Hampi- A Solo trip in 2021
A solo trip turned to a remarkable group trip after I met an amazing group of people
Jan 2021 — The plan to visit Hampi materialised while I was casually surfing on the internet in a boring weekday. I thought, Hampi being only 350 kms from Bangalore can be an excellent weekend trip too.
This is list of expenses I incurred for the trip (I am including it in the beginning if you are interested to know only the costs)
Bangalore to Hampi and Return — Rs. 1,600 (both ways)
Auto ride to Matunga Hill — Rs. 100
Day one Breakfast — Rs. 50
Ferry ride — Rs. 80 (both ways)
Bike rent — Rs 500 for one bike / day
Homestay — Rs. 400 (Rs. 2000 for 2 rooms which is shared by 5)
Day one Lunch and Dinner — Rs. 600 (approx)
Day two Breakfast — Rs. 200
Ticket for tourist places — Rs. 50 (one ticket for 3 places)
Auto rickshaw ride — Rs. 30
Day two lunch and breakfast — Rs. 600 (approx)
Total cost — Rs. 4210
So without any delay, I booked a bus ticket as I planned to visit there alone. Friday came in a breeze, , I took my backpack and headed straight to Yeswantpur bus stand. Because of the Pandemic, the roads in Bangalore had less traffic. The Sleeper bus was clean and seemed fully booked. The total non-stop journey took less than 5 hours to reach the destination.
At 4 am, the bus de-boarded a few of us and left to its next destination with other passengers. It was dark, roads were empty, shops were closed except one tea shop. Ordered one tea while I started wondering what to do next. An autorickshaw driver started the conversation. He was explaining the places to visit in Hampi. As I was listening to the guy, I realized I was flanked by a group of young people seemingly of my age. After the usual introduction, I got to know they were also in the same bus. I was alone and they were 2 boys and 2 girls. We decided to stick together in this trip.
We hired two auto-rickshaws and reached Matunga Hill as the driver recommended. The distance from the city bus stand to the hill will be approx 5 kms. One of perks of being the World Heritage site is clean and smooth roads. On reaching at 4.45 am at the entrance of the trek, it was still dark. We planned to catch the sunrise.
It was a 1 hour hike for us, thanks to our sedentary lifestyle. Though the sunrise was late, the view from the hilltop was mesmerising. The vantage point served as the bird’s eye view of the entire Vijayanagar ruins and the Tungabhadra river. Great place to explore for a history fanatic or an archeology student.
It was already 7.30 am by the time we came down. We settled our hungry souls in a roadside idly shop. People had started pouring in. The road towards Virupaksha temple is bustling with souvenirs sellers, flower sellers, local devotees etc. Before we visit Virupaksha temple, we wanted to get freshen up.
None of us had booked a place of stay, so our first priority become that. All of us decided uniformly to visit Hippie island for the stay. The road beside Virupaksha temple led us to the ferry point. Hippie island is on the other side of tungabhadra. Only one motor boat was at service onshore. We waited for our turn. The water level was so low in January, we felt we can cross the river by walking. However, we took the ferry to cross. On reaching Hippie island, we rented three scooters for a day. We were informed that the old Hippie island was destroyed two months back and most of the homestays were shifted to other places which we had to find. The island was sparsely populated. The fresh air was soothing to the body. The weather was perfect. After a few homestay hunting, we zeroed in to one place.
Our homestay by the name of “Sunrise Cafe” was nice and cozy. Most of the homestays in hippie island has their own restaurant. We ordered some tea to relax. The owner was friendly and showed us our cottages like rooms.
All of us freshened up, we quickly completed lunch. Food was delicious yet affordable. For sightseeing, we first visited Anjaneya Hill. It is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman. But we saw a huge number of devotees queuing till the top where the temple is. Afraid of getting infected, we avoided entering and offered our prayers from far. After some searching, google maps leads us to a place called Sanapur falls. Our expectation was so high that we got disappointed on see the tiny falls over a 10 feet boulder. We chilled there for sometime and then left. Some locals directed us to a boating point which was 2 kms away. We rode there and found Tungabhadra in its true beauty. The boats were round and made up of husks. We chose the long route and the boatman took us right in the middle of the river. The boats being round, the boatmen playfully hovered the boats to twist. It was fun.
Before sunset, we reached at our homestay. We shared our stories over dinner. Life in Bangalore, football, work were the topics. Food was yummy.
Next day morning, we took a quick shower and bid goodbye to our homestay. We had to drop the vehicles before 9, so we hastened. No security deposit was kept, the manager had kept only one identity card while collecting the vehicles, which he gave back. We decided to have breakfast at the famous Mango tree restaurant which is on the other side of the river. We crossed the river in the same boat on which we came. We picked up a few souvenir on our way to the restaurant which is inside the main Hampi Bazar.
On reaching, we were greeted to the swanky hall where lots of low tables with mattresses were laid in Japanese style. The walls were painted — telling the history of Vijayanagar Empire which reigned in Hampi. We ordered paranthas and toast omelette with tea and coffee. It is definitely not a pocket friendly place, but the quality is no doubt sublime.
We reached our next destination Stone Chariot on foot which was 3.5 kms from Hampi Bazar. We bought the tickets and entered. The marvellous craftsmanship was evident right away. The chariot which is placed at the entrance of the Vijaya Vittal temple is made of solid rock. And thus there were no wear even after hundreds of years. The 50 Indian rupee bears the emblem of Stone Chariot. We explored the temple compound for a while and left. For exit, we walked the other way we came from. We figured that will be a shorter way to reach the archaeological museum. We took an auto rickshaw to reach the museum.
Before entering the museum, we completed our lunch in a nearby restaurant. The ticket we purchased for the entry to the Stone Chariot also gave us access to the museum. The museum was a modest two storey building. The ground floor has a massive 3d miniature map of the Hampi town. The first floor was all about ancient relics and artefacts.
Our next stop was Elephant stable where we caught the sunset. Just right next to it was Pushkarani (Queen’s bath).
It was already dark by the time we left the compound. We couldn’t find a transport that will drop us to the town 3 kms away. Finally, three staff of the Historical palace offered us a lift in their motorbikes.
We safely reached the town and thanked them. Tired after so much walking, we settled in one rooftop restaurant. Over dinner, we calculated each person’s share of expenses. We also shared each other’s contact number to keep in touch. Post dinner, we headed towards the bus stand. We booked the return bus together while in Hippie Island. The booking app was not updating the bus location. On contacting the conductor, he informed that they were late by half an hour. It was 11 PM and it was silence all over. But as we were together, we felt safe. In 40 minutes, the bus arrived. It was a smooth journey till Bangalore. My drop point was at Yeswantpur, so I bid goodbye to my new friends.
