Day 30, Hampi [Wednesday 2nd January 2008]
Previous day: Day 29, Bangalore [Tuesday 1st January 2008 - New Year's Day]
Next day: Day 31, Hampi [Thursday 3rd January 2008]
Arrive in Hospet around 7.45am. Get a rickshaw up the road to Hampi. After tout hell in the tiny lanes of the old town we check in a guy's family home. Him, his wife and the kids are living in a thatched shack in the front garden, we have one of the rooms in the house and a French couple have the other room.
We wander around the deserted ruins of this erstwhile capital of the Hindu Vijayanagara kingdom for the rest of the day. It's absolutely blazing hot, and the parched landscape is made up of boulders and palm trees. Everything is pale, dusty orange.
It's amazing how complete everything is, given that its heyday was between 1336 and 1565. We have the place to ourselves nearly everywhere we go. Temples, shops, courtyards, gateways. We watch the sun go down behind the towering Virupaksha temple.
Later we have dinner on the rooftop of a nearby guesthouse - chickpeas, palak panneer, roti, rice and a Nutella pancake!
Next day: Day 31, Hampi [Thursday 3rd January 2008]
Previous day: Day 29, Bangalore [Tuesday 1st January 2008 - New Year's Day]