AC half sleeper to Hampi

From the base of Matanga hill looking towards temple

I decided to save time and money for a longer summer holiday in Europe and Canada and spend this Christmas taking a whistle stop tour to some points of interest in Southern India. I wanted to get a sense of the distances and geography so I decided to travel by bus from Pune to Hampi via Hospet, then a local transit bus to Hubli where I caught a train to Bangaluru (Bangalore), onward by bus to Alappuzha in Kerala, transit bus to Cochin, overnight to Cahudi, Goa, returning to Pune by bus.

Next time I will book more trains, and when I travel by bus I will try to keep the trips shorter. The longest leg was between Cochin, Kerala and Chaudi, Goa and dragged on for 20 hours. It was grueling but I have a much better feel for the size and shape of the country now and I was able to see at least some of it out the window. Most of the travel was at night, however, and it can be nerve wracking driving over mountain roads when you can’t see anything. I will also avoid sleeper buses as their compartments are too short for me and I felt claustrophobic. The better choice, for me at any rate, is the AC half sleeper – meaning it’s air conditioned and you get a reclining seat with a simultaneously raised leg rest – it’s actually quite comfortable and being upright and facing forward makes the harrying drive through chaotic traffic and steep mountain roads more bearable.

An art student studies classic work

My last day of work was Friday December 19th. I went down to the market under the overpass in Hadapsar and picked up a backpack for 700 IDR – a little less than 10 euros/13Canadian Dollars. I wanted something which was big enough to carry camera, clothes and laptop and didn’t have an expensive brand badge drawing attention to its self. I was pretty pleased with both the quality and the price.

Saturday I woke up early and went for a ten km. run in the farmland behind DSK Campus along the old canal road. There is a stone bridge with a 19th century date engraved in the keystone. A massive excavation about a kilometer behind the gates marks the beginning of construction of DSK's Dream City complex living and recreation center. Service roads with street lamps have been built where the future streets will be but the surroundings are still cultivated farm land. Traffic to the building site includes dump trucks, concrete mixers and security jeeps. Sometimes a bullock cart driven by two older men creaks by and we stare at each other before waving and smiling. More modern transport is two wheeled, usually two or three persons on a 100cc Hero motorcycle.

Dawn on Matanga hill, Hampi

I finished the ten km. before I reached the
farm house with the intention of having tea if the man of the house was in. He was in the fields so I just said hi to the women and children and carried on. A boy and a girl kept waving and saying 'bye!' each time I would wave back until I finally disappeared around the corner of the road.

Just before I reached the campus I spotted a snake crossing the paved street in front of me. It was fairly big, probably more than 5

Matanga hill, Hampi

feet and maybe 4 inches thick. His head was up and he flared his hood so I could identify it as a cobra. I’d heard there were snakes on campus but it was the first I’d seen. There is a man who works on the grounds who is known to have a way with snakes. Apparently he grabs them quickly and firmly by the back of the head and feeds them head first into a clear plastic jug so they can be transported to appropriate habitat and released. He is capable of handling all snakes, from the garden snakes to the cobras. I really want to see this guy in action. The cobra I encountered, however, didn’t need any removal as he was doing just fine in his snake territory. Judging by the extremely high number of brahminy kites wheeling in the sky above the campus there must be a dense rodent population. That must suit the cobras just fine too.

The other wild population here are the dogs.

What to do in a ruin?

They come and go in and out of the campus as they please and they get some food from the kitchen as well as garbage scraps. On campus they are good-natured but once you step outside the walls there is a stretch of no man’s land until the front gate as well as the farmland around and behind the campus where the dogs rule and they can be aggressive and territorial, especially when whelping and breeding, I’ve been told. One night while running the pack appeared out of the darkness in attack formation with the lead dog coming in very low to bite at the heels. To nip this behavior in the bud I followed my friend Asit’s lead and hurled a stone in their direction and they withdrew.

Many school classes visit Hampi

Saturday evening at dusk I left the house with my new rucksack on the way to catch an auto rickshaw to the southern bus depot and was immediately confronted by the pack, where one of the bitches is in heat. Again I picked up a stone. Now, I don’t have much of a throwing arm but the best way for me to get some power into it is throw sideways like I'm skipping a stone. I took aim at dog butt and put some juice into the throw. Instantly there was a ripping sound and my backpack hung from one strap. The flimsy plastic buckle had snapped into two pieces. That’s karma for throwing rocks at dogs, I thought. I tied the two ends together and hoped it would hold. After my display of dominance the dog pack melted into the darkness and I carried on my way.

At the bus depot I had a tasty masala dosa for dinner and caught the overnight sleeper bus to Hospet, the transport hub near the ancient ruined city of Hampi. I didn’t sleep well in the bus at all. The road was rough and mountainous and I would much rather travel in daylight in the future.

Arriving rather rumpled in Hospet I grumpily marched past the auto rickshaw drivers offering to take me to Hampi for 500 hundred Rupees and hopped on a city bus which took me there for 15 IDR. My first impression of Hampi was that it was visually stunning and that the complex was massive. After three days exploring the grounds on foot that impression has been confirmed.

On my final day in Hampi I woke up at 5 to climb Matanga hill to watch the sunrise, well worth the trek through the darkness. I took the old route to the top, where the stone path leads up over huge boulders. As it nears the top the path is exposed, with one face looming above you and the other dropping away, leading up around a corner out of sight, and the surface, while providing good grip has been worn smooth and slants downward. Despite enjoying rock climbing, without the security of equipment I have to battle my nerves before moving on.

The view is worth it. From above you can see much of the ruins and get a better idea of how it was laid out as well as the vast scale. The incredible red boulder landscape and the green river valley combine to dramatic effect. Stark contours create contrast when lit by the rising sun and rural life far on the river banks and on the farms gently awake far beneath us. It is clear why a temple was built on this hill top - it invites meditation with its' isolation and unobstructed view in all directions of the countryside below.

One of several bathing tanks

Returning to the tourist village, passing through the parking lot of the large Hindu temple currently in use, the buses are roaring into life and touts are making their pitches. It's time to move on.

Next stop Kerala.