A lost city you must see.

Hampi is one of the ancient cities on the ground. It was one of the centers of Hindu civilization 4 thousand years ago. But Hampi reached its greatest prosperity around the end of the 15th century - shortly before India was occupied by Muslims from the north.

This place is often mentioned in the Ramayana. It was here that events unfolded, as legend has it, between the gods Lakshman, Hanuman, Sita, Rama, Sugriva and Bali. Where the Anegodi citadel was located, there is now a monkey kingdom.

Hemakunta Hill, located south of the Virupaksha Temple and clearly visible from the Hampi bazaar, preserves the remains of early Jain temples and the largest monolithic sculpture in Hampi of Narasimha, one of the forms of God Vishnu, now standing alone.

Also in the Bazaar area, among the boulders, there is a monolithic statue of God Ganesha and several other temples located inside a small mandapa.

2 km. To the northeast of Hampi Bazaar is the Vittal or Vitthala Temple, built in the 16th century, and is one of the best examples of the architectural art of the masters of the Vijayanagara Empire. The outer pillars of this temple are said to produce music when carved, hence they are also known as musical pillars. In fact, the thin stone columns actually make a sound when you tap them with your palm.

On the way here and before the entrance to the temple complex on the right, you can see medieval shopping arcades, which are stone columns and stone slabs once lying on them, which allowed traders and buyers to stay here during the light and hot hours of the day.
Interior temple complex- both the temple and the dance hall are perfectly preserved, here you can see friezes and columns with figures of animals and warriors, and in between there are sculptural images of ten avatars of Vishnu.
Here is located the stone chariot that has become the symbol of Hampi, dating back to the 15th century. Stone wheels made in the shape of a lotus can rotate around stone axes.

The royal center of Hampi is so named because it was where the elite lived, it is surrounded in places by stone walls, with observation towers that can be climbed into, and contains several attractions of predominantly Indo-Saracenic type.

To the left are the elephant stalls, connected by small windows through which the elephants could communicate with their trunks.

The Lotus Palace, which is a mixture of Indian and Islamic architecture, is a pavilion of complex shape; it was never residential and was used as a place to relax during the hottest time of the day. The stone palace has a complex architectural plan, thanks to which you can always feel the breeze blowing through it; the building takes its name from the blooming lotus flower, which resembles the carved domes and vaulted ceilings.

Hampi has only been open to tourists for the last 20 years, remaining an abandoned jungle city until then.

At one time, it was visited by the English writer Joseph Kipling, who wrote “The Jungle Book,” for which he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907.

18.04.2013

Oddly enough, but often residents leave entire cities, they become overgrown with grass and rot. Often this departure is caused by war or natural disaster. The city becomes a kind of time capsule, because it remains in the state in which its owners left it. Many of lost cities were found, others remained a legend. This top 10 can be called differently: abandoned cities, abandoned cities, lost cities, disappeared cities, cities of legend, etc. but whatever you call it greatest cities who left their mark on history forever.

10. City of Caesars

Also known as The eternal City and City of Patagonia. It was never found, but is believed to be in the south South America, in the Patagonia region. It was founded by Spanish travelers who were shipwrecked off the coast of South America. A bunch of legends surround the city: some talk about mountains of gold, some say that the city was inhabited by 10-foot giants, some say that it is a city of ghosts that appear and disappear.

9. Troy

Troy, glorified in the poems of Homer, was previously located somewhere in the territory of modern Turkey. It was a developed and well-armed city with a reliable security system. Its coastal location allowed it to become major port, and the nearby plains allowed for the development of agriculture. The remains of Troy were first discovered in 1870 by Heinrich Schliemann. Despite the fact that the excavations of Troy have since often been suspended and robbed, the scale is still impressive.

8. The Lost City of Z

Supposedly located in the jungles of Brazil, City Z was the basis of a known advanced civilization. The complex network of bridges, roads and temples excites the imagination. Rumors of its existence have been circulating since 1753, when a Portuguese navigator wrote a letter claiming to have visited the city. In 1925, explorer Percy Fawcett and several groups that went looking for him disappeared.

