Before heading to India, Hampi was already high on my list of places to visit. It’s a stunning collection of ancient temples spread over the wild terrain of Karnataka. And trust me, the ruins absolutely did not disappoint. Temples, footprints, mysterious symbols…Hampi had it all, and then some.

A quick history: Hampi was the seat of the Vijayanagar empire, which built gorgeous temples and palaces here between the 14th and 16th centuries. After a few centuries of being wealthy, prosperous, and vibrant, Hampi was crushed by a horrendous military defeat in 1565 CE. The victors plundered the city, incinerating as much as possible in massive bonfires and smashing the remaining stone structures. Local residents were slaughtered mercilessly, and Hampi was abandoned for hundreds of years.

So, there’s your uplifting history lesson for the day.

Fortunately, the area today is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site and is popular amongst both foreign and domestic tourists. One of the most special parts of our trip was riding these round coracle boats, which ferry tourists on the Tungabhadra River.

Posing in our coracle.

Our river trip passed a fish temple. How did we know it was a fish temple? As the guide explained, “They are all temples. And see there. The fish.”

Thanks, Capt Obvious.

This sadhu (“holy man”) was hilarious. Saw us walking through the area, came hustling out, and struck a pose — after I took one pic, he glanced over slyly and angled for another photo. He ended up posing for several pics.

Yet another in my “artistic foreground, blurry background” series, never to end.

The Queen’s Palace.

Our vote for Best Tree 2017.

Intricate details, impressive architecture, red sandstone, monkeys — who could ask for anything more?

A local vendor, celebrating his favorite Depp movie.

One of our mornings in Hampi included an unexpected tour of the local construction plant…complete with hardhats. Aka the perfect time for a silly selfie.

Hampi was two days of magic and history, although two days were definitely not long enough. I wished we had more time — another year or two would have been good, for starters. But we had adventures planned closer to the coast, and the beaches were calling our names…