Travel clears the clutter
in our minds. We always look up at people having something up their sleeves.
The world may not be the same for everyone but everyone has their own ways
approaching it, making it more beautiful and meaningful. At the end of every
trip, there are some experiences that cease to escape us. Sometimes it looks so
juvenile but that keeps pushing us, snowballing into more awesome experiences
in the future. When I had my first solo trip to Mumbai, I was so proud that I
could actually survive on my own anywhere. My recent solo trip for 2 days to
Hampi gives me a sense of pride and satisfaction to love myself more which I
will keep doing for the rest of my life.
It all started out of
nowhere, if I had thought too much, I would not have done so many things in my
life. This is one such thing. I wanted to GO, I just booked the tickets for the
next weekend, not even caring to check the CNF probability. My to and fro
tickets were on the Waitlist until the chart preparation. The universe kind of keeps
me in tenterhooks always.
"The man who goes alone can start today but he who travels with another must wait till the other is ready" -Henry David
Hampi Express:
Somehow overcoming all
the last minute hiccups I present myself, I was able to board the Hampi express
on time at Bengaluru Junction. The train had its halt in more number of stops
than that qualifies it to be an Express in my opinion. I even tried reading a
Kindle book on Hampi on my journey, but that did not go well. After nearly 2
hour delay, I was finally there in Hosapete, gearing myself for the trip of my
life. One last thing I did before leaving Bangalore was to book a hotel in
Hosapete, to which I navigated once I reached. The hotel staff was courteous
to not let me wait till the assigned check-in time and handed my keys
immediately.
Day 1: Temple side of
Hampi
I enquired the hotel
staff on how to reach Hampi and they guided me to take a local bus from the
nearest KSRTC bus station. I checked with the conductor and boarded a bus
believing I am en route to Hampi. The bus went for a really long time against
the actual 13km distance between Hosapete and Hampi. But I was enjoying the
village scenery not giving too much thought about my destination. The bus
finally landed somewhere in a remote village not having any resemblance of a tourist
destination. I enquired the fellow passengers and they told its ‘Kampli’ and
not ‘Hampi’. Thanks to my accent that confused everyone I enquired. I again
asked them how to reach Hampi and they pointed a bus in the opposite direction
that will take me to another village called Kamalapur from where I have to take
another bus to Hampi. I boarded the bus and realized I was traveling 36 km
totally in the wrong direction. Nevertheless, the local bus and the atmosphere
kept me engaged baring the scorching sun and empty stomach. I did not want to
risk losing much time again and asked my co-passenger to tell me at Kamalapur.
Once the stop arrived, I was the only passenger getting down making way for
myself from the extreme front to the only exit at the extreme rear. I had food
in a local hotel since a single morsel of food has not touched my soul since
morning and it was already past lunch. I had a quick lunch and asked the auto
rickshaw walas for tuk-tuk ride for the day around Hampi. I bargained hard and
was lucky to have got a good driver who was thoughtful to pick me up and drop
from the doorstep of every monument. Otherwise, it would have been too
difficult given the level of walking and climbing required sightseeing Hampi.
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| Map |
He had a map and promised
to take me to all the places. The first one on the list was Vittala Temple,
they operate battery cars to take you to the temple from the road. To my
happiness, all the battery cars were run by women drivers. It is always good to
see women occupying spaces assigned for men hitherto. The temple was a
magnificent one housing the most iconic Stone chariot in its premises. The
temple gives a scene of how good an empire could have been once to still remain
at least as ruins after being invaded and deteriorated so much. On my way back
I skipped the battery car and walked the distance to see the small monuments
and a beautiful Pushkarani on the way.
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| Stone Chariot |
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| Vittala Temple |
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| Pushkarani |
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| Hampi Ruins |
I then went to other places such as
Lotus Mahal, Queen's bath, Elephants stable, Ganesha Temple, Narasimha Temple,
Underground Shiva temple, Hazara Rama Temple, Sister stone, Narasimha Temple, Royal enclosure,etc., No amount of words can do justice to
the architectural elegance the place holds. It is better to see it through my
mediocre behind the lens skills.
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| Queens Bath |
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| Elephants stable |
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| Stepped Tank |
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| Underground Shiva Temple |
Things people need to
keep in mind visiting Hampi is to retain the entry ticket (only at very few
places. Most are free) which can be used in other places. I missed the ticket
and paid for it 2 times. And to keep oneself hydrated all the time. I recharged
myself with Water, Lime, Tender coconut and Ice creams throughout the day. Also, it is good to rest enough without straining too much. I found shady places and
laid down in almost all the monuments, giving myself the energy to visit the next
one.
Virupaksha Temple was the last one in my list and it felt good to finish
it there admiring the beauty of the temple adjoining a rocky hill and river. I
tipped the temple elephant for a blessing. It reminded me of some anonymous
writer who wrote the elephants are actually cursing us for exploiting them. But
I think it’s better to ignore such woke thoughts for small pleasures in life. Following
which I climbed the Hemakunta hill and basked in the breathtaking view of what
could have been a majestic empire once.
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| Virupaksha Temple |
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| Hemakunta |
My tuk-tuk tour came to an end around
5.30 P.M. Meanwhile I used the time to converse with the driver in my broken Hindi
on the places to visit in Hosapete and how to cross the river for the next day.
The driver helped me board a bus to Hosapete and from there as guided by him I
took the city bus to visit Tungabhadra Dam. It breaks me to see scarce water
in the Dam. The people were very friendly asking if I came alone and also
offered a free ride to the top which I politely refused. There was a connecting
bridge from the dam side to the garden, The Garden is a well-maintained spot
with Musical fountains, Boat rides, etc. I rested in the lawns for some time
and left to Hosapete. I got a shared ride in an auto that was assigned to drop
market loads on the way. He dropped me at the bus stand and I walked to my
hotel, feeding myself a good meal on the way.
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| T.B Dam bridge |
I hit the bed late at night after
updating my social media with the pics of the day and drifted to sleep
preparing myself for the next day I honestly had no clue about.
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