Ready for the train!
This past weekend, David, Stacy, Anna, Mahin, Jeff and I went to Hampi! Hampi is about 450km away from Hyderabad -- guess how we got there? BY TRAIN! Yes, we toughed it out for 12 hours there and 12 hours back on an Indian train! Being that I've never been on a train before, I wasn't expecting the best...but it wasn't so bad. We actually really enjoyed the experience. In our Tier 2 AC train they provided blankets and sheets, and let us know when we were arriving so that was nice. Heading to Hampi on the train we killed time by playing trivia games (Wies has a bunch of these up his sleeves.)
Morning we arrived to Hospet station where a driver for our hotel was awaiting. It took about 45mins to get into Hampi. Hampi is a village town in the north of the Karnataka state. Created from the previous Vijayanagara empire, tons of temples and ruins (a little too many) surround this village town. That afternoon we shopped and shopped (til we almost dropped.) I got a LOT of cute clothes! Hampi attacts a lot of hippie tourists (esp. from EUR) so the shops cater to hippie-style clothing. I fell in love with the style, and purchased myself a few tie-dye items. To get to Hampi from the hotel, we had to take a river boat (10Rs each way = ~10cents.) I also bought friendship bracelets for everyone and asked them to keep it on til it falls off. Brought me back to elementary school when friendship bracelets were a hit!
Paisley aladdin pants and a tie-dye shirt...what am I thinking?
Anna, Stacy and I on the river boat
Shopping for friendship bracelets
We ate lunch at this place called Mango Tree, where you have to walk along a path of banana trees to get to the restaurant. The food was great! That night we ate at the hotel, where they had complimentary dinner and bonfire. We went to bed early because we all hadn't slept that well on the train.
Next morning I enjoyed a nice morning jog around Hampi Boulders hotel. After breakfast we went back across the river to rent scooters for the day! It was really fun! We were lucky only to have one accident for the day (Jeff!) On our scooters, we stopped by Vitala Temple (most reknown), an underground temple and cruised on the open highway. It was a trek to get to Vitala temple, for a while we thought we were Lost! Finally found it, it was amazing as described. On the way back we hitched a ride on a basket boat. Midway the ore broke so the boat driver had us wait on an island for a rescue boat! We laughed about the thought of actually getting LOST on an island. At sunset, we returned our scooters, lugged our bags across the river and headed back to Hospet to catch a train back home.
Scooooooooooters! They were so much fun!!
Me and the Hampi boulders
The basket boat that brought us back from Vitala Temple
Me, Mahin and Anna "LOST" on the island when the ore broke!
Carrying our luggage back and forth across the river
At the underground temple
It was a great trip, much different than the posh, luxurious trips I've taken in the past. I felt like I was finally 'roughing' it! For more info on Hampi, check out this link.
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