Have you ever wondered if film sites like Sholay really
exist? Have you ever found yourself in a place so dramatic in its natural form;
you can’t help wondering what sort of people and what sort of life it has seen?
In England, they have stonehenge , in India, we have a village full of
stonehenge.
Oh yes, I am talking about Hampi, the place where ruins of
lost kingdom of Vijayanagar rest.
We spent a very little time exploring fraction of what is
there to see, but still, I will go on to say, I had a wonderful time, maybe it
was down to having my closest friends around, or the sheer beauty and magical
wave of Hampi.
And for the first time in my life, I am not being forced to
write a blog, I am writing this out of my own sheer enthusiasm, just documenting
the collection of our memories.
Let me warn you, this post isn't about the actual "Things to do in Hampi" from a traveler's perspective , it isn't a monotonous boring description of what all to cover there, its just a point-pictorial description of things we did (&we didn't) in Hampi.
10 things we did in Hampi.
1) Blend Yourself amongst the ruins.
The trip to Hampi isn't worth it if you cant be a part of the lost kingdom of Vijayanagara empire.
You need to blend in, and at least try and imagine the life they lived. we did just that. well, by clicking pictures in front of those ruins ofcourse.
2) Explore things on your own.
Exploring things on your own, we have heard that term before haven't we? in college, in office, our managers telling us to "explore", but the real exploring comes when you are at some unknown place, you need to take a walk through the unknown to find the unknown, and I must say walking through the ruins was the best part of this trip.
3) Take a Coracle boat ride adventure.
Coracle, also known as Dongi, is a bowl-shaped boat made of reed,
saplings and hide. For one of the most thrilling boat rides complete
with whirlpools, high currents and crocodiles, go for a fun filled
coracle ride on Tungabhadra river. Riding in a coracle on the
Tungabhadra was a thrilling experience.
4) Learn some history.
While at some historical place, its always advisable to take a guide and get to know some facts (also fiction) about that place, we did just that. Special thanks to our guides Krishna and Basaraja.
5) And teach some.
Every group needs a philosopher who carries out his profound philosophies, every group needs a Ted Mosby. We obviously had one *you know who*.
6) Eat well.
What you get when a group of foodies are put together in south India? well, a lot of idlis and dosas and puri bhajis. we visited two top rated eating hangouts in Hampi - Mango Tree and Laughing Buddha. Look at Erika, trying to eat that masala dosa. needless to say who ended up finishing it, Vivek and Russel ofcourse.
7) Click a lot of selfies.
Okay, this isn't something to do about being at some historical place. its just a fad, I'm talking about selfies, and we did manage to click a lot of selfies (we are not abnormal after all).
8) Climb the hills and relax atop.
Walking 600 steps to reach the top of Anjanedri hills ( the birth place of monkey-god hanuman) was one experience, jumping further and walking towards the dead end was another. the wind was so strong there, the air was so fresh there. it was almost as if we were in heaven. I did some meditation and gained some more profound knowledge to share on the next trip ;)
9) Do a lot of madness.
A trip /travel isn't worth it if there is no craziness/madness in it. when we all meet up, the craziness erupts to the level of uncertainty.
10. Play and relax.
Finally, when you are on a vacation , you do need to relax as well, and the lazy Goenkars that we all are, we kept whole sunday for the thing we love the most -to be "susegaad". We played football, played UNO , relaxed in the pool. Sunday is always about being lazy, and we didn't let that tag go away from us.
P.S. I scored one nutmeg goal and assisted two. Just look at my perfectly weighted header in the picture. B-).
5 things we DID NOT do in Hampi.
They say for every goody-goody thing, there has to be a bad thing, to maintain universal balance. well, luckily for us, we didn't do any such things. I wouldn't term these things as "bad". but these are few things which you should avoid while on travel and on vacation. I am glad we did just that. Oh don't judge us by the picture, we were just posing. #honest. :)
1) Sleep like lazy bears. ( oh no! they were just dozing for a while )
2) Smoke in the hut behind parking lot. (oh no! they were just taking a shade from the hot sun)
3) Drink whiskey while looking into the mirror ( oh no! that's just water, we are just posing)
4) Snap the animals around (Oh no! we were just trying to click scenery, monkeys just happened to be there)
5) Imitate the spiritual/sculptural figures. (Oh no! I don't know what the hell I was doing there :P)
