Back in December 2018, I took one of the most beautiful trips of my life with my friends. Hampi – A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the capital city of the erstwhile Vijayanagara Empire during the 14th century, is a place stuck in time. Hampi is older than our historical records; the mention of this place exists in Hindu mythological texts, much before any Empire actually existed here. Almost 1600 monuments exist across a span of 41.5 sq. km. But the best part is you don’t even have to be a history buff to fall in love with Hampi. The place has something to offer for everyone, well, except if you are a wild party animal!
We took an overnight sleeper bus from Hyderabad to Hospet, which lasted 8 hours. You cannot reach Hampi directly from Hyderabad or Bangalore if you are not taking private transport. All public transport reaches Hospet, a town 1 hour away from Hampi. We had our breakfast in a hotel near the bus stand, freshened up and took another public bus to reach Hampi. There are private transport options too. But they are costlier and more or less takes the same duration of time to reach.
Till 2019, there were 2 completely different sides of Hampi, both habitable. The side we stayed in got closed down permanently in 2019 by our government after a flood and too much influx of foreign tourists, leading to apparent high usage of drugs etc. Anyway, we chose our camping area across the Tungabhadra River. But all monuments are on this side of the bank we reached. You have to take a coracle or boat ride to cross the river. The rides stop after sunset. To avoid going to and fro, we set an impossible goal: to cover sightseeing of as many monuments as possible before crossing the river and reaching our campsite. In spite of being December, it was quite sunny. However, we managed to visit most of the significant places – Musical Stone Chariot, Underground Siva temple, Royal Enclosure, Lotus Mahal, Badaviling Temple, The Queen’s Bath, Krishna Temple, Krishna Bazaar, Hanuman Temple, Sister Stones, Watchtower, Stepwells…quite a long list. We managed to cover them all in 4-5 hours. The description and significance of these sites can be found anywhere on the internet. So I am not going to dive there deep.
Moving on with our experience, the ruins of Hampi will make you develop a newfound respect for ancient architecture. Right from religious places to markets, to sanitation, to entertainment halls…everything so well designed, built and persevering even to this century. Before it would turn dark, we boarded a boat to reach the other side of Hampi, also known as the Little Goa. As you must have already guessed from the name, yes, it was a magical place like Goa only. Filled with foreigners from different countries, Goan-style cafes with yummy food and drinks, all situated amidst stone hills and paddy farms, we couldn’t have asked for anything more. It was also my first camping experience, and definitely raised the bar a bit.
Clean washrooms, friendly owner, management and fellow travellers, river water gushing through the jungle, monkeys jumping from one tree to another, bonfire at night…the list can go on and on. We went off to sleep peacefully under the bright stars after a sumptuous dinner. The next day, we set off to explore this hippie side of Hampi a little more – hidden waterfalls, shopping from flea markets, taking coracle rides on the Sanapur lake and having lunch at one of the most picturesque restaurants in Hampi – The Laughing Buddha Restaurant.
After chilling on the hammock and taking in as much nature and history as possible, it was time to cross the river again, reach Hospet by night, and board our bus back to Hyderabad. Little did we know, the best surprise was yet to come. Sunset was definitely beautiful on the Little Goa side, more like Goan sunsets minus the ocean. But sunset at the Temple side of Hampi is just something else. We just felt straight up walking into an ancient century where the sky is pink, and the majestic elephants walk along the roads and temple boundaries. Speechless would be an understatement. I have yet to find words to describe the beauty I witnessed on that one fine evening in December 2018. So, for now, I am still going to stick with the word Magical. Most days, I feel like I live to catch sunsets; surely, I lived a little more that day.