Chilling out in Wild Valley, Feb 26th - 27th , 2005

Thats what we did this last weekend !! Went riding all the way to Wild Valley farm which is a valley nestled in the centre of the mountain range.. far from the madding crowd and definitely far from everything techie... LOL...

Started the ride at morning seven. Met up with fellow biker Mayur.. By the time we were
hitting Kanakpura road it was blasting hot. The heat combined with dryness was pretty
tough but we kept on hoping that the destination would be cooler.

At Kanakpura we met the Bangalore Chapter of 60 kph who were on their way to Coorg..
and rode with them for sometime and then went on our way.. since we had to cover good
distance and wanted to beat the heat as soon as possible.

As we hit Kollegal, we took the diversion to the right and carried on. We passed a couple of green tank bunds which had exotic birds feasting on diving and catching fishes... which was a delightful sight to see... As soon as we took this diversion.. it was just a thin strip of fairly good road and lots of dried fields on both sides.. mostly already harvested raggi and maize... and sometimes you would meet a tree or two... Though it was isolated ... it was a pleasure riding without any interference... We started coming across mountain ranges... followed the path which went along with the mountain range. It was like discovering the length of the range which was never ending as we rode...

Came up to a small village known as Lokhanahalli which was one of our landmarks. We stopped on and off to push some liquid in our systems.. and then continued.. I took the time to click some pics.. Wild Valley does not have phone connection or signal.. so Mayur wanted to call up his parents to let them know that he was not lost in the wild but definitely reaching there... We had reached the Dhondenling Tibetian Settlement.. at Odeyarpalya, which looked very pretty and which we would check it out while returning back.

Continued along the same stretch of road through some sparsely scattered native population busy with working with the harvested raggi and finally we reached the checkpost between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.. You do not need to pay any amount while entering Tamil Nadu. That fee is taken care of by the farm. You would have to pay a nominal fee to Daniel when the bills are settled.

The road to the farm is pretty rough along filled with uneven highs and lows and a lot of gravel. It will be great if you are going on a four wheeler but i would not really advise caution if you are riding.. Its a short but quite unpredictable stretch.

We reached there just in time for lunch. two small groups were already there chilling out. We met Daniel who was very hospitable. He invited us to use to pool which was a cute thing and welcomed us with fresh lemon juice which was really refreshing.

After sometime we had lunch.... which was a pretty chilled out affair with home cooked food and all along with fresh farm vegetables..!! One of the guys in one of the groups just wasted the food which was a sacrilege I thought ...If you do not want to eat do not serve it in your plate.. this was like deliberately insulting the chef. After lunch Daniel invited us for a short trek down the stream .

We trekked through the boulders and saw lot of fresh foot prints of different animals. The stream was kind of a waterhole where all the animals come to it seemed. As we were walking through quick sand type of soil, boulders, dead branches, it was like we were totally in the wild at the mercy of the peering eyes from inside the bushes.

Daniel is an experienced farm owner and he has seen different type of hunts.. for example wild dogs hunting a baby deer. It is a different story that the native tribals jumped on the almost dead baby deer.. and made a tasty meal out of it then and there... I was thinking to myself... how are we different from hyenas who wait for someone to hunt and then take the catch away from under its nose...

As we neared the stream, the farm guide along with Daniel suddenly told us to be quiet an all of a sudden we were instructed to run since there were wild elephants already in the stream and Daniel did not want to disturb them or rather did not want to get disturbed..

In the jungle wild life is rampant thanks to Veerapan who is the process of hiding in the jungle consciously or subconciously protested the animals from being poached or hunted. That made me feel good. It was nice to co- exist with wild life like this where they know their territory is safe and the farm is usually left alone..

Daniel told me about the tigers there.. but how the govt does not bother about them anyways.. since it would involve a long drawn out project to protect the tigers. And since the place did not boast of plush accomodation like Nagarhole where they concentrate all the forest research work..this part of the forest is totally ignored... reality bites but thats how it is...

As the sun set over the mountains the campfire was lit and we sat in a circle on the wisely arranged curved stone blocks.. a bottle of vodka, the starry sky above, them music of different species of birds doing this and that.. and great company... and long stories... just when i was thinking that this was perfect getaway, I saw the moon rise behind the mountains. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen .. In a few seconds the whole valley was alight with moonlight. It was the most romantic time of the day. I thought to myself.. I could easily compose a song or two if i stayed for a week :) . Or write a book for that matter..

