Hampi, a small town in North of Karnataka, famous for it's historical ruins and the hippie laid back life on the other side of the river, had been on my travel bucket list for over a year. One fine Friday night, we decided to leave from Bangalore to visit the land of Tenali Rama.
On 29th September, after an 8 hour overnight bus journey, we reached Hampi around 6am in the morning. The bus dropped us in the market and we took an auto ride to reach the river :
The boat ride got us to the other side of the river, famous for it's cafes, natural beauty and laid back lifestyle. We rented bikes and reached our guest house (Gouri Guest house) to freshen up and start our Hampi escapades.
Post a heavy breakfast, which was obviously much needed, we drove to the Tungabhadra reservoir along the river and the canal. The drive was without any doubt, picturesque and surreal.
We then drove to 'The Jungle Tree' guesthouse. A highly recommended place for a nice relaxed afternoon and some good music. The owners at this place are friendly and courteous. They can help you find things around Hampi. After a relaxed afternoon, it was time for a dip in the water and that's exactly where we headed to next. We came across boats on the Tungabhadra Lake which took us to a swimmable portion of the lake.
The evening was spent at different cafes in hippie village - Laughing Buddha (a must visit, more to come on day 2).
We had planned to explore more of hippie village today before heading to the village side of the river to see the ruins. We had breakfast at a local shop offering South Indian breakfast options before heading off to drive around and bask in the natural beauty.
We headed to Laughing Buddha once again for a sumptuous lunch. The view and food at this cafe during afternoon/evening is wonderful and not worth missing while exploring Hampi.
Later, we crossed the river to see the ruins. We visited Vithala temple and a hill nearby to see the sunset.
We came back to civilisation in one of the restaurants in Hospet before boarding our busy back to Bangalore.