— With a Plan we don’t have ––
After a usual day at work, the five of us started from Bangalore around 7:00 PM. The city traffic was torturous, but things got better once we reached the highways.
We stopped for dinner somewhere near Tumkur, where as usual, I ordered more than what was required and ended up wasting a lot of food. As we went through our meals we also started searching for rooms for the night. We had to chose between taking hotel rooms in Hospet (the nearest town to Hampi) or some cottage in Hippie Island. With most places already sold out for the weekend, we settled for a hotel in Hopset. Our onward journey post dinner was quite peaceful. The traffic had considerably eased up and the roads were good. Nandu and Pro took turns driving while Punya was in charge of the stereo. I was in charge of navigation while Nandakrishnan was searching for hotels.
We reached our hotel in Hospet around 2:30 in the morning. We sat and talked for a while but crashed on our beds soon after.
— Don’t worry, Be Hampi ––
There are many ways to explore Hampi. The ideal way would be to take a guided tour and explore this medieval city to its fullest. Our first trip to Hampi was very much in this fashion. This time however there was no plan, no itinerary, no schedule. We walked till we were tired and rested as long as we needed. We skipped what we felt was unnecessary and overstayed places we liked. We didn’t have a guide but confidently made up our own history about every structure.
Starting from Hospet at around 10:30 AM, our first stop was a small restaurant near to Hampi. We grabbed some hot breakfast including some Poori, Dosas and Bhajis. We were surprised to hear the locals in the restaurant speaking Telugu. Apparently Hampi is pretty multilingual and Urdu and Telugu can also be heard frequently along with Kannada. We also found signages in Hebrew towards the Hippie side where there is a good crowd of Israeli tourists.
We reached Hampi soon afterwards. The sun was shining in all its glory and there weren’t any clouds to give us respite. We parked the car, bought a few hats and slipped on our shades to prepare ourselves for site seeing at the hottest time of the day. We started off with a Ganesha temple and followed a trail walking through ruins of a city that was undeniably a marvel at its peak. We could see the mighty Virupaksha temple rising into the clouds at a distance. We stopped here and there to take photos, volunteered as photographers for other tourists and kept walking up the boulders to reach a high ground with a broader view of the city.
After spending a good amount of time in this high ground, we decided to head to Vithala temple with the famous stone chariot and musical pillars. A short drive got us to a parking spot around 1 km away from the temple. Vehicles weren’t allowed beyond this point and there was a caddy service for those who couldn’t walk. We opted to walk. The walk was short and beautiful and there were some delicate ruins and ponds on the way. We spent some time in one such pond clicking away some good pictures for our feed and absorbing in some peaceful vibes for the mind. Apparently this road was once a thriving marketplace known as Vithala Bazar with shops on both sides of the road.
We entered the temple through the main Gopuram. With high compound walls and archways, the temple commanded a respect of its own. Originally constructed by the Vijayanagara kings, the temple was dedicated to the Vithala incarnation of Vishnu, the temple is the most sought after site in Hampi. At the centre of the courtyard we found the famous Stone Chariot, the most elaborate piece of art credited to the Vijayanagara Empire. We soon had our fifty rupee notes out and were searching for a good angle to get a merged photo with the illustration of the chariot on the note. Pro thought of it as a futile exercise and didn’t try. I tried for a good twenty minutes before admitting defeat. Nandakrishnan and Punya were however in no mood to give up. They spent a good amount of trying different and finally succeeded in clicking a perfectly aligned photo of the actual chariot along with the note illustration.
The musical pillars in the Range Mantapa were closed for public and could be seen only from a distance. It is said that each of the pillars are made of resonant stones and would emit a certain frequency of sound when struck. A group of talented musicians could surely make music out of them. Satisfied with the distant views, we decided to move on. We were also pretty hungry by now. We had some freshly cut watermelon with spices and some sugarcane juice from the parking site and headed out for proper lunch from a nearby restaurant.
At the restaurant Nandakrishnan and Punya went for meals while the rest of us went for Fried Rice, Naan and curries. The food took a long time to deliver which lead me to drink a lot of coke which in turn led to another case of over ordering and under delivering.
After eating to the brim, we had half a mind to call it a day. It was a tiring day and there was a lot of sleep to compensate. Thankfully we didn’t and decided to go and see the Queen’s Bath. The Queen’s Bath compound was somewhat midway between the initial temple complexes and Vithalla temple. How the queen commuted this far for her daily baths is beyond us. The queen’s bath was a fortress by itself, surrounded by a moat and everything. It was large enough for the entire village. We reached the complex around closing time, so had to contend with a rather quick exploration.
Next we moved on towards my favourite spot in the whole of Hampi, the elephant stables. The very concept of a stable for elephants might sound amusing, but such was the might of the Vijayanagara empire at its zenith. Massive in size, the stables contained eleven domes which probably housed one elephant each. While ten of these domes were similar, the central dome was slightly larger. We spent much of our time here sitting and chatting on the lush green lawns in front of the stable. By this time the sun was setting and the sky turned yellow. After clicking more pictures we decided to head back to our starting point to see Virupaksha temple.
