If there is one thing I like most about Indian culture, it is the closeness of family. In English they may be referred to as my cousins and aunt but in Indian culture they are truly my brother (anna), sister (cheli), and little mother (pinni). Last weekend my anna, cheli, pinni, and I went on a family road trip to Hampi, Karnataka. Usually for me, family road trips consist of just my parents and I driving on large highways, sometimes getting lost but always having google maps save the day. This road trip in India was an slightly different experience.
For me the highlight of the trip was undoubtedly when we crossed the Tunghabadra river, rented scootys, and drove with stunning rock formations on one side and endless green fields on the other while the sun was shining and cool wind was blowing across our faces. If you plan on visiting Hampi renting a scooter and riding through the fields and mountains is an absolute must.
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| Traditional Rajasthani Thali |
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| Resort |
This road trip with my anna, chelli, and pinni had all the usual components of a family road trip with sibling bickering, lots of laughter, and getting a little lost on the way. One thing that I did not expect were the extremely terrible road conditions. Honestly some of those roads were just one giant pot hole after another. If you want to try to understand the experience, imagine riding an old wooden roller coaster and not being belted into your seat. Yeah..not such a pleasant ride. We were worried because we were traveling through rural and remote areas and we didn't know if we would even be able to get help for the car if anything happened. Also did I mention that Google Maps doesn't really work in India? My anna who was driving was a trooper though and we managed to make it to our resort with the car and ourselves safe and sound.
We spent two days sightseeing in Hampi visiting many ancient temples and ruins of ancient palaces. Hampi a village that lies amongst the ruins of the capital of the ancient Vidhyanagara Empire. In the Medieval days the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire was likely the second largest city in the world and was described to be very beautiful with glittering diamond and gold bazaars stretching across the city. The capital was mostly destroyed by the Deccan Sultanates in 1565 but you can still see some beautiful architecture standing amongst the ruins. The places we visited were the Krishna Temple, Vitalla Temple, Virupaksha Temple, the statue of Narasimha, Lotus Mahal, Queen's Bath, Elephant Stables, and Tunghabadra Dam.
For me the highlight of the trip was undoubtedly when we crossed the Tunghabadra river, rented scootys, and drove with stunning rock formations on one side and endless green fields on the other while the sun was shining and cool wind was blowing across our faces. If you plan on visiting Hampi renting a scooter and riding through the fields and mountains is an absolute must.
The adventure continued on our way back home Sunday evening. We were about 30 Km away from Hampi when we suddenly got a flat tire. We weren't sure what to do because on one side of the road was mountains and the other side was fields and there was no town in sight. Luckily someone stopped their car and was kind enough to help us. He took us to his in-laws village and let us stay in their home until they found tools to change the tire since all the mechanic shops were closed. Although I have been to India many times this was my first time in a real village and it was fascinating to see the way people lived there. Their house was a small two room hut and they had two buffalos and calf in their yard. Despite the rugged exterior of the hut they had a Samsung television and ceiling fan. One of my favorite quotes came to mind: "Adversity is like a strong wind. I don't mean just that it holds us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be." Despite their limited resources, they were eager to offer us food and shelter along with all the help they were giving us with our car.They were truly some of the most kind hearted and generous people I ever met and thanks to their help we were able to head back on the road and go home to Hyderabad.
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Although road trips can be fun, I would definitely recommend taking the train to Hospet and then using local transportation in Hampi instead of driving because the roads in Karnataka are not easy to drive on and it will make your journey a lot smoother. If you are someone who is interested in archeology or ancient history I would definitely suggest Hampi as a place to see in India. I would highly recommend getting a guide because the way around the ruins can be very confusing and having a local help you around will save you a lot of time.
