2nd November to 5th November 2013…
I love travelling within the country during Diwali! The reasons being, most places are always empty during Diwali as most Indians don't travel these few days and like spending this time with their families. Secondly, the weather at this time of the year is perfect across India. Lastly because season time in most tourist spots begin after Diwali! You get the best of both worlds, the rates of off season and the facilities of season time (as most shops and shacks have already opened doors)! This year was our first Diwali as a married couple and my wife Khushi and me decided to spend it with each other but on the road seeing a new place. After a lot of googleing we finally narrowed it down to Hampi.
From Mumbai, Hampi is around 780 kilometres by road. The drive will take you at least 12 hours i.e., if everything goes well on the highway. With a couple of stops for eating and resting the total number of hours this drive should last is a minimum 14 hours. So basically 2 days of travelling to and fro. The total cost of diesel for both ways should add un to around Rs 4700. The drive is a fabulous one with lovely and well maintained highways both by Maharashtra and Karnataka road authorities. The total toll you end up paying till Hospet is around Rs 800 (one way). The highways are way better in Karnataka and the toll is way less there too. It is the most amazing drive and one feels as if though they are playing Farmville! The road is lined on both sides with beds of sunflower, cotton, cabbage, cauliflower and lots and lots of other flowers and vegetables. Oh not to forget the stretches of paddy fields.
We started driving from Mumbai at around 5:00am and reached Hospet at around 6:45pm. Almost a 14 hour journey. We stopped twice in between for breakfast and lunch. Avoid night driving because once u take the left from Hubli for Hospet that stretch of around 100 kilometres is filled with pot holes and some of them can be very dangerous at high speeds. The first evening we reached Hospet and checked into a hotel called Karthik. This hotel is on the main road to Hampi and it is nothing fancy. Very average with large rooms but not so clean toilets. We knew that once we reach Hospet the first night we are just going to pass out and so we did. The long drive takes a major toll on you and all we thought was about hitting the bed. This place charged us Rs 800 for the night which included breakfast the next morning. One of the bell boys was king enough to get me some chicken biryani and a couple of beers from a nearby restaurant for dinner. The hotel has a good vegetarian restaurant but after such a tiring day my body always craves for some meat!
The next morning we woke up early and wished our families a Happy Diwali and then headed out to our next hotel which was in Virupapura Gadde commonly known as the 'Hippie Island'. To help one understand, Hampi has a river flowing through it, Hospet is around 19 kilometres from main Hampi ruins. Virupapura Gadde is on the other side of the river and to go there by road one has to come back on the highway and then drive along a path over a bridge which gets you here. This side of the river is exactly like Goa in all senses minus the beaches! Surprised! Well on this side of the river are resorts and restaurants that remind you a lot about Goa. Over here the crowd consists of mainly foreigners, scooters are available on hire, you can find packets of L&M being sold in every shop and also tampons! Now doesn't that remind you of Goa? Two things missing are the lovely beaches of Goa and the cheap alcohol. Here in Hampi almost nobody serves alcohol!
We had booked ourselves a cottage in a resort called Mowgli which was very highly recommended online as well as a friend who had been to Hampi a couple of years back. Now this place is difficult to reach if you are depending on asking people around but if you just take the trouble of turning on your GPS system on your mobile phones then it drops you right at the doorstep of the resort. Don't doubt the GPS lady because you do actually have to take the road that she is asking you to take! Once we entered Mowgli we understood why it was so highly recommended. The view from this place was breath taking! It is situated very close to the river, there are paddy fields surrounding the area, there are the beautiful boulders of Hampi all around you and to top it all these guys have an amazing restaurant which dishes out yummy food. We had booked a hut for ourselves facing the garden for Rs 850 a night and this didn't include anything else.
Once you are inside Mowgli you have nothing to worry about. They have a very friendly staff who will go out of their way to help you in any way they can. Here is the link to their website and one can book online http://mowglihampi.com. On reaching here my wife and me sat down and had a wonderful meal. After which we decided to take some rest lying on the hammocks placed outside every cottage. We stepped out a little later when the sun came down a little and first hired a scooter to look around. Now these scooters come for around Rs 200 for 12 hours and another Rs 100 a litre for petrol to run them. Now these guys tell you that the nearest petrol pump is very far but don't listen to them. Just fill a bottle of fuel from them and the pump is hardly 6 kilometres ahead in the direction of the Hanuman temple in a place called Anegundi. Once your bike is sorted then Hampi is all yours to see!
By the way before we came to Virupapura Gadde we stopped on our way to the see the Tungabhadra Dam. This dam is situated just outside the entrance to Hospet and this is something we have all studied in our geography text books back in school. You have to park your car once inside and buy a ticket which also includes your bus ride to the top for a spectacular view of the Tungabhadra river and the entire dam. The view here is spectacular and you understand the reason for the up spring of an entire civilisation around this area. This river and its never ending source of fresh water and livelihood was the main reason for Vijayanagara being constructed around Hampi. The river is so huge that you almost cannot see bank to bank. There are a couple of gardens that have been constructed within the compounds and seeing the entire place will at least take you a couple of hours.
Coming back to us hiring our scooter now. Once done we set out to explore this side of Hampi. Our first stop was the Hanuman temple which is believed to be the birthplace of the Hindu Monkey God 'Hanuman'. The temple is situated on a hill top and to reach the top one has to climb almost 600 stairs! I won't be able to tell you how exactly is the temple and how it looks up there because we began our descend after around 200 stairs. My wife was breathless and could climb no more. But till whatever point we managed to climb, we got to see a breath taking view of the ruins of Hampi at a distance. I am assuming the view from the top will be even more amazing. Someone who has been on top had warned me about the presence of about thousand monkeys in the temple and if not careful one could end up losing their wallets, cameras or food items.
