"Hampi is the place you have to go" that was what every person i met in India told me. So the 10th of February i arrived there. Just before you arrive to the Hampi itself, you can see from the bus many many old temples spread all over around you and the more you approach, the nature start shaping unbelievable piles of huge rocks that make you wonder if giants were living on earth before and made all this. It is the surely the land of Flinstones.
 |
| View from Hanuma Temple |
The bus stops and I rush to the boat point to cross the river and go find a guest house on the most chilling area of Hampi (as i was instructed by friends). Soon i meet my dear friend Imano with her hoola hoop who accompanies me in the search of cheap lodging and we end up to her guest house in Hanumanhali having a chai. I ask to the next guest house for a hut and as it was nice, we decide to share one with Imano for some days and do yoga every morning by the beautiful river.
Its funny that everywhere you go, you meet many people that you ve met before in India. My dear Alex , Victoria and Jenya were already in Hampi plus my beloved Turkish trio Meli, Ibrahim and Gokse.
 |
| The biggest tower in Hampi |
Eli was supposed to arrive soon and make some music but till then i went to visit some temples and villages on this side of the river. Alex led some of our yoga sessions and it felt nice to do daily yoga again.
 |
| Sunset point |
Eli arrived and we found ourselves sharing beautiful music with the Turkish trio, Alex, Ghali, Oki, Murali, Ran, Aslan, Mark, Shooting star and Philip.
The Turkish trio was delightful. Meli would play sweetly his guitar and sing with the voice of an angel. Ibrahim was playing his mini cajon so well. All strange rhythms were matter of seconds to him while he had also this beautiful santour and this hang in E hicaz scale. Him and Gokce would do second voices to Meli very beautifully and Gokce would dance and juggle with colourful balls. She was a fairy to all this scenic.
The Turkish trio was delightful. Meli would play sweetly his guitar and sing with the voice of an angel. Ibrahim was playing his mini cajon so well. All strange rhythms were matter of seconds to him while he had also this beautiful santour and this hang in E hicaz scale. Him and Gokce would do second voices to Meli very beautifully and Gokce would dance and juggle with colourful balls. She was a fairy to all this scenic.
 |
| With the beloved Turkish community and Aleksandra and Roman |
 |
| The rest of the Turkish and the only Indian in Khoustuba club |
Alex would wait one minute to analyse in his head the song he doesn't know and after he would play in his violin some beautiful inspirations.
 |
| Alex making his magic |
Ran gave us only 20 minutes of music as he is shy... But he plays flamenco guitar so not much to say.
Oki the indonesian music boy would play nice reggae tunes on the guitar with the most amazing strumming i ve seen while he would grab randomly instruments like bass, violin and melodica and of course he was able to play everything.
Oki the indonesian music boy would play nice reggae tunes on the guitar with the most amazing strumming i ve seen while he would grab randomly instruments like bass, violin and melodica and of course he was able to play everything.
Murali the Welsh guy that carries and acoustic bass with him. The best grooves i have ever seen. He busks at night time only as his music is made for people in dance mood...
Ghali is the local musician that created the famous-to-be "Hampi song" and he would jump in on every music night. One night he took us to play for a group of international kids and that was a very interesting audience to have.
Aslan another local and beloved guy would play on his jambe nice percussion while i gave him hard times with some strange rhythms of Greek songs.
Philip, a German loving guy would play guitar and sing sooo beautifully...
Closing up with the music, one morning i met Mark who would throat-sing with a very deep voice and shooting star who would play the best didjeridoo and morchang i ve ever heard.
Ghali is the local musician that created the famous-to-be "Hampi song" and he would jump in on every music night. One night he took us to play for a group of international kids and that was a very interesting audience to have.
Aslan another local and beloved guy would play on his jambe nice percussion while i gave him hard times with some strange rhythms of Greek songs.
Philip, a German loving guy would play guitar and sing sooo beautifully...