The other groups were of a different kind. One of the groups got their laptop for music and
all.. and the other group... did not bother about anything but making loud noises and
having beer which was pretty noisy. In spite of all this we had a great time.. round the fire.

It was chilly and after having 4 pegs I went to my tent and tripped off to the ZZZZ land.

******************************************************
Day 2

At night we could hear wild elephants trying to come inside the farm. They are pretty
insistent mind you but the guys who were on watch chased them away. Daniel also slept
in one of the tents.

Morning dawned with the chirping of birds. After a long walk around the farm with the help of a guide, we packed our bags, had a fresh bath and great breakfast. We were on our way by 10 in the morning. We planned to go to Dhondenling settlement in Oderyarpalya which was on the way. It was hot to the extent that you coul feel your pores crackle with dryness... The ride was not a comfortable one for me since I was in the process of having a heat stroke.. Reached the Tibetian settlement.

Now this place is awesome. It is like a small country in its own . A very well organised village with great farms. The villages were divided into A village, B village, C village... etc. Each alphabetical village would be self sufficient and not far from each other.. they were placed in different areas easily accessible to each other yet having its own identity... between the farming landscape. Its a sight to behold. All the main offices were in the centre of the town. I was amazed by the beauty of this placed tucked away.. at the heart of the mountain range. The Dalai Lama usually stays in this town in his palace when he comes visiting. His palace is also quite colorful though we did not get to see it from inside.

After having lunch of tasty momos, and three glasses of sweet curds, we made our way from this little haven ... It was getting hotter and hotter and I was feeling sicker and sicker even though I kept myself replenished with oranges, electrol, water, etc ... we reached Bangalore at 6:00 and I just crashed off for two days... as a result of excess heat. But all said and done it was a great trip and we will do it again when the monsoons make the land greener and more beautiful..

Notes:

Map to get there !!!

This seems to be the worst time of the year that you would ride to this place killing to say the least.

Take your own booze if interested.... this place does not supply booze !!

Take lots of water.. and electrol if you are travelling at this time of the year.. the weather is quite bad ...

Daniel owns about 100 acres of land here.. but only 12 acres of land is used for the farm .

He has planted all the trees in this land.. it was a ravine... it seems and had only three trees..

Its the ideal place for couples... so make sure you take your better halves... along with you to enjoy the beauty of this place...

Its heaven for trekking enthusiasts.. you can choose from the easiest trek to the toughest one which will take you high above the mountains !!

This place is not commercial and if you are interested to get in touch... you could get in touch with them through their website or mail me at pbaruah@gmail.com

FOR MORE INFO you can CLICK HERE !!

Hogennakkal Ride

Another long weekend and we were planning on a short ride.. Informed Praveen who is convincing his better half that riding can be an enjoying pastime, and Lohit ... and we planned the trip to Hogenakkal. Originally we planned Ooty where Kartz asked us to join him in his camping adventures but we decided to ride to HOgenakkal instead since we did not want to ride much.

Sunday dawned with a very bleak weather. Getting up was a pain and I nearly abandoned the idea of getting up and facing the day.. but Rocks was over enthusiastics about dong the ride. I was in two minds since I was not comfortable about riding in the rain.. and then I thought to myself what the heck...

Met up with Lohit in that despairing weather... at 7:30 in the morning which looked like a depressing 5:30 am in a rainy morning !! We rode our way across the highway towards Krishnagiri. We would have to go straight from Krishnagiri and then reach Dharmapuri. The whole highway it was drizzling and well Praveen's wife had a tough time with light clothes and no mud flap on the bike. But she was sportive enough and carried on soaked to the bone, until we could get a dry T shirt for her and after Praveen fixed the back of the bike with a gunny bag... it was a different story that Praveen will never be allowed to forget this ride... ha ha !!

Met Ambar on the way who was on his way to Waniyamwadi to have the famous biryani.

