Ancient Hampi 🇮🇳

Hampi is a very unique place in southern India. It is surrounded by rice paddy fields, palm trees and boulders. It is divided into two parts by a river that flows through it. It has a feeling of a secluded paradise filled with the beauty of nature along with historic ruins and temples.

It is home to one of the most historically rich places, being an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The history of Hampi dates back to the 2nd and 3rd century. Ceramic potteries have been found from those centuries. At one point, Hampi was one of the biggest trading centers of the world. Hampi was rich in art and architecture and you can truly observe and appreciate this today.

Hii Mitchy!! Off to the right :) :)

After being dropped off by the bus we started searching for a bridge to cross to the North side. You would think there would be a bridge for pedestrians to cross. However, the only bridge that has been built is 30 kilometers away. There is a small “boat” that takes passengers on a 30 seconds ride. This “ferry” service seemed more like a monopoly ring run by a small group of individuals who sat on either side of the river ensuring there would be no complications or issues from those wishing to cross. The motorist collected the 50 rupees (a little less than $1) from all 20 passengers that boarded the boat. Not a bad business this group had going on!

Our plan was to rent a motorbike to enjoy the freedom of exploring around. We wanted to walk a little bit past the highly condensed tourist area called Hippie Island which is right past the river crossing. With our bags weighing close to a total of over 100 pounds, we didn’t make it very far. All of the rental bike shops took advantage of our sign of weakness by pressuring us to take the weight off our backs and put it on a rental bike, it sounded so nice!

We stopped at a quiet rental shop where one employee was sleeping on a bike and the other was off in the corner on his phone. There was no pressure to rent one, so we took the opportunity to approach the two rather than us being bombarded with sales pitches. Ramir, the man sleeping on the bike who was in charge of the shop, was kind enough to not only rent us a bike at a good rate but also to bring us to our camp which was a good 8 km away. The only thing Ramir didn’t realize at that moment was the weight that sat in our bags. Once we signed the paperwork (one signature on a scrap of paper), Ramir grabbed my bag and practically fell over from the unexpected amount of weight. He looked at both of us with a look that needed no words, because we knew what he was thinking:

“Holy moly this is heavy”

Ramir hopped on his bike with our bags and we jumped on our bike with one bag on our backs as we followed him to our camp. We arrived and immediately dropped our bags with the excitement knowing we wouldn’t have to pick them back up for at least a few days.

We took full advantage of the motorbike, enjoying the freedom of exploring around without traffic, dust, loud noises, etc. Simply freshness, cleanliness, stunning views, secret caves, and very positive vibrations. It is a very touristy destination for Indian people. It was nice to see that maybe 85% of the tourism was local rather than foreign. It makes you feel less touristy and more a part of the culture.

On our first trip with the bike, we drove around to check out the area. We came across a large temple that sat upon the large boulders. When we arrived, we continued walking higher past the temple and reached an incredible viewpoint of the area. Massive piles (practically mountains) of these impressive boulders. As we continued along the path that overlooked Hampi, we saw a large group of monkeys perched up on the rocks that sat on the path. We slowly and carefully approached them, they didn’t move – they just sat back and observed us and the landscape.

After we spent our time with the monkeys, we decided to test the waters with the boulders. Off the walking path, we began climbing these boulders, one step, push, and pull at a time we started making our way up the boulders. The strong, jagged boulders kept calling us to continue climbing, we are both a little stubborn when it comes to this. We always want to keep going, we never know when we should stop. We finally reached a point that seemed to have no safe “route”. Beautiful scenery going down as the sun was also setting for the day.

A few days after, it was time to cross the river again to explore the opposite side. We were determined to find a way across the river without taking the monopoly boat. We made our way to alongside the river after crossing a small marshy area to find that there was no clear path to the other side. We stood on the little beach, disappointed that we had failed and decided to turn back to join the rest of the normal river-crossers.

Wait, not so fast…us, normal? Come on.

Both of us were trying to find the way to cross, fighting the urge to turn back, when an old man (Santosh) on a complete makeshift raft seemed to be crossing the river. This “raft” was a small plastic circular device that had a couple of holes towards the top of the sides of the vessel. He rowed through the current with his small paddle and made it to our beach. He looked at us and us at him, then he pointed to his boat and to the other side of the river. We nodded our heads with excitement as he signaled to us:

Hop on in!

We proudly made it across the river in Santosh’s raft! We explored the south side of Hampi, amazed at the large monuments surrounded by individual boulders. Just a fascinating place!

Back at the camp site, our New Year’s celebration was very different from any other year, something we believe to be a beginning of a new tradition. On the 31st we wrote down 3 negative feelings or habits that we no longer want to have with us. We shared our lists with each other and reflected on how we can keep one another in check by encouraging to stay true to our lists. Ideally you would burn the list, but we just ripped them into pieces. After going to bed early as usual, we were fresh, feeling with a lot of energy to begin the New Year. It felt like any other day to be completely honest and it was a really good feeling.

Hampi is an absolutely stunning piece of nature, one that is definitely worth visiting. Very recommended to stay on the North side and also one night on the South side to be able to see the sunrise and the sunset from Matanga hill.

Namaste and lots of love to you all,

M&M