7. Petra

Perhaps the most beautiful of all the cities on this list. Petra is located in Jordan near Dead Sea and was previously the center of the Nabatean trade caravan. The most striking thing is its architecture - temples are carved directly into the rocks and surrounding mountains. The city was built in 100 BC. and, as research shows, achieved many technological successes: dams, tanks and much more helped him survive during floods and droughts. After the Roman conquest and earthquake in 363 AD. the city fell into decay, and soon became abandoned city. Petra stood in the desert until 1812.

6. Eldorado

Supposedly located in the jungles of South America, the golden city is ruled by a powerful king, and local residents rich in gold and precious stones. Many expeditions obsessed with this idea lost and died in the jungle. The most famous of them was organized in 1541 by Gonzalo Pizarro, who led a group of 300 soldiers and several thousand Indians. They found no evidence of the city's existence; many died from epidemics, famine and attacks by natives.

5. Memphis

Founded in 3100 BC, Memphis was the capital ancient egypt, and served administrative center civilization for hundreds of years before losing influence with the rise of Thebes and Alexandria. At its peak, Memphis' population exceeded 30,000, the largest Big city antiquity. The city's location was lost until Napoleon's expedition discovered it in the 1700s. Due to the subsequent sprawl of modern cities, many parts of Memphis have been lost.

4. Angkor

Angkor in Cambodia was the center of the Khmer Empire from 800 to 1400. AD The region was abandoned after a gradual decline that ended with the invasion of the Thai army in 1431, leaving massive cities and thousands of Buddhist temples deserted in the jungle. The city remained relatively untouched until the 1800s, when it was discovered by a team of French archaeologists. Angkor and its surroundings are recognized as the largest pre-industrial city in the world, and its famous temple Angkor Wat is considered the largest religious monument in existence.

3. Pompeii

The Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed in 79 by the eruption of Vesuvius, which buried it under 60 feet of ash and rock. The city, according to experts, had a population of about 20,000 people, and was considered one of the best elite resorts for the Romans. The ruins of the city stood untouched until the 1700s, until it was rediscovered in 1748 by workers building a palace for the King of Naples. Since then, excavations there have not stopped.

2. Atlantis

Today they already claim that Atlantis is nothing more than a myth, but at one time it was the main one and at the same time attracting gold miners from all over the world. The city was first mentioned in 360 BC. in the works of Plato as a developed civilization, a powerful naval city. According to some scientists, Atlantis conquered almost all of Europe before it sank under water as a result of an environmental disaster. Such a legend of a technologically advanced city full of treasures has captured the imagination of many writers and would-be adventurers. But none of the expeditions aimed at searching for him were discovered.

1. Machu Picchu

Of all lost cities that have been found and studied, perhaps there is no more mysterious than Machu Picchu. Isolated near the Urubamba Valley in Peru, the city remained hidden from human eyes until 1911. The city is divided into districts, and includes more than 140 different structures. It is said to have been built in 1400 by the Incas and abandoned by them less than 100 years later, most likely after its population was decimated by smallpox brought from Europe. There are many legends around the city. Some argue that the entire city is a holy temple, others argue that it was used as a prison, but recent research shows that the city was most likely the property of the Inca emperor Pachacuti. And the place was chosen based on the astrological mythology of the Incas.

Enjoying amazing nature and the cultural richness of India, the lost cities should not be forgotten. Despite the fact that these cities fell as a result of wars and natural disasters, their majesty has survived to this day, thanks to the surviving temples, museums and galleries that display surviving works of art. Let's enjoy traveling through time together.

Virupaksha Temple in Hampi.

The dynasties of princes Harihara and Bukka Raya founded Vijayanagara in 1336. This mighty city was the capital of the empire. The golden years of this Indian region were between 1509 and 1529. The city was surrounded by hills on three sides, and the Tungabhadra River flowed on the fourth. Like many other powerful empires, the empire eventually fell to the Deccan Sultan in 1565. Agricultural wealth brought great material benefits to the empire through international trade. The ruins of the city currently have the status World Heritage, and surround modern Hampi in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Tree in the courtyard of the Vittala Temple.

The seven-story building in the photo is now the Sillappathikara Art Gallery. Puhar is a town in Nagapattinami district in the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu. In ancient times, this city was called the prosperous capital of kings. Situated at the mouth of the Kaveri River, the city served as a large shopping center, in which goods brought from afar were unloaded. The legendary city is mentioned in many songs, poetry, and heroic epics. The history of the city is well described in the epics Silapathikaram and Manimekalai. Scientists believe that the destruction of the city was caused by a tsunami.

