we have Masala Dosa, a kind of pancake with potatoes and a Banana Lassi.

Afterwards we go by tuktuk to the old temple city, take our shoes off and then venture into the site. The area extends over 26 km^2, the old temples were built between the 14th and 16th century. In between, unfortunately, almost everything was destroyed by enemy conquests, but in the meantime many temples are at least partially rebuilt.

In the first temple complex, especially the huge, imposingly decorated tower is preserved.

We move on and climb a small hill to a Ganesha temple. On the way there we meet a group of girls who all would like to have a selfie with me - each individually 😅. Of course, I also want a selfie, but with all together.In the temple itself, an impressive Ganesha statue awaits us, a huge, massive stone block.

By tuktuk we drive a bit over the old Hampi bazaar. This is where the villagers used to live. The government no longer allows this and the families have been relocated. Ravindra, our tuktuk driver grew up here. He misses being close to the other families. Now, he says, they all live scattered around Hampi.

Together with him we walk a bit along the river. Here we see small round boats woven from rushes. We get into one of these and explore with a sympathetic guide/boatman some small temples that can only be reached via the river. The boat ride is very refreshing.

We have lunch at Chill Out, a small cozy restaurant. Afterwards we continue our journey to a bull temple for Shiva, a Hanuman (monkey god) temple and to another larger temple complex, which stands for several deities. From there we walk along another former bazaar - where horses and gems were sold - to the most famous temple, the Vittala temple. Despite the heat we enjoy the little walk very much as there is always a pleasant breeze.

In between we are suddenly surrounded by a group of Indian women. They hold their cell phones under our noses and chat, and scream and laugh. On the phone is someone in the video call, he should see us 😅. This is followed by a dozen more selfies until everyone is satisfied. We feel a bit like a celebrity and like to play along.

It is already quite late until we finally reach the Vittala temple. Nevertheless, we take a guide and let us explain everything, so you see much more! He shows us how insanely complex and well thought out the temple is. At the edge of the Wedding Hall, for example, are small drainage grooves for water. In the past, flowers were put into them. The water then ran through the flowers into a basin with candles, which could only develop their full fragrance through the water. That must have been beautiful.

But the architect had included other gimmicks, such as 3D sculptures that depicted seven different animals in one figure, depending on which angle you looked from. Our guide also has an eye and soft spot for good pictures and so he shoots one after the other of us full of fervor. We stay in the temple until we are whistled out by the guards.

In front of the temple a big festival took place during the day. The visitors now leave the area at the same time as us, which leads to many more selfies. Parents press me their small children in the arm, the children do not find that so great and cry. So now I'm the bogeyman for the very young 😅. But the young girls are no longer shy. They call us cheerfully, shake our hands and are happy about photos with us. And we are happy about photos with them. The dresses and their jewelry are too beautiful, the colors so bright.

Sunday starts early, already at 5:45 a.m. we are picked up by the hardworking tuktuk driver Ravi. Together, we have a coffee in one of the street kitchens, then Martin and I climb the mountain to the Shiva temple. Here, we want to see the sunrise. Despite the darkness, the path is clearly visible. This is partly because the stars are shining brightly, but also because many flashlights are shining as lots of people have the same idea as we do.

In the morning it is still pleasantly cool, but by the time we reach the top we have warmed up. In the temple we get a short blessing, then we climb to the temple roof. Slowly the sun rises behind the green hills, the river stretches as a blue ribbon through the landscape and the large ruins seem very small.

We drive back to the Banana Farmhouse for breakfast. Afterwards, we take a tuktuk to the outskirts of Hampi, through the green rice fields to a Hanuman temple, which is located on a mountain.

Together with many many Indians we push our way up step by step. Again and again 'jai Shrima' is shouted, murmured and hummed while the sun burns down on us. Towards the end we still have to squeeze through under a large rock, together with the masses one already comes closer 😳.

At the top we realize that here rather the path was the goal and quickly descend again. Down it goes much easier and now the people also want to take selfies again.

We drive back to Hampi for a short detour, visit the Queens Bath and another small Ganesha statue. Afterwards we meet our driver Veeresh again. The car is polished and repaired, the fan belt was broken. We make our way back to Bangalore. As soon as we sit in the car we doze a bit, the sun and the fresh air make us tired.

After two hours of driving, a short dinner break is called for - the raw onion takes some of the heat out of the curry we ordered 😅.

We reach Bangalore at sunset. That was a really great weekend trip. Now we are looking forward to our apartment, a shower and a Kingfisher beer.

Want to explore more of India's rich historic sites? Then follow us to Rajasthan in the north of the country.

Wander with us trough the lively streets of Jaipur 'the pink city' and the Palace of the Winds.