I was travelling to Hampi again. This time with M. My last visit to the place was almost 2 years back , with two close friends from Mumbai who also got me my Canon 40D from Pune. It was a second time for M too , who had equally exercised her traveling options during her Bangalore stint. So why did we choose to go again? Hmm. No, not the irresistible charm of the bizarrely splendid Hampi architecture and ruins. M and I are no connoisseurs of architecture , the charm of Mango Tree would be more closer to the truth.Lack of adequate time for travel planning ? Yes. M does her classic vanishing act like always. I usually pride myself on my last minute planning,but a week before Christmas weekend and work to juggle with was difficult to beat. Also,the nonchalance towards the choice of the destination when you are looking forward to holiday with an old friend and catching up with each other's lives away from the busy schedules. Happens when you have been friends since kindergarten.
We board the Hampi express from the Bangalore city junction on Wednesday night. A peaceful overnight train journey reaching Hampi early morning the next day. Co passenger gentleman visibly impressed with M's D school pedigree strikes a conversation “ Do you know Swaminathan?”. “Swaminathan , who?”. M's brain is not known to respond well before breakfast. Especially when Swaminathans abound in plenty south of the Vindhyas. I shield myself against M,strategically positioning myself to vent my fits of laughter. Not polite , you see. An offer to be dropped to the bus stand is on stake.
“ You bongs are very intellectual , no? Also you travel a lot”." You also like music"
“ Who was that lady who won the Magsaysay award?”
M is fighting a lonely battle.If only looks could kill.Fortunately, the train halts at the Hospet station and we get a drop till the bus stand. A Paramvir Chakra for the woman.
Our first day is a quick tour of Hampi. A repeat for both of us. We spend more time at some of the places, especially Vitthala , the iconic Hampi temple, before sunset. Hampi ruins are spellbinding , even for a repeat visit. We head off for Badami the next day. Built somewhere around 550 A.D, the rock cut cave temples built by the Chalukyas are carved out of sandstone on the precipice of a hill. There are four cave temples dedicated to Shiva ,Vishnu and Mahavira-each with a huge verandah and vertical columns leading to an inner sanctum where the main sculpture is housed. Exquisitely carved murals.The fact that the temples were built somewhere in the first century and still survive almost unscathed is quite amazing.I wonder if I have seen anything older than these first century temples.Yes. Giza. 2500 B.C. After Badami,we head off for Aihole and Pattadakal , again Chalukyan temples dating back to the sixth/seventh centuries.
We check out of our resort the next day but are pretty much unoccupied before our train back to Bangalore in the evening. Our driver for the Badami trip enthusiastically suggests watching Don 2 at Hospet.We choose to settle instead with cups of coffee at a shack in Hampi Bazaar and spending time by the banks of the Tungabhadra over King Khan .The river looks serene, quite contrasting to the gushing torrent I remember last time when flash floods had the Tungabhadra overflowing it's banks. A friend from Hyderabad is also visiting Hampi , but luck plays spoilsport and we miss meeting him by a whisker.
We check out of our resort the next day but are pretty much unoccupied before our train back to Bangalore in the evening. Our driver for the Badami trip enthusiastically suggests watching Don 2 at Hospet.We choose to settle instead with cups of coffee at a shack in Hampi Bazaar and spending time by the banks of the Tungabhadra over King Khan .The river looks serene, quite contrasting to the gushing torrent I remember last time when flash floods had the Tungabhadra overflowing it's banks. A friend from Hyderabad is also visiting Hampi , but luck plays spoilsport and we miss meeting him by a whisker.
We also notice a lot of school children in Hampi and the nearby places,visiting as part of excursions, before their Christmas holidays. A school excursion group possibly from Bangalore, was booked in the same KSTDC resort that we were staying at. In striking contrast we notice, school children from the excursion groups coming from the nearby areas, did not have their basic school uniforms, a lot of of them barefooted. One of them also tried selling us his Hampi guide. Glaring disparities in school education in India? A parting thought as we packed our bags back to Bangalore.
*A travelogue on the first Hampi visit here