Don’t Worry, Be Hampi – End of ‘Hippy Island’

After my stay at Om Beach I returned to Goa, for a three day festival at Hill Top. After recovering from the festival, I continued to Hampi, a town in the state of Karnataka where the laws of physics do not seem to apply. The whole area is full of huge rocks that are illogically arranged and create insane sights. We tried to figure out what the story behind the place was, but everyone we asked told us a different version and for the most part it included violent stories.

Hampi is stunning and special, but unfortunately I didn’t experience it as I had imagined.

Actually Hampi was the only place that I had made a definite decision to visit before arriving to India and I was really excited about it. Wherever else I ended up, I knew that I would definitely visit Hampi. We traveled around and saw amazing sunsets on crazy rocks, balanced in a way that defied gravity.

On one of the first days we drove to a distant lake. On the way we passed through small villages and saw beautiful views. The road to the lake was just as much fun as staying at the lake. We had a fun day and after a very interesting conversation about the wonders of the universe with a friend who does not believe in my point of view, I got to experience a fun and prolonged game of synchronizations or as he wanted to see them “as coincidences”. After we got back, everyone brought a notebook to the restaurant and we opened a creative corner with a good vibe.

But nothing prepared us for what happened the next day.

In the morning I left my room and walked towards the restaurant and to my surprise the place was full of media people, policemen and a lot of commotion. I did not understand what was going on so I made a U-turn and went back to my room until the rush was over. But the commotion moved from hostel to hostel and heralded the news that from the following day the area that we were staying in, also known as the ‘Hippy Island’ would be closed.

Now let’s give you some background information. Hampi is a Holy place for Indians and consists of the old town next to the Tongbhadra river, but there are also several hostels along that side of the river. On the other side there is an area called ‘Hippy Island’, consisting of hostels, restaurants and small businesses. There are many other small villages around, some of which also have places to stay. The main problem with sleeping on the side of the old town is that it is forbidden to ride a motorcycle there, so independent trips are not an option. For 8 years there have been many attempts to close ‘Hippy Island’, but up until then every lawsuit had been rejected.

2020 didn’t let us down and started to signal to us that it would be an unusual year.

The vibes in the place were terrible, the locals went into mourning over their future lost revenue and the tourists panicked. I took the situation in my stride, I knew I had not exhausted this beautiful place and that I would be staying in the area, whether in the old town or in a nearby village, but most of my friends were in a bad mood and that day passed without us taking full advantage of it. I went to see a sunset and when I returned we were informed that the owners had managed to delay the dismantling of the place for another ten days. Ten days was more than enough for me. But not everyone had hung around to hear the news. Many had already left and the hostel looked as if ghosts were roaming between the abandoned rooms.

Despite the initial feel of the place, after hearing the good news the positive energies returned and on the next day we went to see the temples in the old city. The remains were beautiful and showed an interesting and magical history, but unfortunately the only time in India that I got sick was at that moment. It was a very hot day and I had to keep myself from fainting all day long. As we crossed the bank I went straight to my room to rest.

When I woke up in the evening I was told that the situation had changed again and that everything would be dismantled there the following day. I was exhausted, but I went to see my friends to find out what their plans were. I discovered that half had already moved on and that the rest had no direction. I did not feel well and my head was already aching from the indecisiveness over when the place was to be closed. The vibes were no longer good and I decided with a great deal of sorrow that it was time to move on.
 
My cousin was in Goa and I had never heard him on stage.  I found out that I would be getting there in time to hear him perform at a party. I spent the whole of the next day resting and recovering in order to survive the overnight bus back to Goa. I set out with the intention of being at the party and moving on as fast as possible.
 
Hampi is amazing and I have no doubt that one day I will return to visit there, I will return to see all the wonders I did not get to see. Looking back I understand that I should have stayed in the area longer, but I was sick of all the uncertainty about the closure and felt like forcing the situation. That was probably for the better. Even though ‘Hippy Island’ is closed I advise you to go to see this magical place, you won’t be sorry.