[esse jay]

Hi... Am heading to Hampi for a month in Dec... looking for any advice really, where to stay, costs, what I can hire/should take, the climbing etc etc... Any info much appreciated 

[Nick B]

Probably best to stay at Goan corner across the river from the main town of Hampi - you can meet climbers here and they hire out crash pads. Although it's probably best to take your own so you can guarantee you'll have one and I here they're charging lots of money now. Take lots of chalk...

[CamilleGuignard]

been there. was really cool. take a lot of tape as the rock is pretty coarse you cant find any good one there (at least when we were there)

[Andy B]

As Nick says, stay over the river from the main town. It's nicer, more chilled, and more convenient for most of the bouldering. When we were there the three main places climbers stayed were: Goan Corner (cleanest, best food, most expensive), Bobby's (still reasonably clean, decent food, cheaper than Goan Corner, and virtually next door if you want to eat there) and Gopi's (bit minging, still good food, cheapest, popular with those who'd rather get blazed than go climbing).

Most of the hire pads at Goan corner were new the season we were there but were getting fucked quickly. Take your own, but you don't necessarily need a monster one as lots of landings are flat (if hard) and you'll probably team up with others with pads.

The photo copied sheets that were used as the guide, in combination with knowledge from other visitors are probably more useful than the published guide, which used lots of info that was already years out of date when it went to print. As a result there are lots of inaccuracies in it. We started a new problem book at Goan Corner when we were there, but I don't know if it will still be getting used.

My climbing day usually started at 5.30 to 6.00am and ended by 9.30am but most people climbed for a couple of hours in the evening too. During your morning sessions you will meet a local goat herder who does a sideline in herbal remedies. He's called Sinu, and he's a nice guy who's good to chill out with, even if you're not interested in his produce (assuming he hasn't been shot or burnt in his house yet). Some time after Sinu, you'll meet a man selling mediocre cakes (presumably using the side effects of Sinu's herbs to help the cake trade). He's an alcoholic, and often pissed as a newt by mid morning, but he's OK.

The little pharmacy in the village sells Himalaya antiseptic cream for about 40p a tube (when we were there). It's useful stuff after a few days of pulling on razor blade crimps, and I prefer it to Climb On.

I hope that's of some use to you.

[Muenchener]

Nea

What's the minimum time that would work for a trip to Hampi? How long does it take to get there from the nearest major airport (Mumbai?)?

Nearest semi-major airport is Bangalore, from which I've worked out that a weekend would be feasible if strenuous, involving sleeper trains Friday & Sunday nights.

Probably only relevant if one were in Banaglore anyway, which I might be on business some time in the near future.

[Andy B]

We've been debating this at bit. You can get from Bangalore to Hampi fairly quickly and easily via overnight sleeper trains. (We know some people who got a taxi from Bangalore, but there is no way that I will ever go on an Indian motorway, by choice, ever again). The major issue with regards the minimum time for a trip, for us, is the length of time it took for our tips to adapt to the heat and stop sweating so profusely that it meant we couldn't pull hard without risking splitting straight away. In our case this time was between a week and a half and two weeks, but might be less of an issue if you are already coming from a hot country?

[Andy B]

We've been debating this at bit. You can get from Bangalore to Hampi fairly quickly and easily via overnight sleeper trains. (We know some people who got a taxi from Bangalore, but there is no way that I will ever go on an Indian motorway, by choice, ever again).

Really? How bad was it?

We got a taxi between Hampi and Gokana for new year, and I can say without exageration that we feared for our lives for most of the journey. We may have been unlucky with drivers, but I doubt it. Other people got sleeper buses, but they sounded almost as dangerous and had the added bonus of bed bugs. The trains were fine, barring the cockroaches and the smell of the toilets.

[Andy B]

The booking is a bit of a faff, but can be done online in advance. Once at Bangalore Airport it's fairly easy, particularly in relation to how much of a pain in the arse it seems to do anything in india. A fast, clean bus will take you from the airport to a few minutes walk from the train station, then a direct, overnight sleeper will take you to Hospet, (the nearest town to Hampi on the train line) you will then be accosted at Hospet Station by tuc tuc drivers who want to take you to Hampi. I have no direct experience of getting a taxi from Bangalore to Hampi, but I would guess that organising the taxi could be more trouble than sticking to bus/ train, and there is more likelyhood of hassle whilst travelling (potentially likely senarios being: your driver says he knows the way but, once on the road, doesn't; being asked for more money than agreed once out in the middle of nowhere; car breaking down; crashing cos your driver hasn't rested or slept for many hours; crashing cos your driver is a nutter; crashing cos you've run into a lorry on the wrong side of the motorway; gaining finger injuries from gripping the dashboard for hours at a time etc. etc.)