Muziris is the Greco-Roman name of an ancient port city located on the Malabar coast (South India). Excavations in 2004 proved that trade with Western Asia, the Middle East and Europe was conducted from this port. It is believed that the city was destroyed by an earthquake in the 13th century AD.

The ancient city of Lothal, or rather its remains, can be found in the state of Gujatat. Known since 2400 BC, this lost city is one of the most important archaeological assets of India. It was discovered in 1954 and excavated between 1955 and 1960. The city was also large commercial port.

Kalibangan.

Kalibangan is located on south coast Ghaggar in the Rajasthan region. Known as the site of the earliest system of plowing an agricultural field (c. 2800 BC). Scientists have concluded that the city was destroyed by an earthquake in 2600 BC, but after that a 2nd stage of settlement occurred, which was unsuccessful due to the gradual and irreversible drying of the river.

Surkotada.

Surkotada is located in Kutch district, Gujarat. The ancient mound is surrounded by sandy hills and red soil, giving the entire area a reddish-brown color. The Lost City was discovered in 1964. Among the attractions of India, these lost cities are far from the last place.

Pattadakal. Pattadakala Temple.

Pattadakal is a city located on the banks of the Malaprabha River in the northern state of Karnataka. The group of ten monuments from the 8th century AD includes majestic temples, a monolithic stone pillar and a Jain sanctuary.

One should not forget about the lost cities when enjoying the beauty and cultural treasures of India.
These cities fell as a result of wars and natural disasters, but still survive to this day.
Let's enjoy the journey and see the surviving art, temples and museums.

Virupaksha Temple in Hampi.
The dynasties of princes Harihara and Bukka Raya founded Vijayanagara in 1336. This mighty city was the capital of the empire. The golden years of this Indian region were between 1509 and 1529. The city was surrounded by hills on three sides, and the Tungabhadra River flowed on the fourth. Like many other powerful empires, the empire eventually fell to the Deccan Sultan in 1565. Agricultural wealth brought great material benefits to the empire through international trade. The ruins of the city now have World Heritage status, and surround modern Hampi in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Tree in the courtyard of the Vittala Temple.

Puhar.
The seven-story building in the photo is now the Sillappathikara Art Gallery. Puhar is a town in Nagapattinami district in the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu. In ancient times, this city was called the prosperous capital of kings. Situated at the mouth of the Kaveri River, the city served as a large trading center where goods brought from afar were unloaded. The legendary city is mentioned in many songs, poetry, and heroic epics. The history of the city is well described in the epics Silapathikaram and Manimekalai. Scientists believe that the destruction of the city was caused by a tsunami.

Muziris.
Muziris is the Greco-Roman name of an ancient port city located on the Malabar coast (South India). Excavations in 2004 proved that trade with Western Asia, the Middle East and Europe was conducted from this port. It is believed that the city was destroyed by an earthquake in the 13th century AD.

Lothal.
The ancient city of Lothal, or rather its remains, can be found in the state of Gujatat. Known since 2400 BC, this lost city is one of India's most important archaeological assets. It was discovered in 1954 and excavated between 1955 and 1960. The city was also a major trading port.

Kalibangan.
Kalibangan is located on the southern bank of Ghaggar in the Rajasthan region. Known as the site of the earliest system of plowing an agricultural field (c. 2800 BC). Scientists have concluded that the city was destroyed by an earthquake in 2600 BC, but after that a 2nd stage of settlement occurred, which was unsuccessful due to the gradual and irreversible drying of the river.

In general, of course, at first I thought that Hampi would be the last city about which I would write a story from this trip, because... I really didn’t like a lot of things there. But now the emotional memories have faded, only the physical memory remains and it was damn beautiful there. Now just look at the photos, and we’ll see together :)

We went to Hampi immediately after Goa. Apparently the contrast of everything - the people, the situation and the weather - was so great that it all knocked me out. Of course, ordinary tourists are very happy to go there, because it’s really interesting to see the “real India”. Well, unfortunately, I didn’t see real India there. Neither the city, nor especially the people, are like ordinary Indians. Everywhere everything is captured, they do business on everything, there is no mercy for the traveler. At least that’s how it is in the center of the town, but in the nearby villages it’s probably better, but we didn’t get there, I’m afraid I’ll never set foot there again.

