Hampi

Today we arrived back in Hyderabad after a two day visit to Hampi, about 500km southwest of Hyderabad in Karnataka. We took overnight trains (AC/2 class) in both directions; this is a great way to travel! I'll try to do a more thorough write-up eventually, but for now, a selection of the photos can be found in this album:

Hampi - October 2007

We made a list of phrases/places/events to help us remember the trip; here they are, in no particular order.

• seeing an Enfield Bullet 350 up close
• the Mango Tree restaurant: Raju, lassi (banana and lemon/ginger), the swing, birds (parrots, kingfishers, egrets), "omelets" for breakfast
• the banana woman
• walking back from Vittala Temple along the river and seeing the "child stones" in the trees, a huge herd of goats, and a gorgeous sunset
• meandering in the back streets after dark
• being blessed by the priest at Virapaksha Temple: holy water, banana goo, and the pinhole camera image
• the puppy at the Hospet train station
• the scary first breakfast in Hampi - idli, dosa, chai and flies
• the nice rickshaw driver who gave us the ride into Hampi and then hunted us down as we waited for the train back to Hyderabad to return our camera battery - a tout, but decent.
• the crazy rickshaw driver who took us from Hampi back to Hospet - a scary ride if ever there was one
  
• monkeys humping in the enclosure of Virapaksha Temple
• seeing the same trainman on the return train as on the train down - and him smiling as he recognized us on the platform
• "come this way" - being led behind Virapaksha temple to look at the small tank, the cave temple, and more monkeys
• Rama Guest House - overpriced (Rs. 350/night), noisy (bad fan and much street noise), but clean, with a decent owner. (Try Shanthi instead...)
• a bath for the temple elephant, and her blessing
• cycles being ferried on a coracle
• Ganesha everywhere, but especially the monolithic Ganesha and the one carved into the rock
• "Indian clothing - very good!"
  We got a lot of approving comments on Katy's salwar Kemeez and my kurta.
• scootering about - an interlude of sanctioned cuddling
• Bhima's gate
• a call from Srinivas while waiting for the train in Hospet
• having my beard trimmed
• flutes
• the snake
• the wicked-yet-kind bell merchant, and his birthyear coin gifts. (His birthyear is 1952.)
• fish-covered walls and the afternoon around them: monkeys playing, other monkeys bounding over the rocks, views of rice paddy and banana plantation, and the blessing from the crippled priest
• "You want smoke?"
• Seeing the temple ruins behind the monolithic Nandi statue and beginning to realize just how big this place is
• children playing by the water with a scarf
• "chai tea!"
• the "Disney characters" in orange
• "Are we in India?" no dosa for lunch, strange "tourist" clothes
  

Maybe I should go to Hampi?

OK, I'm getting thoroughly psyched to go to Hampi. It's not all that far from Hyderabad (under 500km), and I could go by train. Here are some links about Hampi:

• kris 'n anja's blog entry that got me started
• the IndiaMike Hampi: Everything you want to know page
• the Hampi web site that grew from the IndiaMike pages

wow.

Meanwhile, back in Hyderabad... bozos have moved into the house diagonally begind mine. Loud music and partying late into the night. Grrr...

a RESTAURANT review?!?

Yes, I'm afraid that's what this is. I must be bored...

Anyway - this evening I ate - again - at Hampi, a place I discovered on my bicycle excursions in Jubilee Hills. It's in the MLA colony, very close to Lily Pond - and an odd mixture of the sublime and ridiculous, as you'll see.



As you approach the entrance, it's immediately obvious that this in not going to be like anyplace else you've eaten in Hyderabad. Here's the covered patio outside the front door.



I always enjoy these; I'm sure there's a name for them, but I don't know what it is. It's a brass vessel filled with water, with flower petals arranged on the surface. I'd love to watch one being made sometime.



Stepping through the beautifully carved wooden doors, you are met with this.



The interior is covered with art, such as these two statues that flank the doors.



I wandered around the downstairs spaces, collecting images.











And this is just the first floor; I haven't even set foot on the second floor. From what I can see, it's at least as elegantly finished.

OK, fine, but it's not a museum, it's a restaurant. How's the food? Generally, very good. This evening I had the "special veg thali." This leads off with a bowl of delicious tomato soup with croutons. The thali itself is two large steel platters filled with small dishes of food. The larger of the two, placed before you, has a traditional banana leaf liner. In the center was one of the worst papads I've ever attempted to eat: soggy, chewy and cold. I gave up after one test nibble.

After this scary beginning things immediately got better. The roti were warm and tasty, and each vegetable curry was delicious and unique. The raita was cool and delicately spiced. The sambar is some of the best I've had - it rivals Chutneys'. A dish of fruit pieces (pineapple, watermelon and apple) provides a change from the curry. The gulab jamin wasn't too sweet, with just a hint of cardamom to make it interesting. I thought this was it for dessert, but after the thali was cleared I was given a small dish of intensely butterscotch ice cream. Yum! All this, plus a fresh lime soda with salt, for under Rs. 200.

The service was mixed. I ordered roasted papad as a starter that never came, but appeared on the bill. (This was immediately corrected when I pointed it out.) Otherwise, the wait staff was attentive yet unintrusive.

One truly jarring note (literally): the background music is insipid, uninspired arrangements of recent-vintage movie themes. Gack! These surroundings deserve better. Still worse, I realized quickly that this was the same set of songs I'd heard on an earlier visit! ARG!

So - that's Hampi. I'll be back - I still need to see the second floor! But I may bring earplugs...