Hampi

Today I find myself in one of my new Favorite Places in the World (yes, of course it deserves to be capitalized), Hampi (Vijayanagara, as it used to be known). Basically Hampi is the modern city built within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the capital of the ruined empire of the same name.

I should mention how I got here I suppose. Last night I discovered there was a train scheduled (online at least) to come to Palolem at 6:30pm, so I went to catch it. When I got there (at 5pm to buy tickets) they said it was at 7:45, so I killed the next couple hours only for the bus to arrive during a thunderstorm at about 8:30pm, with my section at the very front. This was unfortunate because it stopped probably 100-200 meters from where I was and it was only scheduled for a 1 minute stop. Of course I can run that far in that amount of time easily, it just makes it more difficult when there are large groups of people in the way and a backpack on my back (in addition to a "satchel" at my side). I did, however, make it, with a few seconds to spare.

I spent the night at Margao train station (in a "retiring room", not on the ground), and caught the 8am train here this morning, arriving in Hampi after a bus ride at about 4pm.

Anyhow, as I was saying before, the ruins and setting are spectacular. The combination of plentiful, well preserved ruins scattered around the city and massive, imposing boulders all around them makes for an amazing sight. Unfortunately I'm here only until tomorrow night, but this afternoon I covered most of the place already. In the Rough Guide, they have a list of 41 "must see" things in India, and this is #1. Now I understand why (and I wouldn't argue with it).

Plus it has monkeys, which is always popular.