What is this small jungle town famous for? It’s impossible to reach it humanly; it’s located somewhere on the outskirts. Moreover, you only need to visit it on purpose, because... It’s not possible to drive past somewhere and drop in, because... The place is terribly inconvenient.

The first thing that catches your eye when approaching the city is the huge stones! They say that these are rocks, but they don’t remind me of them at all, maybe they were once and fell apart...

There is also rice fields everywhere. Juicy green color, a delight for the eyes!

The truth is not much joy for the body. Because of the heaps of swamps, there are millions of mosquitoes. In fact, definitely no less. Because in our tiny room there were several hundred of them. For the first time in my life, I checked out the mosquito net, built myself a wigwam, and God forbid even one crack, an attack could not be avoided. They simply dug their noses into this net and tried to reach our blood. We weren’t in the room at all; we even went to a nearby chill-out restaurant to just sit and relax.
And at night frogs came out to hunt and croaked at the top of their lungs, there were a lot of them too, but I liked this natural “music” :)

We stayed three days in Hampi. Already on the first day, I intended to make my way from there, but tickets had already been purchased to leave the neighboring city. I had to endure and get used to it; looking ahead, I’ll say that I got used to it.
We settled on the other side of the river. We went back and forth by boat for 10 rupees.

On the first day, early in the morning, when we swam to the main shore, we saw an elephant being washed very close by! Naturally, they rushed to where a whole horde of foreigners had already gathered.

It turns out that this is an elephant from a neighboring temple and they sniff her here every morning.

Indians take morning baths right there, a couple of meters away.

And Russians, damn it, don’t want to go into the river if a poodle has taken a swim nearby :)

On main street the movement is in full swing.

If you don't get everything done early in the morning, then you'll just get fried in the sun. I still have a trace of burnt skin on the collar of the T-shirt I was wearing that day. We then decided to have time to get around a lot of everything at once, damn it, it just didn’t become a firebrand.

Near the temple, dressed-up characters are already walking around (so that you take pictures of them and pay them money for it) and a lively trade begins.

Mmmm, the bananas there are so delicious, I haven’t tried anything better yet. In Russia, there was once an attempt to buy a banana, but a couple of bites were enough to understand that it was a pathetic fake. And there was a whole bunch of bananas for 10 rupees, you could easily live on them.

And not only to live, but also to feed others. Cows, for example.

Lyubzik is in the photo:)

Well, the monkeys, of course, didn’t refuse :)

This one even abandoned her guard post near the statue of the Monkey God for the sake of a banana. And sometimes such giants would run right along our floor and snatch away our bunches of bananas.

And here is the very checkpoint guarded by these macaques.

I suggested that Hanuman, the monkey god, may have appeared due to mere chance. I once heard, perhaps from the island of Bali, that the main cool monkey helped win the war. Ancient Empire Vijayanagar, which once stood here, was an Indian center; the north was already occupied by the Mughals. The Indians were constantly at war with the Mughals. Therefore, the legend is quite suitable for this story. Only the legend said that the chief monkey gathered a monkey army and went to fight the enemy. I thought it was a fairy tale. But in fact, the monkey really could have played some role. The first thing that came to mind was that some monkey accidentally jumped on the face of the elephant, on which the general of the militant army was sitting, or somewhere else. Because of this, the elephant got scared and made a fuss. The battle is lost, the monkey is held in high esteem :) Why not an option? The most interesting thing happened when I walked around this statue. Her face is that of a monkey, but her body is that of an elephant! Even the butt is big like an elephant and the tail too. In general, I liked my theory :) Maybe someone knows an intelligent point of view on why a half-monkey is half-elephant?
Cough cough, we digress.

There are just dozens of these primates sitting nearby, a lot of little ones running wild, jumping from boulder to boulder. Well, it’s not at all surprising that this particular place was described by Kipling; in reality, everything is still the same as in the story about Mowgli.