After the smooth road down to Krishnagiri we came across lots of bombed roads. Rains, bad roads, aside the ride was pretty ok. After Dharmapuri, we entered the roads to Hogenakkal. Lohit had some issues with his electricals which ws giving out confusing signals.. the guys did some tinkering ... and we were on our way...

The roads slowly started becoming smooth and we could see a lot of vegetation... suddenly we come across beautiful ghat section which was amazing to behold... small and beautiful.... I may be biased but mountains definitely do something for me.. and nothing like riding the curves on mountains...

We took a break there,.. talked to couple of smart monkeys... the monkey population seemed to have been thriving here and it was nice to see that . .

The weather was clearing up and we rode on to through the winding roads through the dense forests till we came upon the sound of water gushing by...

Roads were okay and the weather had started to warm up... we parked our bikes and immediately we were accosted with boatmen who wanted to take us across to the other side... we were asked whether we would like to have a whole round which would take about 2 to 3 hours for 300/- and we took our breath and selected two guys who were not pushing too much ( reverse pschycology or what ) and they led us to their coracles ... and we convinced them that we would like only the half and hour ride and see some part of the falls and not the whole thing.

I was not to enthusiastic about the water since I could see a lot of mild rapids... though the others were excited. Praveen spotted fried fish and he wanted to have lunch and then go across .. but then decided that we do the whole sightseeing and then go for lunch.

Getting on a coracle was a first for me... so I was pretty nervous... somehow managed to get on it... we were three of us, Rocky, Myself and Lohit in one and the other was occupied by Praveen and Aashika. They looked pretty and here I was shitting bricks..

The boatman took pity on me and assured me that I did not have anything to worry as he would be there to hold me first if anything happens. I need not have worried.. since it was a short but fun ride... we crossed over to the other side where it was crowded with people....but not that crowded too.. in fact the existence of people somewhat reduced my inherent trepidation of the huge falls. And we walked across the pavements where one of the boatmen took us to vantage points from where we could view the falls well...

There is also a small tower.. from where we can climb and have a birds eye view of the majestic falls...
We took a couple of pics and nearby we spied young boys say maybe 10 year olds trying to dive from a great height... but for 5 rupees.. if you give 5 rupees one of them would show you the dangerously steep dive and you would get a thrill... we decided not to encourage the boys... what does one have to do for money ??

Anyways.... we crossed back and while crossing back, the boatmen were very nice enough to let us pose in the coracles... they stopped the coracle in the middle and stood for some seconds... And then came one of the most terrifying parts for me... they started to spin th coracle for fun... I was like holding on to dear life... I am not the merry go round type anyways... never was and the water and the coracle made it like WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE... and I was praying fervently while the others had fun !! we could see that many boatmen were having fun... what a way to get a thrill to go circles in rapids...

After the crossing we paid those guys some 150 per coracle and started for lunch... Lunch was a slow affair... fish fry was fast but the actual meal took a long time in coming. We almost lost our appetite and we had to get back to .. .

After lunch... we sped our way climbing the ghats and then the weather was pleasant.. the rains had stopped and the roads were also familiar now... we did not have to stop for many breaks and were back in Bangalore by 8:00 ...

It was a great way to spend a day ...

Short Impressions...

Bikes need a mud flap specially if it is raining otherwise it is painful for the rider
Pillion riding is not all that easy like it is made out to be..
Rain gear is a definite must for rain rides...

Back to Bangalore...

Day 3

Route - Chennai - Sriperumbedur - Kanchipuram - Ranpet - Chittoor - Palamner - Mulbagal - Kolar - Hokote Bangalore

We started early afternoon from Chennai and after a heavy Tamil nadu breakfast at another great joint, we carried towards home. On the way we stopped for a few breaks since the road was good and we did not need to stop very often. At Palamner, Rocks stopped to change our light bulb which was fused and while he was doing that, I spied a little hut by the road, where an old lady was hovering and another old lady was picking peanuts from the tree. I asked in tamil whether Kapi was available. A chatty old man who was sitting by the road came up and said they could make tea but a hotel was nearby if i wanted to go. Along with him was a truck driver who was also resting for the day. We had a conversation with my broken Tamil, Hindi and some good tea. The old man extended his hand of hospitality and offered me peanuts which were freshly picked and some biscuits... the truck driver told me stories of how he would go through small roads and how he would avoid check posts. I asked him a couple of questions.. he seemed to be well travelled guy with the gab and I am was always a sucker for travel stories...

