Aug22

Stay In Hospet Or Stay In Hampi?

by Kev on August 22nd, 2011 at 5:51 am
Posted In: hotels, travel
Hampi Bazaar

A Road in Hampi Bazaar

It’s a question anyone making a visit needs to find an answer to: would it be better to stay in Hospet or stay in Hampi?

My solution was simple: do both.

We were arriving on Independence Day and I didn’t fancy trying to find a hotel in Hampi just in case it was really busy in the Bazaar area, where the hotels are. So I reluctantly booked a night in the Hotel Malligi after a friend had said good things about it. It’s a good job I did as Hampi Bazaar was closed to traffic as so many people were in the Bazaar area, which meant we’d have had a long walk with all our luggage after arriving after tired from the overnight train journey.

I wasn’t even sure whether I’d want to stay in Hampi Bazaar as I’d heard it could be quite horrid if it was raining a lot, so my option would work well even if we decided to stay in Hospet for the full five nights. We could make our choice on the stop. As it turned out the whole Bazaar suited us well, I especially loved it as it reminded me of our homestay experience in Ganj, Orchha.

Doing it our way we transferred straight to the Malligi, had some breakfast, a rest and after lunch we went to Hampi Bazaar. We then spent an hour looking for the guesthouse we’d choose to spend the next three nights in. We then went sightseeing around Hampi before returning to the Malligi for a good meal and a good sleep.

We’d already decided to stay at the Malligi once more, just before the train to Goa as it left at 6:30am. Also the kids could swim in their pool and get their fix, just in case we didn’t stay in a hotel with a pool in Goa. (Swimming in the sea in Goa isn’t really advised during the monsoon time.)

Staying at the Malligi on the night before our train meant we didn’t need to make the 30 to 40 minute autorickshaw ride in the morning at stupid o’clock.

This idea of Hospet-Hampi-Hospet working really well for us, given the train journey timings, the luggage we had and the wish for a swim in a nice pool. It meant that we still got four full days in Hampi.

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Aug19

Up To Their Arms In Henna

by Kev on August 19th, 2011 at 9:16 am
Posted In: travel
Applying Henna

Applying Henna

Yesterday morning both Emilia and Amy had henna applied to their arms, a process which took less than an hour for all four arms. Once applied Henna dries within an hour and can then be washed off, leaving the same pattern on the skin, which should hopefully last for a week or two.

Here’s some photos of the girls getting henna applied and then there’s a video too:

Henna

Henna

Amy showing of her Henna painting

Emilia showing of her Henna painting

Here’s the video:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMHbWonV8yo

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Aug19

The Pursuit of Hampi-ness

by Kev on August 19th, 2011 at 8:53 am
Posted In: travel
A step well in Hampi

A step well in Hampi

Yesterday we went on a tour of some of the 500 temples, palaces and buildings in Hampi, most of which are between 500 and 800 years old. We hired a rickshaw driver from the area who calls himself Patrick just to distinguish himself from the rest of the drivers.

Most of the places here in Hampi are free and some are quite close to the town, whilst others are a few kilometres away in different directions. The only places you need to pay for are the Lotus Mahal, the Elephant Stables and the Vitthala Temple as they are all managed by the Archealogical Survey of India, the organisation that controls most of India’s monuments. Luckily the ticket covers all three places and only costs Rs250 per adult, kids under 15 being free. The only problem with the ticket is that it only lasts one day which means there’s a lot to see and do in one day.

I wanted to end the tour with the Vitthala temple as it’s meant to be one of the best, but by the time we got there we were all completely knackered, or “templed out” as Emilia called it. So on reflection I wish we’d seen the Vitthala temple first as we would have had the energy to enjoy it.

Here’s some of the photos from the tour:

Hampi tour
Ganesh temple

Hampi tour
Camflouflaged Lizard/Gecko

Hampi tour
Virupaksha Temple in central Hampi

Hampi tour
Hampi bazzar and temples

Hampi tour
Virupaksha Temple between the boulders

Hampi tour
Amy pushing back a boulder into place

Hampi tour
Carved walls

Hampi tour
Lotus Mahal

Hampi tour
Lotus Mahal archway

Hampi tour
The Elephant Stables

Hampi tour
The Queen’s Bath

Hampi tour
Vitthala Temple and the Stone Chariot

Hampi tour
Stone Chariot

Hampi tour
Yet another photo, there’d been dozens today

Emilia, like the rest of us, is all templed out:
Hampi tour

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Aug19

Emilia – Video of Mango Tree Restaurant, Hampi

by Emilia on August 19th, 2011 at 8:21 am
Posted In: food, travel
Entrance to Mango Tree Restaurant

Entrance to Mango Tree Restaurant

Didn’t get time to upload this short video in my previous post:

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Aug19

Amy: Lakshmi the Elephant Having A Wash

by Amy on August 19th, 2011 at 7:41 am
Posted In: travel
Lakshmi the Elephant Having A Wash

Lakshmi the Elephant Having A Wash

This morning we had a great experience: we went to the bathing ghats to watch Lakshmi the Elephant from the nearby temple have a wash and a good scrub.

At 7am I got woken up by the sound of Daddy’s voice, he was saying to get clothes on quickly so we could go and watch the Elephant have a bath and it possibly started at 7:30a.m. but we didn’t know, in fact no-one knew.

We walked to the river to wait for the event to start but we didn’t even have a clue where. So we didn’t know what time it was, or where it would be, but we knew it would happen somewhere, somewhen.

Eventually we found where it was due to happen but we still had an hour to wait, I could have had so much more sleep!

Someone told us that Lakshmi was coming out of the temple soon so we went to investigate and found Lakshmi. He – or was it a she? – was colossal and towered above me. At first I was scared to touch him in case he stepped on me but gradually I overcame my fear and followed Emilia’s lead.

Lakshmi moved off towards the ghats – which are steps that leading down to the river and below the waterline and people wash there – and walked down the ghats to the river below.

Lakshmi walking down to the river
Lakshmi walking down to the river

Lakshmi being washed
Lakshmi being washed

The Mahout gets to work
The Mahout gets to work

He then laid down as his Mahout – the name of an elephant keeper – directed him. His Mahout and a helper then scrubbed and scrubbed Lakshmi, giving him a bath that he enjoyed tremendously.

A clean Lakshmi
A clean Lakshmi

Here’s a video:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf24ZMD5K1Y

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