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| Vithala Temple |
Hampi is "The land of Temples and Ruins " and is also recognised as a UNESCO world Heritage site. My friend and I were hunting for places to visit and we came across Hampi. Initially we thought that Hampi would be a boring , dry place and a trip to this place would turn out to be a pilgrimage :p . But when we did a little bit of research , we got to know that there are so many activities to do in Hampi like trekking , boating , coracle rides , rock climbing and cycling. Hampi is mostly spread in a radius of 5 KM , we can rent a bicycle and cover all the places in Hampi. After reading about these activities , we got excited and planned for a 3 day Hampi trip.
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| Virupaksha Temple |
Initially , we opted for Karnataka Tourism, but when we inquired about these activities , we got to know that they will cover none of them. Therefore we decided to plan everything by ourselves. We then read like a million blogs and got a good idea on how to reach Hampi , what places to visit and also about accommodation. One can reach Hampi via trains and buses. The closest railway station to Hampi is Hospet Junction (HPT), which is 14Kms from Hampi.
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| view on the way to vithala temple |
In one of the blogs we read, it was mentined that Hampi can be broadly divided in to two parts i.e ,either side of river Tungabhadra. Now the good part is there is
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| Virupaksha Temple |
no bridge to cross this river , we either have to walk (When water level is low , of course), or have to cross using a coracle or a ferry. Virupaksha temple is the main attraction and the biggest landmark in Hampi and is situated very close to river Tungabhadra, this forms one part of Hampi. The other side, also known as Hippie side of Hampi, is the most beautiful part of Hampi and has the best accommodation facilities. The resorts on the hippie side of hampi are simply amazing with rooms in a bamboo hut, surrounded with the view of Tungabhadra river , long stretches of paddy fields and rocky hills in the background. The resorts on the Hippie side are always on high demand. We were booking resorts two weeks in advance thinking we were booking very early , but by then all the bookings for the resorts on the hippie side were closed !!!!! So we finally booked Thilak home stay(which was not on the hippie side) and it was good enough with a view of Tungabhadra river.
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| View on the Hippe side |
We reached Hampi by train. As soon as we got down the train , there were few guys holding pamphlets and asking us if we were looking for accommodation and once we came out of the station , we were surrounded by the auto drivers , and they are charging rs.600 for riding from HPT junction to Virupaksha temple. Thanks to all the blogs we read , we knew that bus stop was right in front of the railway station and and it costed us just 14rs . Our homestay was at a walking distance from Virupaksha Temple .We actually preferred walking instead of cycling.Frankly speaking , Hampi can be covered in a day or two. But we wanted to leisurely roam around and enjoy . Therefore we planned for a 3 day trip.
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| Tungabhadra River view on the way to Vithala Temple |
The best or worst part about this place is there is no signal , no ATMs, One has to rely on wifi provided in the homestay and restaurants. Another interesting aspect is that the restaurants will be divided in to two halves , one half will contain tables and chairs and the other half contains matresses and tables. The coolest part about these restaurants is that, one can actually stay there for hours , use wifi, sleep and the restaurant owners wont really mind, and you can ask them to play your choice of music.One can find different varieties of cuisines here as lot of foreigners visit this place.
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| One small part of Group of Monuments |
The places we visited in Hampi were Virupaksha temple, Vithala temple (This temple is kind of 4-5 kms from virpaksha temple, and you will be walking along the banks of river Tungabhadra and the view all way long is pretty amazing) , Group of Monuments , Hanuman Temple where we have to climb 600 stairs and it has an amazing view point . Definitely worth seeing a sunrise or a sunset at this view point (This temple is on the hippie side of Hampi , and at a distance of 4-7Kms from Tungabhadra, bus services to this place are also available), Matanga Hill (This is has 3 ways to reach the top of the hill , All three with same level of
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| Sunset at Hanuman temple |
difficulty, You don't need a trek guide ,as you can follow the arrow marks to reach the hill top).Matanga hill is best place to see sunrise.
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| Vithala |
When we visited Hampi , we had done a really good research about the place and the entire map of hampi was in our head . And since we didnot come via any tourism package, we visited places at our own liesure, there was no hurry , we admired each place and stayed there for how muchever time we wanted to, interacted with many tourists. It had a care free, do what ever your heart says vibe, It just felt very free, you are all by yourself .
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| Sunrise at Matanga Hill |
Every morning we used sit on terrace sipping coffee, admiring the Tungabhardra river bank view, listening to the devotinal songs played in the virupaksha temple. When we went to hanuman temple people were actually encoraging us to trek and after the trek they were saying good job ladies! and while trekking Matanga hill at one point we lost our way , and we were pretty scared as the rocks were not firm, then a gentleman helped us to find our way down the hill and gave us tips on how to climb down. On the last day , when we were leaving we had to check out at 12pm and our return train was at 8.30 , so the restaurant owner was kind enough to keep our luggage safely with him and after finishing our visit we took rest in the restaurant.
Overall it was totally a worthy trip , a soulfilling trip. I thought it was only a journey to Hampi , but while returning I realised it was much more , A journey to your self and a journey to rediscover yourself :).
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