Suddenly the guards of their god began to make a brutal sound. I wouldn't even think that they could squeal like that. I looked at them with horror, who were they reacting to, maybe it was me, it turned out to be someone else’s dog running past. By the way, there were other dogs nearby, but they looked like “our own”.

The dudes are Akela's ancestors, no less, and that's why they deserve respect from the monkeys :) These definitely still have fresh wolf genes.

We decided that it was enough to hang around the monkey kingdom, it was time to move on
We climbed the mountain, from where a wonderful view opened up.

The stones themselves were no less impressive. These really remind me of the statues on Easter Island. It’s as if they’ve just been worn down by the wind and time.

A few more meters up the rocky paths and here it is - a lost city in the depths of the jungle, hidden among thousands of huge stones.

While we were climbing the mountain, two shabby, but apparently cunning, old women trudged along with us. They slightly overtook us and sat down near some ruins. When we approached, they, of course, began to urgently invite us inside the supposed Hanuman temple (in fact, they themselves erected the left altar in this hole). And then you pay grandma for the entrance. Damn, the locals here are terribly thoughtful, which makes me terribly sick.

But the whole city fortunately it was empty. You don’t have to pay for anything there, the entrance is everywhere, just as there are ruins in the jungle, they are worthless to anyone. It was there that I burst into terrible joy and admiration. Such incredible antiquity, there are gorgeous fluffy palm trees all around, and I was literally transported into some kind of fairy tale, because so much has been told about the great India, and here it is the heart of all these myths.

Many buildings and temples have been preserved. With all the drawings on the walls, columns and in some places even something like stone furniture.

Here, for example, is the most beautiful gate standing near the main entrance.

And outside these gates there is a huge platform for landing the plane of the royal procession, no less.

I have already gained some experience from my humanoid friends and climbed to the top of the colonnade myself :)

And now again a story from Masha, even a little scary.
In a dark, dark palace, there is a dark, dark corridor with dark, dark stairs.
I stood on one such staircase, without even seeing it, only feeling it. She began to back away, choosing an angle for the shot and almost fell back somewhere, what depth there was is not clear, a black abyss. I stopped at the edge, set the shutter speed for a few seconds and tried to hold my breath. Something even seemed to be quite bright; in fact, it was as dark as an eye-opener.

But from the too quiet silence, because I even stopped breathing, the surrounding sounds began to be heard. Some creaks, hissing, scratching. Considering that Lyubakha was wandering somewhere on the street and I was alone in the entire huge building, my nerves began to fail, I decided that it was a snake. I rushed out of the dark room. But damn it’s interesting. Or rather, I thought nearby that it might not be a snake, but bats, and immediately, as confirmation, I heard an almost ultrasonic squeak. There was only one way to check - take a photo with a flash, hoping that a herd of Batmans wouldn’t rush at me. I wandered into the darkness again and got ready to quickly take pictures and run :)
And then my theory was confirmed.

I know that the photo is not very attractive, but I wanted to tell you =)
The flash, by the way, did not wake them up. I even called Lyuba to do a photo shoot and she managed to take several close-up shots of a pair of mice “blindly”.

After wandering among the old choir of Indian rulers, we went wherever our eyes led us. After a while we came to the same river that we cross every morning, only downstream. Well, here we go again with washing and washing.

Fishermen first kill the fish by hitting the water with a stick, and then spread their nets.

A little further, the boys offered to take us a couple of meters away on the same “plate”, but they wanted many hundreds of rupees, so we sent them away.

By this time, our skulls were so baked that we could barely crawl and thought about the shortest way to get back to the center.

Having looked at these stones with modern art for the last time, we wanted to turn back...

But then we met white people on almost plasticine stones and said that we forgot to see the most interesting thing, and it seemed to be not far ahead. “Y-my!” – I thought, but there was nothing to do, it was impossible to leave it for another day, because... There is still a lot to see in Hampi.
The white people went ahead of us, and we were left thinking and dreaming of at least a Panama hat. Soon the goats galloped merrily over the stones.

Well, since even the goats are going in that direction, then okay, we’ll trample too.

We came out to some strange building, it seemed like there was a stupa on top.

There the Indians washed their children. And it was only the children who did not get into the water themselves. Some local photographers with interesting ancient equipment (no, not made of stone :)) gathered together. We decided that there was some kind of event here. There were even thoughts that this could be some kind of rite, like baptism.

