Hampi, Forgotten Empire

Hampi has a history from the epical age of Ramayana, ages before the Vijayanagara Empire was born. This history begins and ends with the Ramayana. To prove this there are plenty of materialistic proofs in Hampi which indicate that it might have been the capital of the mighty kingdom - Kishkindha. We shall not delve much into epical history for now.

Later in the 14th century it has been the capital of Vijayanagar Empire from 1336 to 1565. Art and architecture found its special place in Hampi. The rulers were great patrons of art and religion. The city has tempestuous river Tungabhadra in the north and rocky granite ridges on the other three sides. The demography is abundant with large stones and these stones have been utilized beautifully to make larger than life statues of Hindu deities. In its hay days the place was known for its splendor and fabulous wealth. For the same reason it was destroyed by Muslim Sultans.

The splendid ruins of palaces, temples and gateways of the broken city silently narrate the story of once glorious past and the final senseless destruction. Today the ruins of Hampi lie scattered in about 26 sq. km areas, amidst giant boulders. One can see a structure of historic importance every quarter of a mile. (Click on the image for bigger view)

On 5th December 1986, Hampi was inscribed on the World Heritage List for it represents a unique artistic creation. Currently Hampi's monuments - hundreds of them - are popular among tourists, pilgrims and the area is one of the exotic locations. Some of them which we will cover in subsequent posts are:

• Hazar Rama Temple
• The Kings’ Balance
• Ugra Narasimha Temple
  
• Virupaksha Temple
• Vittala Temple
• Achyutaraya Temple/Tiruvengalanatha Temple
• Zenana Enclosure
• Lotus Mahal
• Stepped Tank
• Akka - Tangi Betta
  
• Yeduru Basava
  
• Hampi Bazar
• Badavilinga Temple
  
• Mahanavami Dibba
• Sasivekalu Ganesha
• Kadalekalu Ganesha
• Balakrishna Temple
• Queen's Bath
• Stone Chariot
  

How to Reach There

From Bangalore it is at a distance of 353 kms. One can travel to this place either by train or road. By road from Bangalore to Chitradurga drive on NH 4. From Chitradurga to Hospet take the NH 13. From Hospet it is at a distance of 12kms. By road it takes 6 to 7 hrs.

Five Things I'd Change About Luxury Cruising

During cocktail parties you'll often find me espousing the benefits of luxury cruise vacations to anyone who'll listen. I'm a die-hard fan who loves falling asleep in one port and waking up in another. But, as with all things, there's always room for improvement. Herein is my manifesto for what I'd change if I suddenly found myself the CEO of a luxury cruise line.

Five Things I'd Change About Luxury Cruising

1. Could we have some more 7-night itineraries, please? I know I'm in the minority here, but I'd love to see more 7-night itineraries from some luxury cruise lines. We'd love to sail with Oceania Cruises, but most voyages are 10- to 14-nights in duration. In our early forties, we're in the midst of our careers and being out of the office for two weeks or more just isn't possible most of the time. This change would go a long way in attracting the young, affluent consumer. SeaDream Yacht Club actually offers several five-night voyages and they seem to be consistently booked solid.
   
   
2. Increase the chocolate quotient. There's never enough chocolate available aboard luxury cruise ships. Seriously. I grew up in the age of The Love Boat television series and everything I heard about cruising included a description of the decadent dessert buffets and chocolate morsels to be had at every turn. I honestly haven't found that. In fact, some luxury ships stock fairly downmarket chocolates, such as those made by Godiva. While that name might have meant something in terms of quality long ago, it certainly doesn't now. I can buy Godiva at K-mart, for goodness sake! If it were up to me, cruise lines would stock higher quality chocolates from purveyors around the world. I will admit, however, that during a Caribbean cruise aboard Windstar's Wind Surf, the pastry chef took excellent care of me and my sweet tooth wanted for nothing!
   
   
3. No pink slips for the ship's photographer, please! I know many of you hate these contrived photo opportunities, but I'm sad that several luxury cruise lines have actually nixed their photography departments. As a photographer himself, my husband is behind the camera more often than not and some of the only pictures of us together have been taken by cruise line photographers. During our Grand Asia voyage with Regent Seven Seas Cruises, the ship's photographer took some great candids of us on deck with the volcanos of Kamchatka in the background.
   
   
4. It's 2009. Why is the Internet so slow on cruise ships? I used to give cruise lines a lot of slack on this one. After all, imagine the technical difficulties of wiring a ship for wifi access or upgrading communications packages for super-fast Internet connections. However, there are a lot of new ships coming online and many others being completely refurbished. Upgrading Internet communication should be a priority.
   
   
5. Let's give those single cruisers a break! I've been seeing a lot more special offers that rescind or lower the single supplement cruise fare. That's wonderful and I hope to see even more of it. If a particular voyage is selling slowly, offer a break on the supplement. Single cruisers will be grateful and will book more cruises.

Those are the five things I'd definitely change about the luxury cruise industry. What about you? What aspect of cruising do you think could be improved? Let us know!

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com

Hip Hip Hooray for Delta Award Travel!

Frequent flyer mile junkies have long bemoaned Delta's program saying it's far too easy to amass hundreds of thousands of miles and much too difficult to actually spend them on award travel.

I must say that I agree with part one of that statement. It is very easy to earn frequent flyer miles from Delta but unlike some others, I've had great luck redeeming them for long-haul travel and last-minute getaways.

We were able to book award tickets to Istanbul and back from Athens for our upcoming Seabourn Odyssey cruise. I originally booked a nonstop to Turkey but could only get a connecting flight on the way home from Greece. I kept checking Delta's award calendar and, finally, the nonstop flight we wanted opened up. I called Delta's SkyMiles number and in just a few minutes locked in the better itinerary. Thank you Delta! You just saved us six hours!

Delta SkyMiles reps are terrific and have always been friendly and helpful when I've called. That's why I'm not afraid to continue to build my SkyMiles account.

Here's part of my strategy to keep my Delta SkyMiles balance high:

Register for all promotions. Visit Delta.com frequently and register for all promotions, even if you don't think they apply to you. You never know when a last minute business trip will crop up. (For example, Delta is currently offering 2,500 bonus miles per segment flown between NYC and BOS.) In 2008, I earned over 200,000 bonus miles from these types of promotions.

Apply for the American Express Delta SkyMiles credit card and receive up to 25,000 bonus miles.

Shop at Delta's online mall: SkyMilesShopping.com. This mall tends to have the best deals as far as miles earned per dollar spent. However, I always check several loyalty malls before making a purchase.

By following this simple strategy, you can earn tons of miles in no time. Which frequent flyer program is your favorite and why?

—Andrea M. Rotondo