I’m in Hampi, location of capital of the ancient Vijayanagar empire, dating between 500 and 700 years ago. It is also an area with interesting natural rock formations. I rented a bicycle and set off in the morning. The place reminds me of the acropolis in Athens, Greece at first. There are all these buildings with stone columns scattered around the hills. But there is a lot more here than what you can see in Athens.
You can tell right away that this was a huge city. Too bad most of it has been destroyed. Even though, there are giant stone walls everywhere, public baths or tanks, aqueducts, elephant stables, and foundations of royal palaces.
I visited a museum later on in the day and then Vittala temple, the biggest one in the ancient city. I was almost back to my guesthouse, but I made a mistake. I was riding a loop around the area, and this final section did not have a road. I was hoping I could still get my bicycle through, but I was stopped by some government guy who kept asking me for a gift. So I had to turn around and go the long way (10km).
I made another mistake after taking a shower. When I went to push open the metal shower door, it got stuck. I was stuck inside and no one was around, so I had to keep pushing and pushing, until I bent the door open enough so I could escape. Later I found out I was supposed to pull, not push.