Bouldering in Hampi

We took a turn inland to explore the magical landscape of Hampi, dotted with ruins and giant boulders, and then headed further south to cosmopolitan Bangeleru (Bangalore) for a very different big city experience.

The 350 Kms between Palolem and Hampi was an all day affair. Our first train in India well exceeded our expectations, helped by our ‘Ixigo’ app, making it simple to book, manage the waiting list process, pay, track the train’s progress, and find the correct carriage. The logistics in arranging this would have been vastly more complicated and fraught just a few years earlier.

The kids got comfortable in the 3 tier sleeper

…and then another snug rickshaw ride from Hospet to Hampi.

The Hampi area is made up of the Hampi township itself and the more chilled Virupapar Gadi ‘island’, separated by a 50 meter boat crossing. A number of Russians on our boat took exception to the $1 price resulting in a heated standoff for over ten minutes…

Another rickshaw ride and a 10 minute walk, and we were at our new host’s place

Where we could finally relax with some Chai Masala tea at “Murali’s homestay’

We enjoyed our meal by our host Bavani

However, the following night involved a room flooded with mosquitos with no net, diarrhea, no running water to flush or wash and no electricity. A very very unpleasant combination which prompted the kids to search for slightly more upmarket accommodation for our next stop in Bangalore. We managed to negotiate them back down by three stars but they got their wish of a swimming pool.

It made for a tired and grumpy day as we took a rickshaw tour around the island. Everywhere we went, monkeys helped to lighten the mood.

This guy couldn’t unscrew the lid so bit through the bottom

At the Laxmi temple

We obliged once again with many many selfies

Offerings at the Durga temple

On the way to the ‘Snake temple’ which felt slightly Indiana Jones-ish

The ‘snakes’

We touristed out at the Sanapur Lake in a traditional boat – the captain was equipped with a super extendable selfie stick

After the rough night, the family was too exhausted to climb the 575 steps to the Monkey temple for the sunset. Fortunately I had this guy as a companion for some of the trip

After shifting to another room for a much better nights sleep, and in better health, we headed out refreshed the next morning for a bouldering adventure

The setting for it was stunning!

And the kids had a blast, under the guidance of Sunny

Iris and I even got in on the action – it was the unanimous highlight of our stay

Couldn’t pass up on another touristy photo opportunity

And then it was back on the boat to Hampi township for a change of scene

Where we got incredibly lucky with a budget room opening out to the main balcony and a front row seat to the action on the Hampi Bazaar stretch

It was the perfect spot for just sitting and taking in life as it went by

In the evening we climbed Mathanga Hill for sunset. It was a stunning climb!

The next day Hampi was covered in decorations called Rangoli made of coloured powders to celebrate the Makar Sankranti festival

This fella came and joined us for breakie. Shortly after this a monkey broke in to the other end of the restaurant, opened a fridge and took some fruit for it. You don’t need to go far to experience wildlife in Hampi!

We ventured early down to the Tungabhadra River where it was bathing time

Including Laksmi who was taking a break from giving blessings at the Hanuman temple

We took another Rickshaw tour to explore the Hampi side of the river. Sofia was a little dubious about my brail reading ability. It lead to a great game where we created alternative history stories to the ruins.

At the Queen’s bath

Treasure hunts at ruins never gets old, this time to keep the kids engaged at Mahanavami Bibba…

Liam was definitely the most popular of us for selfies that day thanks to his Black Caps shirt.

We ended the day with a leisurely stroll down the beautiful riverside

And that evening it was off on a sleeper bus down to Bangalore, which again was booked and paid in a few Ixigo clicks. It was a new experience for all of us and a surprising amount of sleep got had for most of us.

Bangalore’s got a very different vibe to Mumbai with a striking lack of homeless people, cows, and general chaos. It’s dotted with technology companies, being the IT development outsourcing hub of India and generally has a much more cosmopolitan, affluent, and relaxed feel about it. For us, it’s been a great place for a couple of days of low key downtime.

We did visit the excellent Visvesvaraya technology and industry museum for the kids’ educational fix. It was great for the first half an hour until it slowly became packed full of a cacophony of school groups – It was interesting to observe that corporal punishment was still in favour here!

For something a bit different, we also visited an ‘escape room’ where we needed to work together to solve a murder mystery by following a series of clues and escape from the room. The signs say it all!

But mostly it’s been about chilling, which has been well needed after a reasonably full on few days of travel