So Let's Talk About Hampi

Thought Hampi is only about temples and ruins?? Then you are mistaken.. There is more in this heritage village of Karnataka. The empty roads along the countryside where you can ride without any safety concerns or guidance (Waah.. Perfect for the rider in me 😉). The cozy cafes, where you can sit back and relax and spend time doing nothing...

So it was our time to explore Hampi. It was a girl's only weekend trip.

Am not going deep into what to see around, as it's a place where even a stone has chronicles to yarn about..

There are two sides of Hampi. One is where the temples and ruins are and the other side which is famous for hippies and backpackers. 

 Best way to explore the temple side of Hampi is to buy a guidebook and rent a cycle/moped and explore it your own if you are blessed with enough time. Another option is to hire an auto-rickshaw as we did which will cost you Rs.600-700 for a day. They will take you to all the main attractions. 

Hire a tuk-tuk, Sit back and enjoy the ruins..

Two days are not enough if you want to explore and go deep into the history of Hampi. There is n number of temples, bazaars, most of them in ruins which are scattered over a massive area of 4100 hectares.

View from Matanga hills, a perfect place to enjoy the sunrise..

 

And to explore the other side of Hampi, Virupapura Gadde, a small village situated across the river Tungabhadra commonly known as Hippie island is to rent a moped. You don't need a license to rent a bike/moped as in other places. Just give an id card and the work is done. 

We started our journey from Hyderabad in Kcg-Ypr express on a Friday night. Getting down at Hospet railway station, people encircled us, saying bus station is far away, hire an auto or it will be difficult to reach Hampi. The rates they were proposing was a bit high, hence we walked past them and decided to have a 'garama garam chai' from a shop outside the railway station. Shop people suggested an economic way, catch a bus to Hospet main bus stand from here itself and from there another bus to Hampi. Frequent buses are available. Many people were walking towards the main bus stand which is at a distance of 1.5 KM. But it's better to take the bus (it just cost Rs.3 😇 so economic), as you have to do a lot of walking afterward.

Half of the Bus to Hampi was filled with people who were bitten by the travel bug. It's a 13 Km journey. 

Lotus Mahal in Hampi

When we planned to visit Hampi, we were confused about where to stay? Hospet, Hampi around the main temple or Hippie island?

Hospet is the main city where many decent hotels are available which is suited for family, Hampi is a place which you can get hostel like rooms at a very cheap rate with basic comforts with an option to explore the ruins as you wish at any time or Hippie island which is mostly occupied by backpackers with an option for camping, jamming sessions along with a beer.

We chose to stay in Hampi. All the stays, lodges in this side are near to the Bazaar area.

Side view of Virupaksha temple

Getting down at Hampi, again people surrounded us with guidebooks, for rooms and autos.. We bargained to someone and took a double bedroom for Rs.400 per day. We freshened up and headed to Tungabhadra river where the boat to Hippie island starts. They will charge 20 per person and extra money if you are carrying heavy backpack or luggage. The boat starts at 8.30 in the morning. The river looks as if the depth is very less and one can cross over it, but when we took a bath in the river we came to know it is deep and the rocks were very slippery. While we were on the boat, they informed the last boat back to Hampi is at 5.30 PM. So if you have plans to come back from Hippie island, enquire the boat timings as it changes each day. 

Watch out for small Nandis and other structures when you are on  the boat to Hippie Island

After reaching Hippie island, we rented 2 bikes for 2 of us, at a cost of Rs.500 with 1-liter petrol. 1 liter was enough for us to roam around, but still we bought an extra liter just as a precaution. Here petrol is available in all the local shops which charge Rs.90. The person from whom we took the bikes informed about the important places to see around..

The Sanapur lake, the waterfall and the Hanuman temple are the main attractions other than the cafes in the Hippie island. Though we had plans to visit many cafes, we completely forgot about it and we rode and rode in the countryside and visited these places..

Sanapur lake


The Sanapur lake is a reservoir fed by the Tungabhadra river dam canal. There were not many people. It was a very silent place. Warnings are there about the crocodiles in the lake. Village people offer coracle ride in the silent lake surrounded by boulders.

The Waterfall


There were not many people, except us and a group of people who were cliff jumping in this waterfall. The water here is very deep and the rocks are slippery. So get down at your own risk if you don't know swimming.

Who wants to do this??

Hanuman Temple


It is believed that this is the birthplace of Lord Hanuman. It is famous for the insanely beautiful sunset view. Hence this place is visited by devotees and travellers alike. But you have to climb 575 steps to reach the temple. We could hear someone saying, 'Are Hanumanji, why did you do this' 😂😂 ..

 

As we travelled by the end of June, clouds spoiled the show. We ended up getting drenched by the rain with no place to take shelter off..

We had to say goodbye to Hippie island by 5.30 as we wanted to catch the last boat back to Hampi..

The second day was spent, exploring the ruins in Hampi. As there is much information on the internet, am not going into detail about the places.

 
Food in Hampi
 

My jaws were dropped for two things in Hampi. One is the English speaking skills with a western accent by almost all village people and the other is the delicious desi and continental food that is available.

Dosa making in progress

 
When you are here try to taste the local foods such as Dosa and Vegetable Thali.
 

Many shacks and cafes are lined up in the lane near to Hampi Bazaar which serves continental and desi foods. As many foreigners are visiting the place, the continental food available here are having good quality and worth the prize.

 

The food we ate was both pocket-friendly and incredibly delicious. Some of the cafes we tried are Mango tree, 1985 and Jungle tree(At Hippie island).. 

 

Awesome Israeli Breakfast which we had in one of the cafes in Hampi..

Bread Toast served in Banana leaves with honey..

One of the amazing cafe in Hippie island

As Hampi involves a lot of walking, keep your body hydrated.  Fresh coconut water and Sugarcane juice(must-try) are sold along the roadside. Also try the fruits like Jambul, Watermelon sold by the village people. Most of them were handed over in banana leaves instead of plastic cover. 

Sugarcane juice - A must drink in Hampi

That's the snack we bought while we were waiting for Lakshmi. Don't know who is Lakshmi!! Check out the first picture in this post. You will find her..

So that's about my Hampi trip. It was one of the best trip ever. Whether you want to hang out with friends or to make new friends, roam around and to get lost in the villages (There was no signal for my Jio sim in Hampi, except in the top of the Anjaneya hills) or in the ruins Hampi is a good option to consider. Don't worry if you lost your way, Hampi people are there to help in figuring out. 


And if you have problems in getting tanned, you will be needing sunscreen a lot here. The tan on our skin stayed a bit longer than the usual after the Hampi trip. 


More stories of Hampi are on the way.. Stay updated.. 


Until then Happy Travels.. 😃😃😃