Closing up with the music, one morning i met Mark who would throat-sing with a very deep voice and shooting star who would play the best didjeridoo and morchang i ve ever heard.
The earth is blessed in tropical places. They have as much water as they need, coconut trees are everywhere, rice fields are swimming in water and banana fields appear in front of you every 100 meters. During the nights, the millions of frogs break the silence and if you cross any rice field you are in the middle of a dolby surround frog concert. I finally saw my first 2m water snake leaving my shower.
 |
| Rice fields with coconut trees |
The species of birds you can see in Hampi is also something worth mentioning. Just open your eyes and you ll see all sizes and colours near you.
It took my two whole days with the bicycle to finish sightseeing on the other part of the river. Many temples that date from the 14th to 16th century. An old booming city that is in abandonment and ruins nowadays.
 |
| Small temple in a cistern of water |
Some days before we leave Hampi, my phone died. I got tempted to stay phoneless and lost for a while but i didnt do it. We took a bike with Eli and went to a city nearby called Gangavathi to get a new phone and we met the right people. They came and took us, claiming they would repair my old phone. My hopes went up a bit after i saw the professionalism of the software guy. Next day i went back to take it but they couldnt have fixed it. It was indeed a hardware problem.
Ajju is a guy with kinetic problems (he walks on his hands). That doesnt stop him though for being the king of the phone market. He is a person to admire and to inspire you.
 |
| Ajju the great |
He took me with his tricycle to all the shops to find a good phone while he was telling the sellers that i m his good friend and to give me the best price. After some time, i got a good phone in my hands and headed back to hampi. While trying to configure it, i could see that there is something wrong on the wifi signal of my new phone. I was in despair as the city was far and i didn't have power to go back.
I called Ajju and told him that wifi has problems and he told me to go there immediately. I took the motorbike once again and headed back. He checked a bit and he sent me with one of his friends to the shop we bought the phone, to have a look on it. There, we connect to a wifi and they insisted that its normal and that reception is not like other top-brand smart phones. I told them that i think there is a problem because even next to a router i dont get full signal. Indians are willing to help with everything so they offered me to check with a same smartphone. We connect both smartphones and they have almost same signal so i get disappointed. I ask them to take them both until the door to see what happens.
For 5 seconds, i got the same screen on both phones and i started accepting that i bought a shitty phone but then the miracle happens... The other phone shows us 10 more available networks with full signal while mine nothing. What are the chances to buy a new problematic phone? Anyway, they were happy to replace it and i m able to write this post right now. Funny thing is that when i say Greece most Indians don't know the existence of the country but on my new phone the background picture is a greek island.
I called Ajju and told him that wifi has problems and he told me to go there immediately. I took the motorbike once again and headed back. He checked a bit and he sent me with one of his friends to the shop we bought the phone, to have a look on it. There, we connect to a wifi and they insisted that its normal and that reception is not like other top-brand smart phones. I told them that i think there is a problem because even next to a router i dont get full signal. Indians are willing to help with everything so they offered me to check with a same smartphone. We connect both smartphones and they have almost same signal so i get disappointed. I ask them to take them both until the door to see what happens.
For 5 seconds, i got the same screen on both phones and i started accepting that i bought a shitty phone but then the miracle happens... The other phone shows us 10 more available networks with full signal while mine nothing. What are the chances to buy a new problematic phone? Anyway, they were happy to replace it and i m able to write this post right now. Funny thing is that when i say Greece most Indians don't know the existence of the country but on my new phone the background picture is a greek island.
The 21th February was a crazy day but late at night, after some hours in the hospital in Hospet, we hoped into a bus to Bangalore.
 |
| Eli with the beautiful and nice nurses in Hospet... Doesnt look really sick, ha? |
Next morning Mysore.
P.s. I have a left you with a big gap of my trip (1 month in Pushkar and 20 days in Gokarna) but i will update you soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment