Every once in a while people need to get out and get themselves a trip they deserve. This solo bike trip was my well deserved one. So, one afternoon while i was sitting in the office i realized Christmas was approaching and it being on a Monday there was my long weekend. I started to look out for places that can be visited in 3 days I didn't want ride in Maharashtra as the condition of the roads are not best in this state. So I started to look for options in the nearby states then came Hampi to my mind as one of my friends had been there, upon looking it looked like an interesting place to visit. So, the destination was kind off finalized. Now I just had to gather the courage to cover around 600 kms. on bike alone without knowing about anything to reach there. I talked to a few of my friends and members of my family about the concerns and they were kind enough to help me with it. Now until the last day my plan was to ride in the night reach Hampi in the morning like nothing ever goes wrong on a road trip. On the day before I thought this, being my first long ride and it being a solo ride I should not ride in the night, so I took another day off from work on Friday and planned to ride on that day to reach Hampi in the evening, but not everything goes as per the plan. I got lost courtesy of Google Maps. After wandering around for about 30 mins and crying about my stupidity I had to take a stop in the evening at a village nearby, about 150 KMs before Hampi.
The next morning with a new enthusiasm I started for my destination. After about 2 hrs of riding I reached Hospet which is like the connectivity hub for Hampi to the world and in about another 20 mins I reached the city of Hampi. I was supposed to go to the Hippie Island part but i ended up on the other side of the river, which is the touristy part of this town. I started to look for accommodation as I was excited to throw my bags and start exploring the Once Mighty Kingdom of Vijiayanagar. After getting myself a place to stay i kept my bags parked my bike and left on foot with my camera to explore the place. As, my plan to reach Hampi in the evening of the first day did not work i asked my friend to send me a list of monuments to see there. So I had all the places I had to see with me and hence I set out to see them all.
On the second day i head out to the other side of the river i.e. Hippie Island. There after checking-in into a guesthouse I decided to chill in the guesthouse for the complete day, planning only to visit the Anjaneya Temple for the sunset. So i just stopped and watched a movie and took rest for ride the next day. In the evening i just went to see the sunset. The view was just beautiful the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen i was on top of a mountain winds rushing, a quiet peaceful place with some monkeys going through stuff trying to find food, I sat there for about 1-2 hrs just looking at the sun and all the places around absolute beautiful. I cannot exactly describe that feeling but it was beautiful.
On the first day i visited Virupaksha Temple, Vitthala Temple saw the famous Stone Chariot, saw Queen's Bath, Elephant's Stable, The Great Platform, Lotus Mahal and many other places i can't get out of my mind. The experience of roaming in those lanes were like i was out in a different era, the Hampi Bazaar looked like a scene from Game of Thrones scene where Tyrion is walking through the markets with Lord Varys.
The last day of this amazing trip was riding back to Pune from the historical town of Vijayanagar. I left my guesthouse at 7 in the morning and after a days riding and covering around 600+ kms I was back to the reality. I could not believe i had completed a trip alone on my bike of about 1300 KMs in 4 days to a place where i have never been before I did not know the language of that place I had not planned where i was going to stay or what would i have done if my bike broke down, i just rode and rode till i had enough stories to tell about my adventures.
