Don’t worry, be Hampi

Achyutaraya Temple

I could have chosen another title to sum up our stay in Hampi, quoting for example our travel friend Guillaume who gave one day a simple and accurate description about this magical place where “it seems that the imaginary has been surpassed by the reality“.

We reached Hampi after a very exhausting and “dirty” night bus trip from Goa. The roads are normally very bad (it took us 13h to do 300km), but that day they got even worst as the deluge was starting. We spent the night falling from a very dirty bed, and at a certain point the rain started to pour out inside the vehicle… We finally had our first chock about India, after one week of “comfortable” tourism. We ended up in a typical (flooded) indian village with cows, goats and chicken at every corner. We had to overcome a mental ritual to welcome the insects lost in our drinks and food, and our new roomates: the cockroaches. We rapidly get used to these invasions of nature in our daily life, as we were discovering an incredibly beautiful place drenched in the most magical and mystical atmosphere I had ever experienced.

Anyone would be able to feel the energy of Hampi and this is not a coincidence as it used to be the capital of the biggest hindu empire in the history of India. Founded in the 14th century and named Vijayanagar (“the city of victory”), this place now listed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites has been the kingdom of the monkey gods described in the famous hindu epic poem of Ramayana. It reached its peak in the 16th century with 500,000 inhabitants. It is hard to believe when you see now this small village, but understandable when you visit the never ending ruins lost in a surreal scenery made up of a mix of a bright green jungle, a red river and ochre mountains. I would have never imagined that such a visual pleasure would be possible, especially because I had never heard about this place before. Everybody would speak about the magnificence of the pyramids in Mexico or Angkor Wat in Cambodia (two places I visited). However I never felt such a powerful and indescribable sensation in these two tourist spots as I had in Hampi (well this is my point of view). As far as I can say, the other travellers I met in Hampi did agree with my statement. Perhaps we were meant to gather to live this unique experience together and under certain circumstances…

After two days, the rain was still hitting the Karnataka region. We realized afterwards the damages it caused in many villages but unaware of this because we were completly disconnected from the world: no internet and no electricity most of the time.

As soon as the sky was clearing, we were visiting the ruins as much as we can. Every day we got even more amazed by the beauty of the site and we were trying to imagine how incredible it would be with good weather conditions. But it was just worsening, so one day we decided it was time to leave. We booked tickets for Calcutta but when we were about to get in the bus in Hospet (the main city near Hampi), they told us that all the roads and railways were cut.

Even though luck seems to abandon you sometimes, this is just a question of perception… We get back to Hampi (Hospet being quite ugly and too busy to stay). And from this moment we had the best time of our trip…. First because this unexpected event gave us the possibility to discover new magnificent spots in Hampi. Then because we spent an unforgettable week living almost in (independent) community with others travellers.

Chlling in the Chill Out

“Don’t worry, be Hampi” is the sentence that can resume the best the spirit of these days, hence the title of this entry. We were completly stuck in a village with many plans in mind for the trip but without the possibility to leave or even communicate with our family and friends. The only thing we could do was walking around the ruins, read, practice yoga, talk and relax… I have to recognize that we could not complain about this hard life ; ) We chose as headquarter a restaurant, which name perfectly resume the routine during this deluge week: the “Chill out“. So far I had there the best food I tasted until now in India. The place was made to relax, with coushions and ambient music. We spent days, evening (and lots of money) in the Chill Out (we even slept there the night we had to step back in Hampi because buses were cancelled).

What I really enjoy in any trip is the people I meet. The core of our “community” was formed by travellers we met there and before. Guillaume, that I already introduced in my previous entry, travelled with us from Goa to Hampi. There we met Camille (Canadian) and Sandy (US). They were initially travelling alone but they met in Laos and continued their trip together in Sri Lanka and now India. We also encountered again Mathieu, Manu and Ronny, three French guys that we first met in Goa. They are travelling one month by motorbike in the South of India and they are very brave considering the the roads in this country and the weather conditions at that time!! Our evenings were made of interesting talks with these people, some other travellers and the staff of the Chill Out. Until now, I have only met very interesting, smart and open-minded people who are enjoying life. I have to recognize that India is also visited by many “weirdo” looking for a spiritual revelation, which has created besides a certain reputation for India in western countries. But this is part of the experience and quite funny to observe sometimes… Anyways, I will always remember these special evenings at the Chill Out, talking about life, books and travels. One night an Indian guy read our palms, let’s see if the things he predicted will happen one day ; )

Family showing their menhdi henna tattoo in the Vittala Temple

The closest exchange we had with the locals was with the staff of the restaurant, especially with Sunil (waiter) and Sam (the best cook and craziest ever, making jokes at any time and yoga postures in the middle of the restaurant). We also met many Indian families when we were wandering around the ruins, especially on October 2nd because it was bank holidays for the 150th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth. I would have never expected such empathic people and very curious at the same time. They were so interested in talking to us and would find any pretext to be photographed (that’s why I had a good photo session there…). They were absolutly not reluctant to the camera, which is not the case if you go to Latin America. Although they were so pleasant, it was a pity that most of them did not speak English. However the happiness they transmited was so strong that it was worth more than an exchange of words.

To see all the pictures of Hampi, click here.

Music listened while writing this entry: Nighttime Birds, The Gathering.