After a hot cuppa and saying warm goodbyes, we carried on.. and reached home just after sunset. I enjoyed the whole ride at this time since I got to see many different phases of the sunset. And how it played with the clouds... it would have been an awesome capture on the camera... unfortunately I have to wait till some other time...

Now its time to plan another ride... or a drive.... who knows.. but we are always ready for the highway

Notes:

Highly reccomended: A visit to the RE factory. Its worth it... All Bulleteers must go there...
Royal Enfield has opened a new showroom in Chennai and its a cool place to pass by... you must check it out...

Mahabalipuram is good for a short visit.
Chennai is cool during rains..
ECR is something you have to ride on... its an experience to be experienced...
Croc farm is worth a visit...
Many thanks to Dodo and the Madras Bulls who have made our stay in Chennai a memorable and enjoyable one.

Chennai in the rains ..

Day 2

We woke up to mild rains and it was a beautiful weather. The sun was playing hide and seek with the rain and it was fun to watch who would last the longest.. and the effect of the sun and the rain coming and going over the sea through the clouds was amazing. I was wishing I had a better camera to capture that moment. But maybe some other time..

We saw that the beach was busy with the fisherman hauling in their catch for the day. Velu one of the fisherman with whom we got talking to.. told us that they leave for their fishing at 3:00 in the morning... and how they had to go further and further away into the sea to catch big fish. They were all a friendly group.. some folding nets, some running to get the fishes in place, some sorting out the fishes, some running to save themselves from the drizzle when it rained. Fishermen here believed in not only co- existing with the fishes but also with other domesticated animals and a good house would have dogs, cows, chicken and pigs with them.

Velu promised us to take us to the sea for 200/- and show us the five temple which have are under sea. We did not take the risk since it was a wild time for the sea but we told him that we would come back and take him up on his offer. You can also go fishing with them for a small amount if you are interested.

It was all good since we spend a lazy morning... walking by the beach. We had a hearty breakfast at a nearby restaurant... shared with a black puppy and watched the rain fall ...by the sea.. As soon as it was dry, we left for the shore temple which would be opening in at 9:00. The shore temple displays 6th century architecture. The temples seem to have been built on single stones sometimes... the sculpturers starting their work from top so that they dont do much damage to the structure...

After the Shore temple we moved out of Mahabalipuram and towards the Croc park. We were riding through the ECR. It was a great ride. We met some good sports bike too who were freaking out with their bikes totally opened up. We missed out on the Tiger's cave while coming. The crocodile park has been an experience. I have never seen so many crocodiles at one time .. sheesh !!! it was like that place was infested with them reptiles and well though I dont hate reptiles.. I dont love them either... I have a healthy respect for them...

We could see snakes and turtles besides crocs... I personally think that this place should seriously try and find a wider space.. or let the crocs go to the wild.. its too much now... BRRRR !!!





Then we entered the town of Kovalam which was nothing great so we moved on. On the way we saw another rider in a bullet most probably from the Madras bulls... did not know him but it was good to see another bull on the road.

In Chennai we were met by Daniel aka Dodo who took us to his house and from then on we went on to the Royal Enfield factory. Dodo also did not know the way to Thiruvattyur... where the factory was. So we went on riding through one of the worst parts of Chennai, a la Majestic in Bangalore.. just add to that less space more trucks and filthy because of the rain....

On reaching the factory we were made to wait dfor sometime before Ajay Pai came and took us around the place. he explained to us how the place worked and how the machines worked and it was very enlightening for us. We then got to meet Mr Vaiydi, Director, Marketing, if I am not mistaken along with Naveen Malhotra. We had a very nice converstaion where feedback was exchanged and we learnt a lot too. I was more interested in the bullet coming up with an electric start. I would then be able to get myself one.... I am secretly hoping that I dont have to kick start the machine when I buy one.