From here we went ahead riding and stopped by a rice farm where harvesting was in progress. Now coming from Bengal i have seen this a million times but my wife being from Mumbai hadn't seen it ever and she stood there watching like a curious little girl. The machinery being used was amazing, it separated the grains leaving behind only the husk at rocket speed. The lady involved in the process even stopped to pose for my camera. When you are riding around Hampi there is 600 years of Indian history lying everywhere around you. You can stop at as many spots as you choose to see and observe as many things as you want to. We stopped to see a couple of resting places, temples, pillars and stuff and then headed straight to the Hampi lake.
The Hampi lake is a serene and humongous water body on this side of the river. It is beautifully lined with natural boulders all around it and some of these boulders are placed at very fascinating angles. The road lining the lake is well kept and there is a lot of natural vegetation to be seen. There a couple of spots where one can climb and get a spectacular view of the lake. This place is also a big smoking and drinking spot and they don't just smoke cigarettes here (if you know what i mean)! A lot of young foreigners can be seen roaming around cluelessly in a state of daze around this area. If you do smoke up then don't do stupid things like diving into the lake because a couple of spots in the lake are very deep and accidents can occur. Carry your swimming costumes here and find a good spot and dive in. As mentioned earlier, do be very careful.
The very same day was Diwali so once the sun started coming down we headed back for Mowgli but not before buying some fire crackers. Now if you are from Mumbai then you will be in for a shock when you hear the prices of fire crackers here. They are very very cheap and one goes crazy. We picked up our share of crackers and celebrated our first Diwali as a married couple with the staff and guests of Mowgli resort. They even did a Laxshmi puja inside their reception and it didn't feel like we were away from home. We had a wonderful dinner of wood fire pizzas and beer! Mowgli serves you beer but secretively and their wood fire pizzas are to die for. Fresh made dough, farm fresh ingredients and made in front of your eyes. Simply superb! We also found this Ayurvedic massage parlour a little ahead of our resort and these guys are moderately priced and absolutely fabulous. After the drive the day before this is what we actually needed. A full body massage sealed the deal for just Rs 600 for an hour and a half. The place is known as Lotus Ayurvedic and Beauty Centre and book your session way in advance because their schedules are packed throughout the day.
The next day we set out to see the ruins of Vijayanagara. Now since it was very sunny we decided to hire an auto rickshaw for just Rs 500. The rickshaw driver acts both as your driver and tourist guide. He will guide you to all the spots and wait for you to finish seeing all of the ruins. Must carry for your ruins visit are umbrella, water bottle, sun glasses, hats and good walking shoes. Without these you may find it difficult. There is one entry ticket for all the sites for Rs 50 for Indians and Rs 550 for foreigners! There are golf carts that take you from point A to point B for as cheap as Rs 20. The main sites are the Vittala temple, Elephant stable, the Stepped Tank (looks exactly like the prison in The Dark Knight Rises), the Lotus Mahal and couple of other watch towers and stray temples. These are all best seen with a certified guide who give you a good insight on the kingdom that existed here and they also provide good insights into the architecture of this place. There are lines of ancient Indian bazaars outside the Vittalla temple which left me astounded. One can't stop wandering the kind of stories these walls would have to tell.
You can take your time and keep hopping from one ruin to the other and actually spend as many days as you want here. We spent the entire day seeing the ruins. One can buy a lot of stone work here for very cheap. Mortar and prestle is the best thing to buy here and if your bargaining skills are good you can pick them up for as cheap as Rs 70. Once done with the ruins we headed back to Mowgli but not before taking an exciting boat ride across the river. You have two choices to cross the river in. The first is to take the usual motor operated boat or the second and more exciting option is these hand made and hand operated boats that look like little bowls floating around in the river. These guys charge you around Rs 70 but be generous and pay them a little more because once you are on the boat you realise that it is hard work but make sure to take this boat ride because I am sure you have never sat on anything like this. From here we straight headed for an amazing round of Ayurvedic massage again!
The next day we had an early breakfast at Mowgli and headed back for Mumbai. One advice is that you are going to cross Kolhapur on your way but do not stop there and eat anything. Kolhapuri food is very spicy and totally unsuitable for a long road trip. When on the road eat simple food like plain dal and rice. Avoid meat or anything that could agitate and upset your stomach and in return end up ruining your trip. Avoid stopping too many times because this increases you travel time by a good margin. Also stop at Hubli to pick up their famous Pedas. They are awesome and a good bring back gift for everyone. Priced anywhere between Rs 220 - 360 a kilogram.
I can not talk much about the food of Hampi because hardly anyone serves any speciality dishes there. Due to the large number of foreign tourist you get all kinds of food. Over the years i have noticed that all spots which receive a good amount of foreign tourists in India practically serve the same food! You get American and continental breakfast in all of their menus, you have a good choice of vegetarian and non vegetarian thalis, you have hummus and pita bread, different kinds of wraps, pizzaz, burgers and all of the usual suspects. The specialities of these region are lost trying to cater to the tourist population. I can honestly say that Mowgli has wonderful food and their wood fire pizzas are a must try. Don't bother eating anywhere else if you are staying here. On the ruin side of the river people do not cook non vegetarian food but i have been informed by a friend that a couple of places on that side of the river serve wonderful vegetarian thalis, so may be one should go there and try.
Overall it was a wonderful experience and Hampi is a must visit for all Indians. It makes you feel very proud of your history and culture and gives you a strong sense of belonging. The sites are unbelievable and give yourself ample time to soak in all the details. Architecturally it is beautiful and grand. The entire place with its setting relaxes and pacifies you from within. The vast expanse of paddy and other vegetation is the heartland of India right before your eyes. You feel at peace here!
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