Thursday 29th November:

Thursday 29th November:

Start:               23,671

Finish:    23,864

Distance:             193

Route:     Davengere – Hariha – Harpanahalli – Itiki – Hospet – Hampi

Hotel:               Sudha Home Stay

Today:

Another relatively relaxed start, departing at 10.45 with what should have been a comfortable 3.5hour drive, until I persuaded Tony the first turn-off to Harihar was too early….in fact, it wasn’t, so a quick 20k detour to blow out the cobwebs was ‘an unfortunate start’ !!

It was also a funny sort of day, as neither of us felt particularly motivated.

The roads started-off as good as anywhere we have experienced to date. This accompanied by drivers who were also as impatient as anywhere we have experienced.

A new situation was a couple of pigs munching on some fallen edible matter in the middle of the ‘national highway’…..no-one seemed to think it was unusual

Beautiful lush countryside in the early stages Morphed into scrub

Preposterous amount of hay and sugar cane being transported

The contrast in the middle of nowhere with a dozen stand wind farm & isolated solar panels

Villages quite organized, but then starting to become more disorganised and poor appearance

Roads gradually deteriorated. We were obviously on a main connecting highway, with an increase in the trucks. We're back to being very vigilant as the competition for ‘road space’ increased. One example was a convoy of 5 trucks all wanting to overtake a slower vehicle and as we were clear of any following vehicles, they just pulled out forcing us into the roadside dirt & rock gutter….in itself is not an unusual occurrence, but being presented with this overt scenario at 80km/h ‘we are coming through’ is……heyho !!

Finally made Hampi and this huge expanse of ruins, historical buildings and temples

Like other locations we have visited, there was little to indicate this was a site of interest. There was even less to indicate where the town community was located amongst the formidable spread of ruins, temples and historic buildings. In fact the way to the residential area was in between market stalls with a pedestrian track which then led into dirt laneways and a variety of shops, café premises and guest houses

It seems bizarre, this significant UNESCO world listed heritage site, has such limited infrastructure and directional signage. Is it because we are ‘free-styling’ and not part of an organized tour, or are we missing something ?

We were immediately jumped on as likely candidates by a lad on a pushbike, as it was obvious we did not know where we were going who offered to take us to accommodation. We were able to side-step this approach and pottered around the laneways.

We came across a likely place at the end of one lane where a guy popped out to offer us a bed. He (apparently) had wifi and at Rp900 we knew we were in for a treat. He showed us the firstfloor room, which was very basic, but had a bed, a shower and a toilet.

There was no pretence as to how he presented it and as it was 2ish we went for the deal.

Although very basic, the community had something appealing about it…what you see is what you get and like almost everywhere we have been, the people were gently promoting their businesses and appeared to genuinely want to help.

The owner called his son and in ‘the shake of a ……’ our bags were up the metal stairway and into our ‘suite’. Unlike other days, there was no beer, but the incentive was to grab some water, a quick bite and have a look around.

So we found Hampi’s ‘Very Secret Café’ (it’s actual name) climbed another metal stairway into a small café area with no chairs, cushions and low level tables, no shoes, no alcohol and no meat. It was a great uncomplicated place with young guys who were just very happy to make us feel comfortable

After refreshing chilled water, fresh liquidized fruit juice (I had a carrot & ginger & Tony an Pineapple) a spinach pagoda & banana Nutella pancake for the old boy, we were suitably refreshed to take a wander.

Located a mere 2-300 metres from the main and most important temple, I paid the Rp2 (approx. $0.04) to have my shoes racked and a further Rp25 to enter the Temple complex whilst TB had a wander outside.

Without wishing to appear judgmental, this is a world heritage site. Although obviously, the community is quite impoverished and probably little governmental support, it would be in everyone’s interests to keep the place clear of rubbish.

There is nothing historical about bottles and plastic and broken modern day crap!

The intricate stone carvings are exceptional (but what do they represent), the ornately hand-painted board showing the Kings of the bygone era and their lineage, that is partially obscured, propped up against a wall behind some pillars. How difficult would it be to present it as a feature to be viewed and provide some education of the historical evolution of this 32sq/km site?

It was a confusing area inside….cattle free to roam in partnership with large numbers of monkeys….a live painted elephant, squeezed into a raised annex with a mahout sitting on a chair engrossed with his smart-phone….occasionally giving the elephant a command as visitors came in to look..…the elephant would raise its trunk, visitors would then offer money, (another command) which the elephant took in its trunk, (another command) it then passed the money to the mahout. 

This is immediately ‘trousered’, (another command) and the trunk was then gently placed for a few moments on the head of the payer…..absolutely no interaction from the mahout……then the process repeated for the next contributor.

The scenario was quite disturbing, was it the complete disinterest of the mahout in the proceedings, his lack of interaction with either his elephant or the contributor, or the sadness one felt in the eyes of the elephant as it gently swayed from side to side (the repetitive motions often displayed by humans when enduring long-term boredom, trauma or psychological issues and the like.

Then there are the other small anti-rooms leading off from the main area for worship, blessings, and offerings, where you are invited in by a monk and with an automated and unemotional procedure places his finger in a red power and with no eye contact, duly makes a red dot on your forehead and mutters 

‘donation’ pointing to the empty brass dish with a burnt-out candle in the middle.

Taking into account all the probable shortfalls in financial support, the maintenance and upkeep (is there any ?) one feels the community does not display any ‘connection’ with this treasure, this significant religious site, there is no passion….it is a business, a revenue source, when it could be a powerful and spiritual experience, even for non-believers !

But as I say…one does not wish to be judgmental without understanding the background. However, the absence of ‘connection’ to their environment, does seem to be a common theme.

The consistency of the inconsistency!

After my tour of the ‘inner sanctum’, I found TB on the steps adjacent reflecting on world events, so we took a stroll back to the laneways, a bite and a reasonably early night

We couldn’t wait, this was another opportunity to share a double bed…….yeeha

!