The grandmother sat with her youngest granddaughter on a nearby pebble and watched with pleasure water procedures the rest of the children.

Then we finally got to the most interesting thing that the white people promised us, but nothing impressed us there. I didn’t understand at all the difference between that free empty zone where you walk on your own as much as you want and this place where the main temples are closed and entry costs 250 rupees. Where heaps of annoying merchants and small children dressed as gods scurry around, in general a place for tourists. I didn’t get high, there are no photos from there.

On the way back we saw a stone that the locals were cutting to build something. The technology is simple: they make holes in a circular pattern with some kind of stake, and then the stone splits into two parts. Then one of the parts is holed again and so on.

There are many such “cut” stones in Hampi. Most likely, the materials are supplied even to neighboring cities, if not much further, than not a bad business.

The next day we wanted to go to two different places. One is on the side of the famous elephant shelters, and the second is on a completely different side, but no less famous, the Hanuman Temple.

Since we need to go to Mount Hanuman at sunset, we went to the elephant stables at sunrise. And then they began to cheat us again. Firstly, the rickshaw driver asked for a maniacal amount - 50 rupees for a couple of kilometers. They broke down and agreed, having first made sure that it was for two. All the way he told us that it would be better for 300 rupees to show and tell us everything. Like a 4 hour excursion. We explain to him that for these 4 hours we will only be hanging around one ruin, because... We walk for a long time and in general I want to see everything for myself, so that no one is standing over my soul. No, he's still pushing his damn excursion. We arrived at the place, thanked him, and said that the excursion was not needed, but we didn’t have any money without change, so I gave him a hundred rupees and waited... He happily put it in his pocket and didn’t even itch to give anything else there. I actually ask where is 50 rupees. And he says that this was the price for one person. Since by this time I had already figured out Hampi and this bullshit was really annoying me, I told the rickshaw driver that it was okay, they agreed otherwise, because I clarified it, and he confirmed it. Let him go through the forest, I won’t get out of his cart, we’ll wait until the evening, I’m not in a hurry, and he’ll miss other clients.
The nasty little man finally couldn’t stand it after a few minutes and gave us the change, sending us off to say goodbye, and we thanked him in the same way.

My mood deteriorated and I walked around the antiquities upset.
However, it was surprising that Mughal buildings were located so close to the Indian Empire.

We climbed up to this turret. There was a padlock hanging on the grate, but it was not locked. We opened the door and walked up the old steps. All the walls, as usual, are covered with writings from tourists who wanted to add their name as a vandal to history.

It turns out the Muslims got closer than I expected. We lived literally next door.

And then another unsightly side of Hampi’s greed was revealed. Builders are working everywhere.

Do you think they are restoring ancient buildings or restoring something? No, they are building walls. Another couple of years and you won’t see anything for free in Hampi.

If now you can just take a walk somewhere, breathe in the atmosphere of real events of the past and feel the history, then very soon visitors will walk around like in a museum with dinosaur skeletons. It seems like it happened, but it’s impossible to imagine.
Entrance to EACH fenced area costs 250 rupees. There can be dozens of them there, wouldn’t it be bold, eh? In general, here I again strengthened my point of view about the commercialism and disgust of the city.

To the detriment of all prohibitions, they brazenly climbed over the fence, pushing past the barbed wire. There was a green clearing and beautiful temple. We went inside through some side door. Left through main entrance, the guards did not torture us. It's beautiful there, but the photos are boring and lifeless.
It’s better to post an artist who was very serious and focused on his work.

It was not a painting seller, but a student. Apparently they came as a group for practice, because... There were a lot of people sitting there and everyone was drawing something in watercolors.
By the way, in his painting you can just see a Hindu temple, which we snuck into without asking. In reality it's even better.

Then we passed by some kind of stela, stone bath-pools of former rulers, some other ruins, and the road itself led us to the elephant sheds. Finally! They looked so beautiful in the pictures! But a security guard blocked the road, demanding a ticket. It’s so strange, it would be nice if there were some kind of gate, otherwise the road goes on and on to these elephant sheds. No cash register, no barriers. What kind of ticket are we asking? There weren’t even any ticket offices. He pointed in the opposite direction from where we had come, along the wall for almost half a kilometer. By this time, more tourists with a child and an Indian couple approached, they were also turned around. Taking advantage of the moment, I took a photo of the elephants, although the angle was weird, but they looked at them with one eye.