After the visit we went to Ponnuswamy's and had a very late lunch... If you are in Chennai, you have to visit this place. For food lovers this is the best Chettinadu Cuisine house that you can get at a very good price. Its is Eggmore. We went on to meet some of the Madras Bulls gang. It was nice of them to catch up with us. We met at Cake Walk by the beach. Bala and Kavita, Dosai(Manoj), Anthony, Jai, Brijesh, Shwetha and her sister were all there... it was great to hog on good desserts and have a nice get together... that continued in Dodo's house where Bala regaled us with body shopping stories from US and his wild life adventures in Kenya. I think I shall plan a trip to this place... his stories have totally fascinated me..he is another avid traveller and its always nice to exchange stories... with such minds...

I crashed off while the men hung around late.

Monsoons in Mahabalipuram, Kanchipuram and Chennai and a visit to RE factory

Route Taken

Bangalore - Hoskote - Kolar- Mulbagal-Palmaner- Chittoor - Ranipettai- Kanchipuram - Chengalpattu - Mahabalipuram



This has been a year of continous rains in Bangalore and mostly all over India... so traveling in bikes was not the first option. Just when we thought that it was getting dry and planned the trip to Mahabalipuram, we got news that the East coast was having good rains.. This was going to be our first solo ride and we were looking forward to it.

But we decided we would brave it out anyways. Unless it was one of those heavy coastal showers which we encountered in our trip to Calicut, it would be fine. We were warned by Daniel aka Dodo to be prepared for rains...



Anyway we started off early Friday morning heading towards the east... and going past Bangalore and Hoskote, we quickly passed Kolar and reached Mulbagal. We bypassed two three good hotels.. and I thought that we would get to pass by more and continued.. And to our dismay, we could not find any good hotels beyong Woody's.

We stopped by a nice little inn which said Hotel and thought we would get some coffee in our stomachs at least. As soon as I went inside I was welcomed with a big mug and directions to go to the ladies toilet. I did not know whether to laugh or just stare. Before I could finish my question about coffee, he insisted that I go to the toilet. Again I asked patiently.. and he ultimately said no coffee was not avialable but yes toilets were... hahah !! and we were charged
some 5 rupees to use the dilapidated toilets...

Since it was festival time, we had minimum traffic... on the way and reached Kanchipiuram without any difficulty. While riding on the State highway, we received some sporadic showers. It so happened that whenever we stopped and wore the raincoat, the rain cloud would pass by leaving us high and dry. We got so tired of wearing and taking off our raincoat, that we finally decided that we would brave the showers as and when they came. Well it was a good decision since the shower was light and would dry up after a few seconds.

Kanchipuram is a beatiful old city and it was here that we had lunch. Kanchipuram is known for its temples and we reached just in time for lunch. We had sumptous lunch in Kanchi at Saravana Hotel which serves amazing vegeterian thallis. They have good parking space for the bikes too.

As we moved around in Kanchi we could see that this city had a lot of temple heritage and it was scattered with temples at almost every corner of the street. Old Architecture.. and tanks which must definitely be a historian's delight. After lunch we continued on the highyway to Chengalpettu.. and then Mahabalipuram. After a short while we reached Mahabalipuram or Mammalapuram. Entering this small town it felt good to reach the destination.

As we entered this town it reminded me of Hampi and Goa. Hampi for the ruins and Goa for the tourists coming in inspite of the off season time. We looked out for a hotel sine we wanted to rest our backs and start exploring. It was 2:45 and we were ready to check out the town. Our search for an economic hotel near the beach took us through the concrete paved "gallis" to the fisherman's village near the shore temple. Rock s was more persistent in finding a hotel
near the beach..

We got a good deal for 300/- and the room was basic and was good enough with water running and good double bed.

The name of the hotel is Sea Shore hotel I think. Its a house with room facilities with an attached restaurant.My first thought was FISH FRY and BEER but I was patient. I had read that fish was really cheap here and I was keen on having my fill of fish...

