The unexplored Hippie town of Hampi

by Sanha Paraswani (India)

I didn't expect to find India

Bellary District in Karnataka boasts of a place called Hampi which takes us back to the Thirteenth Century echoing the tales of the then glorious and flourishing Vijayanagar Empire. It was the last Capital of this Hindu Empire. After several invasions, it lost it's glory due to human greed for power and acquisition in the 16th Century and left behind “the Ruins of Hampi”. It was 2017 February, I reached Hampi from Bengaluru by train.I took the Hampi Express at 10:00 p.m. which reaches Hospet (13 k.m. from Hampi) at 6:00 a.m. Coming from North India even a clean railway station can seem like a tourist spot! My excursion had begun the moment I saw a staircase, painted in different colours, with local language messages about cleanliness on it. As soon as you head out of the railway station, an array of auto and cabs drivers surround you to drop you either to a hotel in Hospet or transport you to 13 km away town to Hampi. I stayed in Hospet and the first thing the auto driver handed me was a Clear and Simple City Map. It was the best tool for navigation as Google Maps did not work properly in many places due to weak internet connectivity. After freshening up at Hospet, I headed to Hampi. It’s a 30 minute auto ride costing around INR 200-250. You know you are in Hampi when on either side of the road you witness huge sepia coloured boulders. The broken stones are aligned and placed one over the other in a way that they look as if they were specifically placed that way. The architecture of the Virupaksha Temple which no one could have imagined back then still stands telling tales about the grandeur and mastery of the Vijayanagar artisans but also a major part of the place is now just broken stones and monuments which remind us of multiple invasions. It was spectacular to go under the rock tunnel and finally reach the Tungabhadra river crossing. To my surprise, there were hardly any Indian travellers here. Mostly , foreigner backpackers were waiting to cross over to the other side.I waited under a shed for the boat. The boat ride was barely 5 minutes, which finishes by the time the conductor manually collects the ticket fare from the passengers. There I was on the other side! Paddy rice fields, grafittis, narrow lanes and German cafes! Wow, that’s not what I expected in this historic town! I was here to visit the monuments at this World Heritage site but this was a different world, frequented by foreigners, yoga and Ayurvedic spa centres around every corner and village men and women selling Indian stoles, braiding your hair and putting henna on women’s palms. Best travelled on foot to explore the unknown sides of this gem, I stood there breathing in the air of the hippie town of Hampi! I relaxed at the Laughing Buddha Cafe. I didn’t know that this city could have this rugged, trance feel to it.The cafe even served alcoholic beverages in a steel glass (it's a historical importance town where alcohol is banned but I was in India and it was the hippie town where everything was available under the table) After a while, at around 3:30 p.m. I rented a scooty to ride to the lake side and there I discovered Gandola rides. Youngsters did boating in an inverted umbrella shaped boat, listening to music, taking dips in the water. I put my headphones on and wondered about the Ruins, the broken monuments, the pillars and how this magical mysterious town would have cropped up! When I asked the locals about it, they just told me how foreigners made this World Heritage site a partying place at night and a peaceful escape in the morning, As for me, it was time to head back to Hospet now as the last boat out of this hippie town was at 5:30 p.m. I was out of the mysterious town transported back to reality! This quirky town felt like some place abroad and it will always be on my list for a quick getaway from the busy Indian city life!