The mighty pyramid like structure was a thriving temple where worship was still active. By the time we reached the temple it was dark and the temple was illuminated beautifully. As none of us were really interested in going inside the temple, we spent some time in the nearby shops eating some light snacks and decided to call it a day. Our stay for the night was at a home stay in the Hippie Island, known as Gravity cafe.
Reaching the Hippie side from Hampi involves only a five minute boat ride. However travelling via car it took us nearly an hour to reach our destination. Gravity cafe was everything that was promised in the photos. The rooms were made of straw but had every amenity one could ask for. With low height tables, decorative neon lights and trance music in the background, the place did have a Hippie vibe to it.
We settled in for the night with some delicious hot food and chilled beers. We played a few mind bending games and shared some life stories. It was a day well spent, a trip done right. We were tired but actively looking forward for the morrow.
Note: Photo of elephant stables is from my previous Hampi Trip during 2017.
— When in Hampi, Be Hippie ––
There are two worlds within Hampi. While we enjoyed the ancient ruins and heritage sites to the south of the Thungabadhra river, a trip to Hampi is not complete without crossing the river and exploring the north side popularly known as ‘Hippie Island’. A rather quiet place with lush green agricultural fields, cottages and cafes. With our sunrise plans nipped in the bud we slept peacefully till 8. Craving for some coffee and breakfast, I decided to take a stroll outside. I walked around 200m from our cottage to reach a village centre of sorts. There was a one-man dosa shop/cart where a guy was selling out hot dosas along with some creamy chutney and potato masala. I had two Dosas and a spiced Chai from the shop and decided to head back to our cottage where the others were still asleep. As I walked backed to the cottage, I did pause for a second to appreciate the beauty of the place. I was walking through a tarred road with lush green fields on both sides. The morning sun had lighted up the fields in golden yellow whereas the boulders hills in the background provided a fitting contrast to the scenery. It’s funny I didn’t notice any of this on my way towards the shop. A good meal does change one’s perspective.
Back at the hotel, it was a race against time to meet our check out time at 10:00 AM. In the end, we managed to vacate the place only by 10:30. We stared our day without any clear plan in mind. There’s much to see and do in Hippie island. Anjaneya Hills, a hill believed to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman was nearby. A relatively easy hike along steps promised a good view of the land, but the thought of climbing the steps in the middle of the day pushed us to look for other options. Sanapur lake was the next best option, originally designed as an irrigation reservoir, the place had turned into a tourist hotspot with activities like ‘coracle ride’ and ‘cliff jumping’. But before we could start, the others were yet to have breakfast, so we started hunting for one of the famed cafes in the Island. Nandu and Pro led us to a street that they visited last night while buying the beers. A narrow street with a couple of cafes and handicraft shops bustling with foreigners living the famed Hampi Hippie life. From the Jewish signages on the shops we understood most of the visitors were from Israel. We went into a small cafe at the start of the road. Though small in size the cafe boasted a lengthy menu that would put multi cuisine restaurants to shame. We decided to test the diversity of the offering by ordering everything from pancakes to dosas to omelette. The food took forever to arrive, but when in Hippie island you do not complain about time. The place demanded us to slow down and live easily. In the end, the food was worth the wait. For the first time in the trip I fully finished everything I ordered.
Outside our cafe, we chanced upon a shop selling some unique Hampi clothing. T-shirts and loose pyjamas with elaborate patterns and ‘om’ symbols, the kind foreigners wear while touring pilgrimage sites in India. We spent a good amount of time trying out various combinations before deciding to roll out and continue our exploration of Hippie Island, dressed as Hippies.
We decided to go to Sanapur lake next. Travelling through some narrow roads we reached the peaceful Sanapur lake/reservoir. The cliff jumping and coracle ride would probably have been at a different location as we saw neither. Nevertheless we found a peaceful place with large boulders and a really good view overlooking the shore. We spent a good deal of time here mostly just absorbing the calmness. The trip was coming to an end. It was a short trip, an unplanned one, yet it was very full-filling. There were more places to explore and more adventures to experience, but this trip was never about checking out boxes.
We started back to Bangalore around 3 in the afternoon. Nandu and Pro again took turns driving while we mostly just relied on signboards for navigation. Apart from the short stops for lunch and tea our journey was continuous. Somewhere along the way we started a game of Anthakshiri, though peaceful at first, the game turned competitive real quickly. We ended up singing all the way till Bangalore before declaring the game as a draw. We reached our flat around 10 at night. It was a weekend done right, yet it was not over yet. Nandakrishnan had his birthday the next day. We invited Pillechan over and had a small cake cutting. We stayed up talking about the trip and discussing about birthdays and ageing up. The discussions somehow ended up with Ed Sheeran and Thinking Out Loud. That’s when we finally decided to call it a night and crash on our beds.
Read.Reflect.Repeat 