I thought that the place holds a couple of old temples and ruins but was proved otherwise completely belying expectations. This note of mine takes you through a quick “How to Get there, where to stay” and a little of “What to Expect and how should you plan once there" Best Time to visit: Winter (Temp: A comfortable 28 Deg C peak and 16 Dec C min). Forget going there in any other season. It will be terribly hot and you would get baked literally in the Rocky terrains.
How to get there and Where to Stay: We in Hyderabad often rue that there are only a few places that we could plan for a quick getaway for a couple of days. Vizag, Araku come often to our minds. A trip to Ooty, Kodai, Munnar or any of the temple towns in Tamil Nadu or Orissa seem a stretch. Stretch on the travel time plus how to get there. Hampi is 13 kms away from Hospet railway station that is easily and very conveniently reached in 9 hours. Catch the Kacheguda – Yeshwantpur Express ( 17603) departing at 9 pm and reaching Hospet at 6:20 am the next morning. Travel on sleeper class or 2nd AC or 3rd AC. Hampi international an upscale hotel is a walkable distance from the station. We however booked in Hotel Karthik through Go-ibibo which is 1.5 kms or a Rs. 40 per auto away. This is a budget hotel, rooms @ Rs 832/- per night. Courteous staff, good food, good location, helpful travel desk rooms are big but not good. Well WYPIWYG (What you Pay is What you Get). Ventured into this hotel thinking that it would have been pre-qualified by Go-ibibo to be good. Walk some 100 mts and you could get into the very tasty Udipi Restaurant. Yumm Masala dosa’s, idli Wadas and unbeatable Filter Coffee.
Your Day1 : Visit towards Hampi to live a day in the 13th Century. Make sure you eat breakfast as if you were having lunch since once you get going to Hampi, there are hardly any eateries around. Make sure you stock up Water Bottles, fruits, biscuits etc since there are not many outlets. A Chevy Tavera (9+1 seater) costed us Rs 1800/- per day that took us around Hampi (20 Sq Kms to be covered). Virupaksha temple is the first destination reached in 30 mins from Hospet. Here is where you will get Guides. Recommended that you hire one. Charges between Rs 800 to Rs 1200 for the 6 hour trip. I am not going to get into the details of what is there to see since every place that is there on the Tour map is worth a dekho. Also, you could read tons of material on the www. You might probably enquire if there are KSTDC (Tourism) tours, though I did not come across any such arrangements. The last stop of the day will be at the spectacular Vitthal temple where you could easily spend a couple of hours wandering around in amazement.
Alternate modes of transport include, full day Autos for Rs 1000/- that will cover the spots. These are available from the Virupaksha temple. There are also bicycles and Mopeds that you can hire for the day and get yourself mobile as well !!!
Day 2: Visit towards Anegundi - Kishkindha (The Kingdom of Vali from the Ramayana Times). 25 kms on the opposite side of Hampi. Have sumptuous and an elaborate breakfast..start early. If you have energy left from the first day, you could make the first stop at Anjanadri Hill. It is believed that Lord Hanuman was born here. A 500 steps steep climb will reach to the top of the hill and to the Temple. Post that take a boat ride on river Tungabhadra to Nava Brindavan where Prahalada was to have sat in a penance to atone for him getting his Father killed. This place also houses the tombs of sages who lived in the 15th Century. Next stop will be Pampa Sarovar, the place where Shabari lived and fed Lord Rama fruits. The steps of Lord Rama and Shabari can be seen here. Well, we ran out of steam and called it a day and returned to the Hotel via a quick visit to the Riverside near the PWD Guest house.
If , you have an additional day you could go over to Badami (160 kms from Hospet). We did not have one and hence am not able to comment.
What is Good and What is not: If you have an interest in history and Photography, then this is is the place. What is not good: Way too many Alms seekers, lack of hotels for a decent eat once you are out of Hospet. You will get a sense of absolute hatred against those who plundered, looted and destroyed such lovely monuments…..
PS: There are many more temples/visiting places around Hampi which I have not covered. Would recommend a thorough research on www before you make a plan of your own.
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