(Not) Wining and dining in Hampi

Hampi is a Hindu holy city, so that means no alcohol or meat allowed. You can find beer in Hospet, but it's a no-no in Hampi (bring it along at your own risk).

If you ever go to Hampi, I highly recommend eating at Shiva Moon restaurant. It's down by the river and a bit off the beaten path -- you might need to take a rickshaw to get there, but the food and ambiance are well worth it. The proprietors lay out candles and mosquito coils all around the table, and even put some incense around you. This creates a very romantic, exotic feeling. The Indian food was excellent, and the chicken schnitzel and hummus with pita were unbelievable. In general, you'll find lots of German and Israeli food in Hampi. We're not really sure why.



Later on we went to Shanti's, which has psychedelic Lord of the Rings tapestries for sale. It's cool, though, because you can sit on pillows on the floor to drink your chai:



We also went to Under the Mango Tree cafe. All I have to say is, man! Those mango trees are HUGE! All of the seats (straw mats with a stone table in front of you) face out towards the river, so whether you're traveling alone or in a group, you can feel at one with nature. They also have a nice wooden swing hanging romantically from the mango tree itself.

To get there, you have to walk down a path surrounded on all sides by banana trees.

Mopeds are awesome

The best part of our trip involved riding mopeds out to the famed 'Monkey Temple', which was the only thing Keyon wanted to see in Hampi so he could live out a childhood fantasy of feeding monkeys bananas. This obsession worked out well for the rest of us, because the whole experience was incredible.

Luckily for me, Tina is an experienced moped driver so all I had to do was sit on the back and enjoy the ride. Here we are as we set out on our journey:



We took several wrong turns on the way to the monkey temple, but that just resulted in seeing many more sites:



Here are Sohna and Tanja looking very chic when we hit a dead end at the river -- notice the temples in the backdrop:



We did have to cross the river; just not right there. Once we found the crossing station, we took boats made of woven bamboo with some kind of waterproofed tarp coating them.



I was incredulous that these boats could float safely across with people in them, let alone 3 motorcycles. But hey, India never ceases to amaze me:



Tanja and I got across first since we didn't have to deal with the mopeds. Here I am hanging out with a Hampian I met. We matched ;)



Once we were all across, we took a few more wrong turns and ended up seeing some amazing relics of past civilization. At one time, Hampi was a thriving 500,000 person city:





Thanks to Tina's frequent stops for directions, we did reach the monkey temple. Fulfillment of a dream!



The view from the top of the Monkey temple, 530 steps up I think someone told us, was spectacular. We could see all the places we'd made wrong turns throughout the day -- all rock formations, the temples, the Queen's Bath.





I have to hand it to Keyon, the monkeys were very cute. Although after I witnessed a huge greedy monkey violently tear the bag of bananas from him, I was kind of scared of them. I thought they might rip away my camera. But the little ones were adorable. I can also confirm the stereotype -- monkeys really do love bananas:









The road back:



On the way back across the river, it was nearing sunset and all the colors were rich and vibrant. After climbing 500 steps, riding a moped through the jungle all day, and seeing structures that had been around for thousands of years, I felt very content and this couple silently laying out their fishing nets just seemed particularly beautiful:

Arrival at Hampi guesthouse

Hampi is a great backpacker town, and I recommend it to anyone. I could have easily stayed there for several more days to unwind. It reminds me a lot of Pompei in that you are completely surrounded by ancient ruins -- it's like a city beside a city.

We arrived at Sudha Guest House, which was by the river, pretty early in the moring. All of the guesthouses in Hampi are run by families, and it brings a nice touch of comfort.



Also, all of the guesthouses in Hampi have wonderful rooftop restaurants overlooking the rocks and ruins.



It's a nice way for travellers to connect, and the views are stunning:



While we were eating, we saw a monkey jumping around on the interesting rock formations across from us: