Hampi / Vijayanagar
20th-24th November 2011
The past seven days have, by a country mile, been the best days of the trip so far. To try and pinpoint a reason for such lavish praise, the only explanation I can really give here is that the place - to use a highly cliched but appropriate expression - cast a spell on me which resulted in the postponement of my departure on more than one occasion. Undoubtedly one of the key factors in the adoration I've developed for the ruined city a.k.a Vijayanagar a.k.a Hampi was the guesthouse I stayed at, and the people I met there. Gopi Guesthouse run by the friendly Cyril (the Squirrel) and his legion of helpful and chatty staff, most notably Sonnu (along with his big life plans...best of luck man!) helped make my stay here a very special one indeed. Writing from the Hospet bus stand, waiting for my sleeper coach to sweep me down south to Mysore, I thought I would spend a few moments running through a morning I had recently, which was only one of the many amazing experiences I had whilst here in Hampi. Also to link together the effective narrative of this blog, its appropriate to say that I've now left the Swiss, who have headed for Gokarna. Which is a shame because we got on really well but such is the nature of these short term friendships, which are born upon arrival at a new city, and whose demise comes upon departure.
Awoke at 5.30am on the 22nd, as the night before had been talking with an Israeli girl by the name of Iris, who after hearing about my wish to catch the sunrise from the Hanuman temple wanted to join me in my mission. A battle plan was hatched and so at about 5.40am after fumbling around in the darkness of my hut for some clothes, we hopped on our bicycles, and set off into the darkness. Luckily Iris had a head torch which lit the potholed roads made even more hazardous in the dark. After a 15min ride we caught our first glimpse of the monkey temple perched on the vast boulder hilltop, and for the second time in a week, I made my way up the winding path under the gaze of the ever present monkeys. Reaching the top just after 6am, we found the perfect spot and shared a nice moment watching the sun slowly illuminate the vast boulder landscape before us. Making our way back to the staircase I noticed that one of my shoes, which had to be removed upon arrival at the top of the hill, had gone. Immediately I suspected foul play on the part of our simian friends, and glanced up to see a gang of the cheeky chaps watching me all looking as guilty as the next. One of the holy men from the temple approached after observing my distress and greeted me with a wry chuckle. He said the monkeys stole visitors shoes frequently however did not usually travel far with them. After clambering over a few boulders I finally spied the missing shoe perched precariously on the precipice of a long drop. Edging towards it I quickly grabbed one shoelace and yanked it away from danger. After finding Iris, who had also gone off on a hunt for the shoe, the holy man asked if we would care to share a chai and wait till 8am when we could observe the morning Puja. If the shoe had never gone missing we would of missed the next hour we spent watching this amazing ritual, and so for that I thank those monkeys. Entering the small temple, the set up had changed since my last visit. The om symbol had been removed and in its place sat two men chanting incessantly whilst a man in the corner was crouched down humming the same incantation over and over again. After several minutes everyone was asked to stand and there began a new instrumental chant played out on the various bells and drums which hung from the ceiling. The cacophony of ringing bells, joined by the steadily increasing beat of the drum, gradually built into a crescendo of noise which completely washed over my body. As the hymn grew in power, I became fixated on the small silver shrine which sat in the dark recesses at the back of the temple. Accompanied by the ear piercing bells and bone shaking drum I was lulled into a very reflective and peaceful state, despite the noise which engulfed my senses. When it finally ended Iris and I walked bemused back outside and was welcomed by the suns savage stroke which had grown in power since we entered the temple. An incredibly surreal yet fantastic experience which I won't be forgetting in a hurry..
After reaching the bottom of the hill, we hopped back on our bikes and headed towards the guesthouse. Iris who had been eager to go to Yoga at 8am had missed the lesson, although was in no way unhappy as something much better had come along. So as it was now past 9am, we stopped by a really random little breakfast house in the middle of nowhere and ate omlettes and freshly prepared banana lassi and reflected on the morning we had just shared. The next few days were spent lounging around the city, doing the temple rounds (TEMPLED OUT) and chatting to some really great people at Gopi and I'm very sad to be leaving the place. It's dawned on me however, that I only have two weeks or so left in India and Kerala/Tamil Nadu still awaits!
