one of my other favorite places — and maybe the place i’ve visited the most in india — is hampi. the former seat of the vijayanagara empire, hampi is now a unesco world heritage site and one of the most popular tourist sites in karnataka.

i first visited hampi in october of 2005 with my fellow peace child interns and volunteers. none of us had ever been nor did we really know what to expect, but jagan gave us [me] bus and train tickets and a loose itinerary to follow and off we went.

we were only there for a day, arriving in the early morning off an overnight bus and returning that night by train, but we made the most of our time. our main goal was to climb up anjaneya hill to see the temple that is believed to be hanuman’s birthplace. back then it was a bit of an adventure to get there that included an auto ride, a river crossing in a coracle boat, a 2km walk through bursting rice paddies, and finally the 575-step climb to get up to the temple. and it was totally worth it because the views are incredible.

from there we did the journey in reverse, got lunch once we were back on the other side of the river, and spent a few hours visiting some of the other temples and ruins around the town. at the end of the day we had a little time to do explore the main bazaar and pick up a few souvenirs [including a sheet i still have and use to this day] before needing to get to hospet for our train back to bangalore.

little did i know after that visit that i would return 5 more times in a 4-year span, leading groups through the area, learning more about the history and significance of the ruins, and getting to know some of the guest house and cafe owners quite well. i had the opportunity to see how hampi grew and expanded and changed in all sorts of ways over the years, and i loved getting to take our volunteers to a place they might never have otherwise seen on their own.

as sarah and i were planning our 2024 trip, getting back to hampi was very high on my priority list. i hadn’t been back since 2011 and wanted to find out what i remembered and what had changed and see some of the places i hadn’t seen on prior visits. sarah was very enthusiastic so it was easy to add it to our itinerary, and we made the most of our 2.5 days, climbing up hundreds of steps to see sunrises, eating delicious food, befriending animals, steering coracles, and generally enjoying the peace and quiet.

hampi is both so much the same as i remember it and also staggeringly different. the center of the town is almost unrecognizable, and the bazaar that i so fondly remember is no longer there. most of the guest houses in the town are gone, making accommodation a little trickier. but the people are as friendly and welcoming as they’ve always been, and the scenery continues to take my breath away.

i don’t know when i’ll get back to hampi again, but it will always hold a special place in my heart.

xx