After refreshing we started off on the ECR to check the town and went and visited Krishna's Butterball, Arjuna's Penance and some other cave temples. We wanted to go visit the Lighthouse but visitors were not allowed so we gave up and made our way towards the Shore temple. We walked through the rows of shops sporting only scultures
and the sound of hammer hitting the stone was constant and it seemed like it was part of nature.. Friends if you are interested in sculpting this is the place to come to. The displays of the sculptures were awesome. ( click on the pics to view the larger versions)





I wanted to click some good snaps but since it was already past sunset it did not make much sense to go to the temple. We walked around the beach area and as we were taking a walk, we came across a snake charmer speaking excellent American English ( reminded me of the hawkers in goa). Now this was an interesting sight. I
stopped and watched what that guy was doing. He took out one snake and then the other and showed us some tricks.. I was fascinated by the snakes... one cobra and one young snake... the poor cobra was awakened by a pinch on its tail.. poor thing... but it was showtime for them folks.. the charmer...made them turn a 360 degrees for a better close up and he said that he would charge 50/- for the snaps...When I told him that I was not a foreigner, he sobered down and asked me to give him whatever money I could... well who was I spoil his show and he had put up a good one so I gave him 50/-. A good performance has to be appreciated.

What I could see that they were making lot of money from the non Indians. The streets were scattered with shops specially catering to the people coming from outside India. In some of the places we wanted to eat, the guys blankly said that the restaurant did not have variety... and the moment a foreigner landed up they bend their backs to fulfil the orders... discrimination in our own land... SIGH !!

We went back to the hotel and s at down to have something to eat. Here I was expecting good meals... but I was mildly shocked to see the prices in the menu. Fresh Catch was displayed but a small fish would cost you 150/- and above. And a small piece would cost you 80/- to 90/-. Though it was not like Goan Beach shacks where Fish curry and rice cost us some 220/- and the same thing away from beach cost us 22/-, it was still not very reasonable price for fish which was freely available ... from the sea. I was thinking to myself that fish was cheaper in Bangalore.

Now in these restaurants, you cannot expect immediate service since the food is freshly prepared and is served hot at your table. Nothing is kept ready. This is not a fancy hotel but a hotel made from home so service is also slow. This is a place to just chill out. So patience is required, unlike a couple who came here to eat and made a big scene of telling the waiter to get what was ready immediately and thus resulting in confusion and as if this was not enough, the wanted veg dishes to be made... in a hard core non veg fish serving restaurant. Well to serve them right, they had their dished served very late... and by this time the husband was almost entering the kitchen and doing an audit. This provided good entertainment for the rest of the people who were enjoying the food.

I could also see a lot of Kashmiris who have made this town a good centre of business and they were minting money with their stuff... Went to a handsome fella's shop and browsed through this silver jewellery and other stuff. His
jewellery was awesome and I could not resist buying some. If you pass by this place, be sure to have a looksy at these stores...

We turned in early since we were kind of tired and the last thing I remember was the sound of the sea lulling me to sleep....

Day 2 In Chennai

Day 3 .. Back To Bangalore !!

Irreplacable Memories Day 3

Day3
Morning dawned with good sunshine and it was a great time to take off. We decided that we would visit the Tungabhadra Dam on the way. So off we went while the bikers were still getting ready. Heinrich, Indira and Jangs also took off early. While Jangs and his group took off straight we went to the dam walked up the hill and enjoyed the beautiful old construction of the dam.



After that we were on our way.. cruising through the way .. we had Jangs and his group for company. Our Jeep was loaded with the saddle bags of the bulleters ... but it was less this time... since they were taking off late...

We ripped across the highway. Jangs and the group were obviously faster. We came across many overturned trucks on the highway. It was a pathetic sight. But we carried on.. Reached the outskirts of Chittradurg and stopped at a ncie house like hotel by the highway.. which had a garden restaurant and everything... and we ordered our meals.. Lunch was good but it made us have a big hole in our pocket. We were slammed with a bill of 700 plus for 3 fish thali meals, one vegeterian meal and a starter. When we asked for the menu the manager refused to show us the menu saying that it was outside the menu and they had extra charge... and all that.. and to top it all they were mixing the orders from one table to another..

This was the same with Jangs and his group and after warning the bikers, we took off. It was a bad experience and we learnt a valuable lesson...
If you are lunching in Chitradurg, please do not forget to ask the price of the orders that come to you..



Funnily the food on the whole trip did not cost us that much as we paid for that one lunch fiasco... Still gets my goat whenever I think of it ... One the way we filled gas at a bunk which had this nicely carved statue..


Anyways, back on the highway, we came across heavy showers of rains which kept us company for a long time till we reached Bangalore... and finally we reached home replete with good memories of Hampi.