As expected, at the ticket office the ticket once again cost 250 rupees. We turned around and left from there, the Indians at that time shouted to us that we had to buy tickets here, and we answered something like choke, take it yourself for that price. As far as I understand, only rickshaws bring you to this ticket office; if you go by yourself, it turns out to be a completely different route. Not because it’s shorter, it’s more interesting, you can see what’s not closed yet. If you walk along this road, you only see dry grass and walls growing on the sides, while their height is not great, but this will not last long.
For example, the already finished wall along which we walked to the ticket office of the elephant shelters was about three meters long, only in a few places you could jump up and see the most boring, well-groomed clearings with a couple of ruins.
A rickshaw wanted to take us from there for a thousand rupees. Was it difficult to resist spitting in his face? No, it's not difficult. By this time, I had already scored, I knew that this would happen, so I decided to walk in the heat of 40 degrees in the direct sun. The main thing for us was to get to the road, and there it was already possible to catch a bus from Hospet that was passing by.

How long is it short, but we reached the very road, near which there were still buildings that looked quite decent, but with a free entrance. Lyubka galloped off to take pictures of the next walls, but I remained standing at the entrance, because I was already dying of boredom and was not in the mood. The Goans also froze at the entrance, also wondering if they should go or not and watch the same thing again. You can't confuse this outfit with anything else :)

We, of course, walked along the road; there was no point in waiting for the bus on the spot. It will go, it will go, no, no.

Soon a rickshaw full of Indians stopped and offered to take us for 10 rupees off the nose. This is not a spoiled real rickshaw puller, he probably already raised the price for a white man, but not hundreds of times!

Needless to say, after all the “adventures” I arrived at the guesthouse angry and in no mood. You can’t rest in the room, there are hundreds of mosquitoes rushing around and trying to torment you (the photo is off topic, but I like it).

The only salvation was our chill-out restaurant, it’s just some kind of paradise. By evening, everyone from the surrounding area flocked to it, because a more ideal place could not be imagined. You sit, even almost lie, covered in pillows at low tables. Relaxing music is playing, Shiva and Ram are on the walls, dim lights, delicious momos... In general, by sunset I was relaxed, good-natured and ready to storm Hanuman Mountain :)

At 5 p.m. a rickshaw was supposed to arrive, with whom we agreed in the morning that for 300 rupees he would take us, wait and bring us. The guy was different, he left a normal impression, but that was even before we met the harmful rickshaws. At exactly 17.00 he was already waiting for us. We happily loaded ourselves into his cart and set off.

Mount Hanuman was on our shore, so there was no need to swim across. It turns out there was much more to the village here than it initially seemed. I don’t know if this also applies to Hampi or not, but here there is a simple village Indian life and simple, not arrogant people. The impression was good.

You drive along and there are banana thickets and rice fields, and in the distance these huge stones are beautiful!

We've already climbed a bit.

The rickshaw stayed downstairs, we agreed that at 18.30 we would go down.

At the top of the mountain stands the temple of Hanuman, the god of monkeys.

The monkeys here are not as black-faced as we saw at the beginning near the ruins of the old city.

Those were treated only by us. And this brings food to everyone who is not too lazy. They're stuck here. They put bananas in their mouths for future use, look how much this fat belly has stuffed in its cheek :)

In the pre-sunset rays the flags on the temple flutter.

And then the action begins for which everyone climbed here - sunset.

Everyone sat comfortably on the stones that had been warmed up during the day and relaxed.

Here one Indian again bothered me, chatting at the top of his lungs on the phone. I seemed to endure it, but a whole crowd of young Indians came and made a fuss, like at a train station. I couldn’t stand it anymore, maybe they couldn’t see how relaxed everyone was here, why they had to organize a market, and they didn’t even care about the sunset. I hit the stone with my hand so that all my Indian bracelets rang and shouted “shut up!” Some Russian chuckled cheerfully, the rest of the tourists were also happy, apparently religion did not allow them to say anything, I was the only impudent goat on this holy mountain. The Hindus, however, understood, at first they went somewhere and their chatter was almost inaudible, then they completely disappeared.

