Now, read my experience below
If you are in Bangalore, the best way to reach Hampi is by train. The Hampi express leaves Bangalore City station at 10:45 PM and reaches Hospet at around 7:30 AM in the morning. I took the Hampi Express while the rest of the group I was travelling with went by bus. Roads are pretty bad after Chitradurga and the train journey is always better. The bus reached early and I decided to meet the group at Hampi. Mobile connectivity in Hampi is limited to the BSNL network and I found that I could not make calls or receive them. I tried calling Supriya from a coin booth with no luck. Even her mobile said "Not Reachable"
I started walking towards the main bazaar area in search of the others and thankfully Boris spotted me. I met Boris and Thomas a week back and the rest of them for the first time on that day. After exchanging greetings and introductions, we sat to eat. Hampi has some awesome food, thanks to restaurants catering to Westerners. Cuisine is generally a fusion between the West and the East. Rajeev, Boris and Chandran went to find a place for the night and did find a great place. Lakshmi Heritage was a relatively new tourist home and we got it at a decent rate. After quick showers, it was time to move on.
We hired bicycles from the main Bazaar street (Rs 40 per day) and set off to Hemakuta hill. Rajeev was our guide till we spotted Kali Das. Kali Das spoke exceptional English and was in the business for over 12 years. He also spent 3 years in Pondicherry learning French. Another quick note here is the number of French tourists at Hampi. Every second person is French and no wonder Kali Das does good business. He makes Rs 2000 a day guiding French tourists.
Hemakuta hill is a nice place to start. We first went to the Kadalikalu Ganesha statue. A giant statue of Ganesha carved out of a single piece of stone. We also saw the Vishnupada shrine and then walked towards Virupaksha temple.
Kali Das told us that the last time the Virupaksha temple got a coat of paint was in 1998. Although Hampi is protected by UNESCO and also the Governments, nobody really takes good care of the place. The incessant battle for power to manage the place between the State and the Central Governments is actually doing a lot of harm.
This is just the start. A lot more places to visit and many more stories. All coming up in the next few blog entries.
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