Hampi is a photographers paradise for both amatuer and professional. Make sure you take enough rolls with you if you are like taking pictures !!

Some important information about Hampi.

Map to Hampi



Map to go about in Hampi.. Actually its easy to go about in Hampi. You will get local maps and local guide books and the sign posts are vey user friendly to follow.




When to Visit

The ideal time to visit Hampi, is from October to March.

How To Get There

By Air : The nearest airport is Bellary (74 km). Other convenient airports are Belgaum (190 km) and Bangalore (353 km).

By Rail : Hospet (13 km) is the nearest railhead. Hospet is linked by rail with Bangalore, Bijapur and Hubli.

By Road : Hampi is 353 km from Bangalore, and 13 km from Hospet. Buses ply regularly to Hospet from Bangalore.


Where To Stay

Hotel Mayura Vijayanagar, Thungabadhra Dam Hospet, Tel:08394-48270

Hotel Priyadarshini, Station Road, Hospet, Tel: 08394-48838.

Hotel Malligi, Hospet-Bellary road.

Hotel Mayura Bhuvaneswri, Kamalapur, Hampi. Tel:08394-51374 ( we stayed here... and we recommend this highly)

KSTDC Cottages.Tel:08394-8108

Useful Links

http://www.meadev.nic.in/tourism/exotic/hampi.htm
http://www.indiatravelog.com/factfile/kar6-hampi.html
http://www.karnataka.com/tourism/hampi/

Exploring Hampi Day 2

Day2:



We were supposed to get up and catch the sunrise at Hampi but it was not to be.
here is pic of what the sunrise looked like... absolutely glorious!!! This picture is courtesy one of the RTMC members.(I forget the name I am sorry)

While the others went ahead before 6:00 in the morning, we slept it out and started off after a lazy breakfast. The weather was just great... rain clouds were present but besides some drizzle the day was clear... thus started our exploration... here is pic of what the sunrise looked like... absolutely glorious!!!

Queens Bath:
A old bathing place which the Queen used. It had its own changing rooms and great viewpoints. This bath was open to the sky and surrounded with a moat. Though the building looks quite simple from outside one can only imagine the granduer inside the building.



Mahanavami Dibba:
This is an enomous area where kings once sat on gem-studded golden thrones and watched processions pass by. The platform sports densely carved bands of horses, soldiers and depictions of the various aspects of courtly life. There is a pyramid like structure which has nice carvings on it.. The irrigation system runs through it..



There is a beautiful tank called Pushkarani which looks like an optical Illusion with its so many steps there... the whole Tank looks like it was built with black granite...

I explored further and found another amphitheatre like area and a seat where the kings must have sat..and watched some show or the other... or maybe it was another tank for the kings and queens to enjoy the beautiful man made lake...



This place has lot of other small ruins which you can explore with leisure... I wish I had more time...

Hazara Rama: a typical Dravidian temple... and this has lot of sculptures depicting the story of Ramayana in three tiers describing the whole story till after the birth of his twins Lav and Kush.. The sculpting is the wall is worth spending time. There is a hanuman sculpture here.. Hampi was previously also the capital of the Monkey People... and it was known and Kishkinta... thats why the stress on Ramayana

Lotus Mahal : A small enclosure inside huge grounds. the walls which protect this enclosure is still there.. and one needs to see how uniquely the walls have been placed ..One would imagine royalty coming here and relaxing... the mahal itself is a small place surrounded by huge grounds.

You need to buy a ticket to enter this place which is valid for the Vittala temple too.

Elephant Stables: - As you walk through the green lawns in Lotus Mahal... you come across the elephant stables which seem like huge... rooms .. one can imagine how much care they were given ... this being an important mode of transpot there


Guards House - To one side of the tables there was another huge building which many ignored and went off.. We went ahead .. i was pretty curious what this building was meant for. It had one elephant statue resting at the gateway One of the natives, dangling his legs ... and with a nonchalant attitude told us that it was the guard's house... It was a huge building... with lot of artifacts and a nice garden... the building was at a height... I guess so that the guards could survey what was going on......

