The overnight train journey to Hospete was smooth, but after sleeping in beds for all of our time in India so far, trying to sleep in a bunk bed rocking from the movement of the train wasn’t easy. We arrived in Hospete Junction a little blury eyed and sleepy. We navigated the cloak room so we could leave our bags at the station and not have to carry them round Hampi. 

As soon as we arrived at Hospete we were accosted by a very persistent tuktuk driver who wanted us to hire him to take us round the Hampi site. In our bleary eyed state we found ourselves in the tuktuk, not quite kidnapped but not really fully consenting tourists. The driver planned to take us all over the Hampi site (it’s a very large site), thankfully Mike mustered the authority to take control and instructed the driver to drop us off at the main entrance to the Hampi ruins and said that we preferred to manage our own time in Hampi.

It was the right decision, as after the long and sleepless journey, being able to wander freely among the extraordinary ruins on our own was just what we needed. It was still early, about 8.30am, and the morning light was beautiful. There were very few people around. We sat on the top of the hill and ate our picnic breakfast. The monkeys were scrambling over the rocks and scouting the bins for their own breakfast. Mike had a slightly mushy banana in his bag so he threw it onto the rocks and watched as one lucky monkey enjoyed tucking in.

Hampi is a stunning place – one that wasn’t originally on our itinerary, I’m so glad we were advised to visit.