After travelling for 8 hours We finally reached Hampi in the mid day and it was quiet sunny. The first thing that we did was have some nice South Indian breakfast . Then we went on to buy some goggles from a nearby stall although they were not that good quality but were very useful in Hampi's hot journey . Soon after having breakfast we went on to roam around the local markets and streets . The streets were filled with the guides and the autowalas who were pouncing at every tourist asking them to take their taxi. But as we knew that they were charging very high cost we decided not to take any autos . We were already exhausted by the travel and also because of the temperature of Hampi we decided to go to the hotel and just relax for some time . As our hotel was in the hippie side of the village we crossed the Tungabhadra river and reached on the other side - the most famous among foreigners the hippie island . Luckily we found the hotel guy just after we crossed the river . He dropped us to our destination on his scooter . It was quiet a funny ride though . The hotel was a bit far from the market place but was good that too with our budget there was nothing we could ask more.
We took rest for sometime in the hotel and then got ready to explore the little village . We walked around a few kms where we met this guy named Hanumantha who had a coracle. We soon jumped into the coracle and soon we were into waters . It was a very good experience . In between the ride hanumantha shared some of his views about the city and how he makes his living . After that we found the rental bikes store where we rented a scooter which costed around
Rs 400/- for one day (till 6pm ). From there we directly went to the Hanuman temple . The place where Lord Hanuman was born (Kishkindha). It is situated on the top of a mountain . We had to climb about 760 stairs to reach on top of the mountain where a small temple is placed . It was really exhausting to climb those stairs and we had to take a few breaks in between to recharge ourselves. It was a beautiful view from the mountain where you can see the entire city surrounded by the river and the rocks . After that we roamed around the places visiting different temples and on the way we could see the paddy fields . It was a bliss to watch the lush green fields . After that we went around 5-6 kms to search for some drinks as there were no shops around the market . Finally we found one in anegundi . We packed some of the drinks for the night and returned to the city . We then went to a cafe which had this beautiful setup of ambient lighting and cushion and beds placed all over the place to sit down and relax . Most of the customers in that cafe were mostly foreigners and we were the only indian customers. We ordered some food and smoked some cigarettes (although I am not a regular smoker I had a few puffs )and relaxed ourselves. After spending some time there we returned our bike and soon took an auto to the hotel room as it was already 7.30pm.
Now it was our time to pop up the drinks and have a chill time . We managed to buy some snacks on the way which we had along with the drinks . After a few drinks we suddenly decided to visit Goa so we booked the tickets for the next day . It was already too late so we slept as the next day was also going to be too long .
That was the end of Day 1 . Although we haven't covered much places we had fun travelling through the village and the local streets .
Today was going to be a big day as we had to visit many places . We ordered some breakfast at the hotel and soon left the place . On the way we purchased some clothes which seemed very budget friendly. Soon we crossed the river , this day the water level was very much decreased and we could see the mantapas which otherwise would be immersed in the water . After crossing the river we visited Virupaksha temple and all other nearby temples and then spent some time on the hemakuta hill . We then visited the Ganesha temples (sasivekalu Ganesha ) . Then we visited Krishna market and pushkarni they were beautifully built . There were many temples on the hill and at other places but most of them didn't have any idols .
By the time we finished visiting temples on the hemakuta hill and it's surroundings it was already 1pm so we went decided to have lunch we searched for some restaurants in the market place and finally found Top secret restaurant (btw Top secret is the name of that restaurant). While having our lunch we came across a solo traveller with whom we had a pleasant conversation. After having lunch we rented a bike and soon left to visit stone chariot which was about 10 km from there . We parked our vehicle and had to walk for about a km to reach the temple where that stone chariot is placed . We could have travelled by the cabs there but the cue was too long so we decided to walk . On the way we came across few temples one of which had a sculpture of horse , very elegantly carved on the stone . Then we went to the small well which looks just like the pushkarni . After that we went to the most popular monument of Hampi ,the stone chariot . It was a bliss to watch the monuments , the carvings , the architecture was marvelous. But also the place was crowded and we had to wait for some time to get a picture of that chariot without being interfered by people . After spending some time there we left to visit the Queen's bath and elephants stable unfortunately they were already closed and we couldn't visit them. After that we went to visit some other monuments which were nearby . It was already 5.30 pm so we went back to the market and left the bike at the shop and walked to the bus stop .
Fortunately we reached the bus stop on time as the bus was about to leave .
In this way our 2nd day at Hampi ended .We have almost visited all the famous monuments and hills but also missed some of the important monuments too like the Queen's bath and elephants stable.
That was the end of our Hampi trip. It was really overwhelming and a joy to visit the temples and the ruins. I hope to visit it again and visit all the places which were left out this time .