Nobelman's Quarters: This was a little further from the Lotus Mahal.. and we went ahead to explore the Nobleman's Quarters... a huge space of land with collapsed building blocks... gives the impression of a huge chunk of population might have existed in this area.. you can go up the steps to have a panoramic view of the area... the guards might have stood at that very point to surveyed all the nobleman... or soldiers...

Sister Rocks
this is a marvel to see,.. imagine two cards inclined and balancing each other by touching it at the top.. now imagine two huge round stones doing the same thing and touching each other just at a point and standing like that... Awesome.. According to a myth, these stones are two sisters who have been turned into stone.


Lakshmi Narasimha - A huge monolith statue which is sometimes mistaken for Ugra Narasimha.. A huge piece of architecture which is difficult to imagine that it has survived all the years to be a witness to all of the wacky specimens... like us.... People mistake it for Ugra Narasimha but it has been specifally mentioned that this is Lakshmi narasimha..


Badavilinga : Next to the Narasimha.. there is this amazing 12 ft Shivalinga known as the Badavi Linga.. this has always water around it since a canal passes through it..

Krishna Temple: This is an old temple built by Krishnadevraya in 1523. We found a young boy dressed as hanuman and willing to dance if we gave him money... we shooed him away and took some photographs... of the nice pillars.. what struck me was the eerie silence in these temples... but I could imagine devotees thronging here for their pujas... There are many small temples inside this temple.

This is on the way to Krishna Temple.. thought that the gates with the Jeep looked really cool..

Mustard Ganesha:
This is a huge monolith of Ganesha which you can go and see... we did not wait around this statue as we had a lot of things to cover. This is also one of a kind statue very well made. This statue is 12 ft tall and is placed in the open with a mantapa.

Virupaksha Temple:
This is one of the main temples in Hampi. We did not spend much time inside this temple as there was a huge crowd singing and dancing there... The road in front of this temple is flanked by shops and restaurants.

Here we halted for lunch... in one of the small restaurants which had boldly written captions " Recommended by Lonely Planet" . This place caters more to foreigners so if you are ordering toast and omlete you will get it faster. There is a unique thali known as " African Thali, which we did not have the stomach to try. I ordered some pineapple pancakes, lassi and sandwiches which came pretty fast rather than the indian thalis which my friends ordered.

We called in the gang who by this time were scattered. Some tried to take a short cut and got duped by auto.
DO NOT try taking shortcuts. All of the things can be seen one after the other so you can chill out and take your bike around and park and walk where you wanted to see stuff.

So while the gang was having lunch, we walked by the side of the river Tungabhadra...

Suddenly for some reason I remembered the song...

By the rivers of Babylon..
There we at down
there we wept
when we remembered the bygones... ( ok i made that up instead of Zion)

Pondering at the ruins and the huge area of what might have been I felt somewhat sad and melancholic.
Market Place:
The market place is just opposite the Virupaksha Temple .. This is a huge area and once upon a time it used to be the market area for the people living in that kingdom. At present this place is used as an amphitheatre during dance festivals and all that.

Vittala Temple:
This is one of the most beautiful places in Hampi. This contains the essence of Hampi, I must say. It contains a huge area of monuments. The river Tungabhadra flows by its side... Inside the grounds you have the Vijaya Vittala temple containing musical pillars... a guide can show you how it sounds by beating it with the help of the knuckles... clicked some shots here too... This temple is full of beautifully sculpted works of lotus, swans, etc...

Just in front of this temple is the stone Chariot which is like a work of art. Its reminiscent of the Sun Temple in Konark. It was raining that day.. and though it ws not the right moment for photography.. i could not resist taking some shots

Kings Balance:
Outside the Vijaya Vittala Temple complex to your right, a few yards away you will find the Kings Balance where the king used to weigh himself with golds and diamonds and that weight used to be distributed among the poor.

Then to chill out we relaxed by the river banks of Tungabhadra drinking tea from a small shack... it was that time of the day when the birds go home and farmers come back from the fields... bliss...

We came to back to the Hotel. The gang decided to go to the Tungabhadra Dam where there would be some musical fountain display and all that. Some from the gang relaxed. We did the same... chilled out .. had dinner and waited for the guys to come back..

The guys were back and they decided that they would light a campfire and have a great time. While I was busy with our friends, the rest of the guys chilled out by the fire with some good drinks...


Day 3