Hampi: Monkey temple for sunrise, Virupaksha temple, and Hemakuta hill

At 6am we are tossed out of the sleeper bus from Palolem. Having boarded at 9:30pm, it was a decent, yet bumpy night of sleep. Bam! There are countless auto rickshaw drivers ready to wheel and deal with all the half asleep passengers. "Guest house closed. Best sunrise at Monkey temple. 5km. Rs. 600. There, wait, bring back." Basically highway robbery. It's only 2.5-3.5km to start. The sky was getting light as we decided to ride with a guy for Rs. 400. And then another guy wanders up and starts a show. My better half loses patience and we end up with the showman, paying Rs. 50-100 more. Recommedstion from my future self, pay Rs. 150 or go hang out in one of the chillout areas of a guest house and see the sunrise as part of a scooter tour another day (see next post).

We climbed the 575 steps to join about 30 others at the top. After checking out the temple, we settled on a rock. The sun rose as a ball of fire. After we wandered around on the huge slab of a rock to check out the views. Hampi is spectacular. There are giant rocks and likes of rocks everywhere you look. Terrain you don't come across everyday.

Monkey temple

Baby monkey being protected by mama

Monkey temple at sunrise

Monkey temple information

Back on the island, we had some breakfast at one of the German bakeries. They make some fine breakfast potatoes (called hashbrowns on the menu) and a solid cappuccino.

Then off to search for a place to stay. A few were totally booked and rooms ranged between Rs.600-1500. We settled on Sai Plaza and negotiated Rs. 800. Turns out the big boss is quite the cheapskate and refused to give towels or toilet paper as we paid less than Rs. 1000. They also don't change the sheets or clean the bathroom in between stays. If you request the bathroom to be cleaned, the toilet brush is used on the sink. Come for a movie night or afternoon in the cozy restaurant, but stay somewhere else.

Room at Sai Plaza. These are the same sheets we used made up for the next guest. Hmm...

View from Sai Plaza restaurant of Virupaksha temple

The exploration of the day was to the Virupaksha temple and temples on Hermakuta Hill. To get across the river you can pay Rs. 10 for the boat or roll up your pants to the thighs and wade the river for a couple minutes. We chose the latter after watching the temple elephant get a bath around 11am.

River crossing info

Mini statue in river

Mini statue in the river

The crossing by foot is at the right side

Virupaksha temple

We entered on the side entrance and didn't end up paying. There is an enterprising man asking Rs. 10 to watch shoes. I think the going rate is at least half that if you so desire.

Side entrance of Virupaksha temple

In the temple there was a good amount of activity.

Ceiling in Virupaksha temple

A monkey swiped the water bottle from some unsuspecting guy's hand when he entered and proceeded to take the cap off with its teeth and pour water out and lap it up. The guy stood there for a while in disbelief trying to figure out if/how to get the bottle back.

Watch out for the monkeys

A few musicians started up and people scurried this way and that and then lined up outside the room with the deity.

Virupaksha temple musicians

Line of people to see deity?

Waiting to see deity? Wasn't sure if they wanted their photo taken due to hard to interpret head bob.

The elephant was back, so groups of people were crowded around to touch the elephant and pay Rs. 10 for a blessing in which the elephant would take the note with its trunk and hand it to its caretaker before placing it's trunk on the person's head.

Virupaksha temple elephant getting lots of attention

Virupaksha temple elephant and his caretaker

Around the elephant were a bunch of schoolchildren on a field trip. They were excited to ask us our names and where we were from and for photos. Happily obliging their wishes, I answered many questions and snapped many photos.