Finally, the long-awaited silent calm has begun, in our frenzied world you really want to stop for a minute, there were several whole minutes here, indescribable luxury.

The sun was slowly going down, not in a hurry at all, as it usually happens at sea, some pleasant music was flying over the whole world, clearly dedicated to Hanuman, which was turned on in the temple, the lights in the village were lit one after another and the last low rays illuminated the rice fields and banana groves. It was worth coming here for this, yes.

After sunset everyone went down together. Black-faced monkeys sat immodestly on the rocks :)

I met this one. I took her paw gently. At this time, elderly Russian aunts were descending, obviously having come on a guided tour from Goa. The girl guide reproached me that I shouldn’t do this, these are wild animals, they will eat me, and in general, once I touched the infection, I’ll never get rid of it. Damn it, fuck off with your fucking theory! I first looked the monkey in the eyes, she also looked at me intently, at first I simply extended my hand, without touching, she did not remove her paw, then she carefully took her paw and, as it were, said hello, shaking her hand up and down, she held her paw for a few more seconds , and then carefully took it out of my handshakes. All. I didn’t touch her anymore, we understood each other more than well. You can read the eyes and gestures of not only people. If I lived according to the theory of these tourists, I would never go anywhere in life, dying of correctness and boredom.

But the story is not over yet! I know that I got tired of it with my bikes, but, damn it, when we went downstairs, we didn’t find the rickshaws. He's gone! We're not late, no. It’s true that we haven’t paid him any money yet, we came to an agreement in the end. We decided to wait a little. Then one guy with a greasy face drove up and said that it was his brother and that he would take us for free. I'm sick of it, I know yours is free, for 10 rupees you'll hang yourself. They answered that we would not go anywhere with him. Then he started asking the second one, he said that he was a friend of him and would take us and there was no need to pay, and then unpleasant memories of the morning about the rickshaw surfaced. I stood up nervously and told everyone to get lost, and we would go on foot. Yes, damn it, through all the rice fields, banana groves and old village when it was already dark. As soon as we set off, a third man drove up and said that he was his younger brother and would take us. The “younger brother” almost got hit in the head and even his calls to our rickshaw driver didn’t convince us.
We walked for maybe 10 minutes when we met our rickshaw, who was hurrying in this direction; other rickshaws informed him about our action. It is unlikely that he came to save the poor lost sheep in the wild jungle, he forgot to skin the sheep for money, they must not be missed. We walked defiantly for a few more minutes without getting into his wreck. He ran after us, persuading us. We replied that since he cheated, we pay him not 300, but 200 rupees. He broke down, but agreed, because at least it was something. He ran after his tarantay and rolled up to us. We loaded up and drove off angry. All the way to the village, he processed us on the account for 300 rupees, but then... If you thought that before that I was angry, nooo, I was just in a bad mood, but then I went wild. I didn’t let this rickshaw driver get a word in, I burst out so loud that everyone we passed by could hear me, I burst out at this already unfortunate man for everyone who has ever deceived me in India, even for those who did it back in my previous trip. In general, the guy received his 200 rupees without saying a word. There will be no more cheating on white-faced people and violating agreements. Otherwise, you smart-ass people, they think we’ll get scared and sit down with anyone, no matter how long it takes, just to get there! The wrong ones were attacked, urrrooods.

In general, this is how I finished my story about Hampi again, not very fun, but it really was exactly how I felt. At first, I couldn’t even remember this place without disgust. Now I haven’t forgotten anything, but I no longer take it to heart, it was and was, but it’s passed.

The place is generally beautiful and wonderful, it’s great to rent a scooter there and drive around on your own. Bicycles are very cheap, and modern comfortable European ones, not Indian ones with handlebars and pedals. You just have to be on time, soon everything will be built up with walls and there will be nothing left for the average traveler. They mainly focus on the price range for money tourists from Goa. It’s a shame that such a heritage will be distorted and turned into something similar to what the Egyptian authorities did with the pyramids :(

# India Travel Guide 3 to book any hotel with discount on Booking.com. It works like cashback - the money is returned to the card after leaving the hotel.