stone chariot

old bazaar

Lotus Temple

Lotus Temple

Elephant stables

Reservoir

birth offerings

secret meeting rooms

stepped tank

walk up to the paintings

ancient paintings

canal path

Up early the next morning, we had a whirlwind chain of travel starting with an overpriced rickshaw ride into the Gokarna town.  We hopped on a bus to Ankola, then another bus to Hubli.  After 4 hours on the bus we caught a taxi over to the train station, and ate dinner while waiting for the train.  Again the train was late getting into Hospet the next morning, about 13 km southwest of Hampi.  Another final rickshaw ride landed us at the Tungabhadra river.  My first reaction upon driving into Hampi was, “there are rocks everywhere”.  The rolling hills covered from top to bottom in large boulders make for a slightly surreal landscape. The vast majority of homestays and restaurants located on the “island” on the north side of the river meant we had to climb on the small motorized ferry boat for the 50 meter ride across the rock strewn, fast-moving river.  Without a prior booking, we spent a fair amount of time searching, and eventually settled on the Hema Guesthouse.  Hampi is a backpacking hotspot; every traveler we encountered had either highly recommended it, or had planned to go there in the future. The first full day we rented a scooter to explore the area north of the river. Outside of the small strip of hotels and tourist shops, the rocky landscape took over.  Dotted with a rice paddies, hill-top temples, and a few villages, the ride led us through increasingly rural scenery.  We drove into the tiny village of Anegondi a few km east of Hampi, stopping at a small temple and a local craft shop selling goods woven from banana fibers.  At the temple we encountered a small group of locals on some sort of pilgrimage, who seemed a bit unsettled at us tourists wandering through their sacred grounds.  We then made a brief visit to another temple with a small cave and a sacred tree.  Women wishing to have children apparently tie colored fabric bearing gifts to the branches as an offering to the gods.  After lunch we made our way out of town again to a large reservoir for spectacular views of the landscape.  Later at sunset we climbed hundred of steps up to the top of a rocky outcrop known as the Monkey Temple.  At the top we found both a temple and many mischievous monkeys.  Staking out a viewing spot overlooking the rural landscape below, we waited for the sunset.  Just after the red sun dissolved into the haze above the horizon, we made our way back down in order to make it back to our hotel before nightfall (the headlight on our bike did not work, nor did the speedometer or odometer).

The second full day we had arranged a rickshaw tour through our guesthouse of the many ruins situated on the south side of the river.  Declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986, the countless ruins are remains of the Capital City of Vijayanagara Empire, built up in the 14th to 16th centuries.  For reasons unknown, renting motorbikes to visit the ruins was banned earlier in 2014, meaning the only options to see them were by bicycle or auto rickshaw.  The unrelenting heat made biking seem rather tiresome, but there were a few brave tourists biking around.  We visited many ancient temples, old markets, large statues of deities, shrines, gateways, fortified posts, aqueducts, water tanks, stables, and hidden underground meeting rooms.  Most impressive were the well preserved Lotus Temple, the stone chariot, the secret underground rooms, and the large stepped water tank.  One could easily spend a month taking in all the sites, given the vast quantity of ruins and relatively well maintained condition of each site.  Back in town at the conclusion of the tour, we located some Tibetan food for lunch before crossing back over the river to watch the sunset over the rice paddies.

 
In reading blogs regarding Hampi, we came across one traveler who had visited some detailed cave paintings nearby, with the help of a local taxi driver.  We received some vague confirmation from the hotel staff that such a thing did exist, but we only had an estimated location of their whereabouts.  Filled with determination to track down the paintings on our own, we hired another motorbike for the day, and set off into the country,.  We turned at what we thought was the correct road leading north  away from Anegundi, and stopped to ask a few construction workers about the paintings.  Without hesitation, a young man hastily confirmed we were headed in the right direction, and said to follow an old man herding a cow, who just happened to be coming down the road.  The old man spoke no English but seemed to understand what it was we were seeking.  It was a bit awkward driving up ahead on the bike, and then waiting a few minutes for him and the cow to catch up, only to have him wave his arm in the general direction the road was headed.  A few more iterations of this stop and go navigation continued, until we decided we better find another person further up the road who could help.  Just as we came to a fork in the road, we received further directions and were told to venture left of the fork.  Less than half a kilometer later, we saw a farmer bathing in the irrigation ditch on the roadside.  We slowed to wave, but did not stop.  Just as we passed, he yelled (in perfect English) “Hello! cave painting!”.  In awe, we turned back and introduced ourselves to the farmer.  He quickly dressed, and led us past his rice fields up a short rocky path, through a locked gate, and up to a large clearing surrounded on all sides by boulders.  Judging by the well worn footpaths, it seemed he’d been visiting the remarkable paintings and showing them off for some time.  He took us to three groups of paintings spread over the rocky perimeter, depicting everything from hunting scenes to snakes, and religious symbols.  Apparently, six thousand years old, the paintings were well preserved on the underside of rocky outcroppings, not enclosed caves.  On top of seeing the rare and well preserved paintings, we were happy to have located them at all given the scarce information we read. From the painting visit we continued heading north through endless rice paddies.  We knew before long we would reach the irrigation canal that fed the farms in the valley.  At the base of the raised canal we were stopped by a group of curious kids demanding money and candy.  Having neither we continued on much to their dismay, following the scenic canal path several km back to the reservoir. Back to town to pick up our things, we made our way out of Hampi in the direction of Goa.