Onwards!
x
20th-24th November 2011
The past seven days have, by a country mile, been the best days of the trip so far. To try and pinpoint a reason for such lavish praise, the only explanation I can really give here is that the place - to use a highly cliched but appropriate expression - cast a spell on me which resulted in the postponement of my departure on more than one occasion. Undoubtedly one of the key factors in the adoration I've developed for the ruined city a.k.a Vijayanagar a.k.a Hampi was the guesthouse I stayed at, and the people I met there. Gopi Guesthouse run by the friendly Cyril (the Squirrel) and his legion of helpful and chatty staff, most notably Sonnu (along with his big life plans...best of luck man!) helped make my stay here a very special one indeed. Writing from the Hospet bus stand, waiting for my sleeper coach to sweep me down south to Mysore, I thought I would spend a few moments running through a morning I had recently, which was only one of the many amazing experiences I had whilst here in Hampi. Also to link together the effective narrative of this blog, its appropriate to say that I've now left the Swiss, who have headed for Gokarna. Which is a shame because we got on really well but such is the nature of these short term friendships, which are born upon arrival at a new city, and whose demise comes upon departure.
Awoke at 5.30am on the 22nd, as the night before had been talking with an Israeli girl by the name of Iris, who after hearing about my wish to catch the sunrise from the Hanuman temple wanted to join me in my mission. A battle plan was hatched and so at about 5.40am after fumbling around in the darkness of my hut for some clothes, we hopped on our bicycles, and set off into the darkness. Luckily Iris had a head torch which lit the potholed roads made even more hazardous in the dark. After a 15min ride we caught our first glimpse of the monkey temple perched on the vast boulder hilltop, and for the second time in a week, I made my way up the winding path under the gaze of the ever present monkeys. Reaching the top just after 6am, we found the perfect spot and shared a nice moment watching the sun slowly illuminate the vast boulder landscape before us. Making our way back to the staircase I noticed that one of my shoes, which had to be removed upon arrival at the top of the hill, had gone. Immediately I suspected foul play on the part of our simian friends, and glanced up to see a gang of the cheeky chaps watching me all looking as guilty as the next. One of the holy men from the temple approached after observing my distress and greeted me with a wry chuckle. He said the monkeys stole visitors shoes frequently however did not usually travel far with them. After clambering over a few boulders I finally spied the missing shoe perched precariously on the precipice of a long drop. Edging towards it I quickly grabbed one shoelace and yanked it away from danger. After finding Iris, who had also gone off on a hunt for the shoe, the holy man asked if we would care to share a chai and wait till 8am when we could observe the morning Puja. If the shoe had never gone missing we would of missed the next hour we spent watching this amazing ritual, and so for that I thank those monkeys. Entering the small temple, the set up had changed since my last visit. The om symbol had been removed and in its place sat two men chanting incessantly whilst a man in the corner was crouched down humming the same incantation over and over again. After several minutes everyone was asked to stand and there began a new instrumental chant played out on the various bells and drums which hung from the ceiling. The cacophony of ringing bells, joined by the steadily increasing beat of the drum, gradually built into a crescendo of noise which completely washed over my body. As the hymn grew in power, I became fixated on the small silver shrine which sat in the dark recesses at the back of the temple. Accompanied by the ear piercing bells and bone shaking drum I was lulled into a very reflective and peaceful state, despite the noise which engulfed my senses. When it finally ended Iris and I walked bemused back outside and was welcomed by the suns savage stroke which had grown in power since we entered the temple. An incredibly surreal yet fantastic experience which I won't be forgetting in a hurry..
After reaching the bottom of the hill, we hopped back on our bikes and headed towards the guesthouse. Iris who had been eager to go to Yoga at 8am had missed the lesson, although was in no way unhappy as something much better had come along. So as it was now past 9am, we stopped by a really random little breakfast house in the middle of nowhere and ate omlettes and freshly prepared banana lassi and reflected on the morning we had just shared. The next few days were spent lounging around the city, doing the temple rounds (TEMPLED OUT) and chatting to some really great people at Gopi and I'm very sad to be leaving the place. It's dawned on me however, that I only have two weeks or so left in India and Kerala/Tamil Nadu still awaits!
Onwards!
x
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| hampi bazaar. |
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| hanuman hill. |
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| sunrise courtesy of hanuman. |
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