Train journeys in India are growing on us and with only a 15 minute delay and a friendly couple who welcomed us into our shared berth with chocolate cake at 7am, the Howrah Express has to be up there as one of the best. As we disembarked, Parashu from our guesthouse was at the station to greet us and we tuk tuk-ed through villages and ruins to our accommodation in the heart of the small town of Hampi.
Keen to make the most of our short visit, we dumped our bags and set out to watch the sunset from Mantaga Hill.
Hampi is spread out amongst 41.5sqkm of boulder formations and hills, the surreal landscape felt like something out of an Indiana Jones film. To get around the vast area we opted to take a tuk tuk around on our first full day, visiting the Stone Chariot (the poster child for Hampi), Elephant Stables, Queens Residence and the Royal Enclosure to name a few.
Sunsets should never be missed in such an incredible setting, so we finished the day up on Hemakuta Hill, surrounded by monkeys and other visitors keen to catch a glimpse of the last light of the day.
Hopping across to Hippie Island the next day, we watched Laxshmi the temple elephant being bathed in the river and endeavoured to rent bikes to see some of the attractions on the other side of the river. We managed to get fobbed off with a couple of rickety old bikes which may or may not have had fake brand stickers on them.
Despite the rusty rides, we managed to make it to the foot of Hanuman Hill, ready to ascend the 575 steps to the temple at the peak. The views from the top didn’t disappoint and the monkey hill lived up to its name with plenty of mischievous guys running around, getting up to no good.
We cycled on to Anegundi, supposedly the hippie town where everyone stayed but it had nothing going on. Turning around, we set off for a reservoir with sunbathing spots and conacle boat rides on offer, and finally stopped at the most peaceful Hampi Waterfalls, where the main river ran over rocks to create rushing water streams.
Returning to Hampi-side, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring on foot, walking along the river path and reaching the Kings Balance. The walk allowed us to take in more of the scenery than on wheels so happily we weaved between temples and soaked it all in.
Our fellow train travellers gave us some warning about questionable food on offer in Hampi but we didn’t put a foot wrong when it came to what we ate. Gopi’s breakfast parathas, Mango Tree’s curries and Bamboo Chillout’s pakodas were definitely some of the highlights.
Watching the sunset on the final night from the roof of our guesthouse, we were still in awe of the place. We only scratched the surface of Hampi but it was time to move on, via our first sleeper train, to our next stop.
Stepping Out For A Bit 