Ethiopia PCV: Beautiful Hampi

Hampi was one of the numerous examples of me getting lost. I once again took the public buses and during my last bus change I ended up getting on the bus to the town that the hostel was licensed under. I didn’t realize until it was too late though that the town the bus was going to was about an hour north east of where the hotel actually was. The bus completely bypassed the little town of Hampi. So upon arriving in the wrong town I decided that instead of having to try and figure out the correct bus, maybe getting lost, and having to walk two kilometers from the main road back to the hostel I would spend the night. It was a night wasted, but onward and forward. The next day I arrived at the hostel in Hampi. During my two hour walk down the side road through the little village I noticed that all the houses had been knocked down. What looked like a once well built, if quaint, village had been destroyed. I quickly ruled out natural disasters, which left me with intentional demolition. This confused me but I figured maybe it had been an old military base or something and the people had moved into the ruins. How wrong I was, but more on that later. Once I arrived I realized why everyone was so caught up in Hampi. I had heard the name Hampi may times on my travels and I don’t blame anyone who brought it up. Just next to my hostel was a rock cliff which I climbed and had a clear view across the little river to the most beautiful temples I had seen in India. There were magnificent multi-story structures intricately carved with stone walls surrounding them and beautiful music playing from them every morning. I quickly decided to take the small boat across the river and explore these temples. I found that not only were there the two main temples, but there was also the old king's residence, his throne room, the queen's baths, more temples than I could count, the elephant stables, and so much more to see. The history and culture just oozed out of this place from the people going to be blessed in the temples, washing their clothes in the holy river, the colors, and foods, and Indian tourists were everywhere. As usual, I spent the day walking, but, this time, I felt rather accomplished. While I did get swindled on one of my rickshaw rides, I quickly figured out the norm and adapted. From then on it was just a matter of getting dropped off and seeing the sites. The royal home was so well preserved, the carvings so beautiful that I couldn’t stop taking pictures. The temple to Ganesh with the towering statue of the deity was awe inspiring, and the hidden temple that can only be found through a single hidden entrance to the underground was completely unlit and I had to use my cell phone to navigate through the corridors to the main worship hall. In Hampi, I felt like I got my first true taste of how India was hundreds of years ago.

Little did I know that another friend who I had met on the train heading south was in Goa at the same time I was, and thankfully we had exchanged whatsapp contact information so we met up in Hampi. He was a Spaniard, who was also hanging with two Brits and an Aussie and we met that afternoon. We went to a local restaurant and after a few rum and cokes with the owner I learned that the reason for all the destruction was that the government had come and destroyed all the locals houses. The area North of the river is a UNESCO world heritage site so the people weren't allowed to live there. Although the locals had other ideas why the government was kicking them out, it was the third time the people had their houses toppled and their lives destroyed. It was such a sad thing to think back on all the kids I had seen playing in the rubble with lost toys they had found crushed between what had once been the roof over their heads. Sadly, the government was making no effort to relocate them or help establish a new place for these people. They were simply being told to leave and then, sometimes forcefully, thrown out on their butts.

The next day, despite what we had heard, we decided that since there was nothing we could really do to help we rented mopeds from one of the local businesses and cruised around. It was a great morning followed by an afternoon spent at a reservoir swimming and playing, that is until a local came up and told us it was unwise due to the crocodiles. Then it was time to move on. I was running out of time and wondering if I was even going to make it to Delhi in time for my flight. So I said goodbye to my new friends and set off. It was a two-kilometer hike to the main road to catch a bus that would take me west. My last stop was Udaipur. It was one of the most famous places for tourist to go in India, and one highly recommended to me. I had my hostel planned out, my rough route in my head, and off I went. Little did I know that this would be the most tedious, annoying, and painful trip of my whole adventure.

One of the many rice fields on the North side of Hampi