My Hampi Travel Experience (Budget Journey)

Date: Sat 15 September, 2018

I am writing this blog at the end of the Hampi journey. Right now I am waiting for my bus which is at 8:40 IST along with my fellow traveler and friend Himanshu at Hospete.

We both were planning to visit Hampi since last 2 months. Finally, when we saw in our calendars that we are finally going to get a long weekend from 13 september to 16 september 2018 we finally decided to go. I booked my tickets for Hampi through a app called Redbus costing INR 1290 for tickets from Bangalore to Hampi at 14th September’s night at 10:30 pm from majestic bus stop Bangalore. Most of the buses either start or end from here so it’s well connected to other parts of Bangalore. Our bus was on time and we took off from bangalore. Bus journey was not so comfortable and full with bumps. They provided a water bottle and a snack packet to each passenger.

Finally, we arrived at our destination at expected time at 6 pm in Hospete. We took auto rickshaw to reach Hampi which is around 20km away. It costed us ₹300 which later we discovered that it’s too much. For foreigners that be might be ₹400+.

Here, I like to add little geography of Hampi. This place is divided into two part by river, One is called as Hampi Island and the other as Hampi Village. On the island , you can find out resorts where you can stay according to your budget and choose rooms. To reach this island , there are two ways, one is you take a boat to cross the river. It is just INR 30 for boat. Another way is via road, which is suitable if you have your own vehicle. I suggest you to take boat which is fascinating as well as cheaper. One more thing, You can rent bikes on both sides, however, you cannot take bikes from island side’s to village side because it is not authorized. Renting a bike for a day at Village will cost you around ₹500 with 2 liter petrol and ₹250 or 300 on island side. Foreigners might be charged more but you should always bargain irrespective of being Indian or Foreigner.

Let’s get back to our journey, Our auto rickshaw driver drove us to Hampi village. Because our room was at Island thus we decided to rent a bike and explore. We rented a bike (TVS Heavy duty, that’s all you’re gonna get there) then we started to move towards Vittala temple (Stone chariot). As internet connectivity is really bad there, we decided to ask for direction to a cop. He suggested us to take 2 km walk way rather then taking 12 km by bike. We parked our bike and started walking. It was really satisfying and really like trekking on mountains alongside a river. We found so many old structures and temples in our route. Two thing to keep in mind if you’re taking this route, First, keep drinking water at regular intervals and second, put suns cream; it will be too sunny and hot. Finally, We reached our destination. There is ticket costing INR 40 for Indians (It is free for Indian Army people and might be free for other services please check accordingly). We spent around 40 minutes there and returned by same route which we came from.

We took bike and resumed our exploration for rest of the Hampi. Here, We found out our bike is not able to climb the mountain, thus we decided to drop the bike. After some discussion, The owner agreed to return us 200 INR. Now, We book a auto rickshaw for exploring rest of Hampi. It costed us around INR 800 (200 per each passenger) Himanshu and myself were now joined by two nice girls travelling from Chennai. Then auto driver, young man Bashwa, took us to rest of the major attractions of Hampi which includes,

• Hampi Bazar
• Matunga Hill & Veerabhadra Temple
• Krishna Temple & Bazar
• Underground Siva Temple
• Band Tower
• Mosque
• Hazara Rama Temple
• Queen’s Bath
• Vittala Bazaar and Temple (Yeah we came here again because our fellow travelers did not come here earlier.) and many more sites.

Then our auto driver dropped us at river bank. We took a boat from there to cross river and headed toward our resort. It’s Gowri resort which is situated around 5 km where boat left us. We both decided to walk so that we can get better understanding of the place and It seems from the very first impression that this place is hippie Island. You will find resorts where you can smoke, drink and enjoy. Moreover, People here freely selling and smoking weed in public which is illegal in India. Talking about Gowri, we reached there around 6 pm in the evening and the sun almost lost charm but still bright enough to see surroundings.

The room I booked at Gowri was named as Sunrise Hut and that room was horrible. The fan was not working, no attached bathroom, irritating mosquitoes. That room was really shitty. Then we asked owner Harsh to change our room. He gave us another room for additional 600 bucks which was decent and had proper fan, attached bathroom and proper lighting. So, It cost us INR 1500 in total. We ate our dinner at around 9 pm, which was simple fried daal and chapati. The food was good but services were slow even though there are only handful of people in the resort. The overall I will say it is not at all recommended to stay at this place because of two reasons first, It is really located in remote. Secondly, You can get much better natural ambiance at other places. Here we ended our first day, exhausted, of Hampi.

Day 2 started late as we were too much tired because of previous day’s ventures. First we checked out of our hotel and we booked one scooty for INR 250 without fuel. We started our day with visiting the Sanapur Lake which is actually a reservoir and situated behind our resort. There you can also do boating with a completely different type of round boat. I did not go for boating because I was carrying my camera equipments and my luggage. However, that looks so interesting and I highly recommend trying out boating.

Next we moved to do our breakfast, Idly and omlets in a local shop. The breakfast costed us around INR 40. After breakfast we moved to see a nearby waterfall. However, that waterfall is just a heavy stream falling from 10 feet. I think that will be a really good place to photograph in golden hours. We spent around 40 minutes there and we moved to visit tungabhadra dam in hampi which is around 20 km away from our resort. With our scooty, It took us 40 minutes to reach there. That is another place which is not worth exploring. I am sure you will find better places then this spot in hampi. Nearby that dam, There is a canal where I saw a bunch of kids diving into the water without any fear. I took some time to capture few moments there. It was fun chatting with those guys and showing them their photographs. We stayed there around 30 minutes.

Later in day we went to a place called Mowgli Resort and Restaurant where we had lunch. I ordered veg-noodles and fresh lime, it was for INR 200. Then we left the place by 4.30 to catch our bus which was from Hospete. Again we took the boat to cross the river and then auto rickshaw for INR 200 to reach Hospete.

We reached our bus boarding location really early thus we decided to sit at a Hotel called as Prem Rajasthani Bhojanalay which is near to the Hospete Bus station as well. We were still waiting when I started to write this blog.

Tips for Hampi

• Book your buses through RedBus app which is quite user friendly and easily to use.
• Bargain with Auto Rikshaw drivers even if you are foreigner, they will always quote you a high price look for other places if you find auto at place.
• Don’t rent a bike at Hampi Village if you are more than 2 people. I suggest better take a auto and again bargain. You can also rent a bicycle near but I don’t know how it costs. Also, I think it is a better option due to heat and sunny climate in Hampi.
• Don’t book room in advance better to explore the place and then book according. But do check out options on Internet using www.trivago.com or from www.goibibo.com.
• Do rent a bike at Hampi Island and explore the various places there. But those bikes are not authorized to go to Hampi Village (As told by citizens).

Through this blog, I was more interested in telling you how we traveled Hampi in a tight and how you can do that same. I hope you will get enough information and plan your trip to Hampi. For more information on locations and their historic significance you can check out here at www.hampi.in. Also, You can easily get coconut water, street snacks and other such things to keep you away from being hungry or dehydrated.

Thanks for Reading.

Disclaimer: All the recommendation are given above are personal choices. I’m not doing any promotion here for anything. ;)