After a relatively quiet day yesterday, I arose early with the plan of catching sunrise from the Monkey Temple. I rented a wimpy motorbike from the same place as before but they gave me a bit of an older model, but it should still do the trick...so the title of this entry is a bit bogus as I did have a motorcycle and not a scooter but that would mess up the alliteration! Sadly my bike had less power than a scooter!
I was out the door at about 6:15am and began climbing the 575 stairs to the top ten minutes later. Plenty of monkeys were playing about near the peak while others sat in trees, seemingly just as interested in catching the sunrise as I was. As sunrises go it wasn’t a top ten by any means, not a big range of colours, but it was still quite beautiful.
A tired Dave:
Nice to share it with monkeys.
The Monkey Temple:
Walking around the rocky top, I met an Israeli fellow sporting a massive black afro, wearing a green t-shirt and baggy red pants and sunglasses. His name was Lee, so I guess technically he was “Israe-Lee” (sorry, couldn’t resist). I chatted with him for at least half an hour and I was amazed at the traveling bravado he had. Having not left Israel before, he arrived in India a couple of months ago with no real plan and he purposefully didn’t research it either. He just arrived in Mumbai and got on a train to anywhere. He said that he didn’t see a non-Indian person for three weeks! Talk about getting yourself immersed.
Me, still looking tired:
Music from the temple at sunrise:
After he left, I started to contemplate what the attraction of Hampi was for all of these travellers. Sure there are the ancient temples and the crazy landscape of monolithic boulders, but once you’ve had your fill of those, why stick around as so many people seem to do? Maybe it is just the simple fact, as Israe-Lee put it, that it’s just such weird and strange terrain, unlike anything you see anywhere else that it just captures the imagination.
The spire:
On my way down I passed numerous Indian workers carrying up big bags of cement. They each had their section of stairs that they would carry up a bag, pass it on to the next guy and then return down for the next one. Looked like quite a workout and I was amazed at how skinny some of the legs of these guys still were!
Hauling cement old school:
The busted bridge, supposedly from a dam overflow a few years ago:
In the afternoon I was on a quest to find the lake that all backpackers talk about. It’s an artificial lake created by a dam that not only provides hydroelectricity but the water is diverted to numerous canals to provide irrigation for many rice fields. It was easy to find and after parking the bike I hiked about 20 minutes along a small trail. While hanging out on a big rock by the water, I heard a lot of rustling behind me and watched as a troop of monkeys worked their way down to the edge of the lake for a drink. They didn’t seem to care that I was there as they scurried around both sides of the rock. Wow, pretty cool to just hang out and observe these nimble guys in their element!
The dam lip:
One of many precarious rocks in the region:
Monkeys all around:
Back on the bike I followed a canal for at least 10 kilometres. I was occasionally flagged down by kids who either wanted a “school pen”, a ride or occasionally rupees. One cocky little guy asked me my name, where I was from and then proceeded to demand 5 rupees as this was “his India” that I was visiting...of course I didn’t pay him but shook his hand for trying.
Very rocky terrain:
My wimpy steed:
My "horn":
A small backroad:
The roads became smaller and rougher but I had a general idea where I was thanks to the sun. I didn’t have an exact measure of the distance I had travelled as the odometer and speedometer were kaput on this old bike but I knew that I should soon be popping into a town called Gangavati that I visited briefly a couple of days ago and sure enough I did. I rode back on the paved roads to Hampi and returned the bike...what a great way to explore!
A typical house in the area:
Arriving in Gangavati:
A Gandhi statue:
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