“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page”
Certainly, travel is the best detox that one could ever clutch on. The more you travel, the more you realize that the problems you deal with are not that important. There are plenty of things which you are yet to experience and plenty to gain from exploring new places. The list includes new friends, new experiences, and new stories. It reveals a whole new and exciting world out there, forces you to temporarily disconnect from your normal routine, helping you to appreciate the people and things you have around.
Travelling has changed me overall as a person. It helped me gain control of my anxiety by giving me control over my life. At first, I was running away from my fears, but later, I began to run towards them. It is this travelling and only travelling that I learned to tell stories, to write them, to freeze them in a frame and to live through them voraciously.
So every now and then when any opportunity knocks on my door to relax me and abstract me away from the everyday busy life, it’s always a yes. That’s exactly what happened when a friend of mine bumped into this plan for an on-road experience across North Karnataka covering all unexplored places. You can’t beat that feeling of being on the road, your favorite tunes pumping out of the stereo, anticipating where your next exciting stop might be. And of course, travelling with friends is one of those intense experiences where you get to know the best and the worst about yourselves. We decided on an itinerary, got some crazy bunch of people together and just hit the road.
Started our journey from Mumbai covering some untainted locations including Belgaum, Vijayapur, Hampi, Dandeli, and Gokarna. What astonished me throughout the journey was the five big lessons I learnt about the world…and ultimately, myself.
Here are those 5 life lessons, this journey taught me.
1. Power of kindness
Our first stop was Athani, a small town located in the district of Belgaum. I remember having an argument with a friend when she insisted to take a halt at Athani at one of her relative’s place to freshen up and then move ahead. While I insisted to skip Athani and move further to our next stop; the reason was: To save time. And supposedly, I was so wrong.
Athani has a typical North Karnataka culture with a majority speaking only Kannada. We reached Athani early in the morning. Being already informed of our visit, a relative of my friend came all the way to the town center to show us the way back home. In spite of reaching their place early in the morning, we had all sorts of luxurious arrangements ready. All the members were quintessential Kannada speaking, while the main member who we addressed as “Akka” only knew Marathi. She was so generous and welcoming that when we entered her house she greeted us with a heart-warming hug. We mostly find good people in these small towns often having rare qualities like honesty, sincerity, and dignity.
We were away from home, however, understood what “home” actually is and what it means. After a crammed breakfast of rice and curd, we bid them adieu and left for our next destination. Hardly having two hours to spend with them, I realized that gratitude and kindness typically go hand in hand, and appreciating their value will make your life and journey even more beautiful. And certainly, this was the very first lesson I learned on this journey.
2. There’s no need to rush things
Our next aim was to cover Bijapur, Aihole, Pattadakal, Badami in a matter of one day before reaching Hampi. About 70 km from Belgaum, Bijapur (officially known as Vijayapur) is a small city loaded with history, but few places of them - Bara Kaman, Gagan Mahal, and Golgumbaz are the 'must-see' sights. Bara Kaman translates to 12 arches, initially built to shadow Gol Gumbaz; Gagan Mahal by its name is not actually a palace but it seemed as if it was an open-air theater stage,back in its glorious days. And now, the public uses it to relax and enjoy the wind in the garden situated around it; whereas Gol Gumbaz is an imposing mausoleum that displays the architectural brilliance of the bygone eras.
We were so engrossed in the architectural treasury of these places that we ran out of time to move ahead for other places. Initially decided on the plan, we now had to quit it due to time constraints. We were in the desire to alter the plan however the feeling to cover all other plans pushed us to travel.
Heading towards another destination, we witnessed a magnificent sunset that managed to lessen the burden of grief. That’s where I realized that - sometimes it’s better to not rush things. If something is meant to be, it will happen. At the right time for the best reason.
3. Keep moving on
With high hopes, we reached Hampi – the land of living rocks and boulders. Indeed, Hampi was exceptional for me. This place has a lot of surreal and amazing landscapes. I heard a lot from people to avoid the stones and ruins of the Vijayanagar empire. I think, to appreciate Hampi one should understand the magical stories of gods and goddesses, myths and legends, and amazing ruins of the temple. The Virupaksha temple which has its own elephant; Vitthala temple for its chariot and musical pillars, the coracle boat ride in Tungabhadra river, the paddy lands and the magnanimous boulders were some of the peculiar things which I experienced in Hampi. Some of the ruins have succumbed to gravity but there were these crazy boulders standing perfectly aligned in the same position for years now. Isn’t that nature’s astounding creation? Perhaps, it’s the combination of all these things that made Hampi so special to me.
All the places in Hampi are at a certain distance from each other and the only option to cover them is by your own foot or on a bicycle. There are around 85 official points to visit in Hampi and we could cover only 10. Moreover, point hopping is not the way to enjoy Hampi! We climbed Matanga Hill to appreciate the panoramic view of the place, came all the way down to pay a visit to a few temples, relaxed ourselves in the river and managed to get through all these in a matter of two days. That’s where I guess the attitude of moving on striked me. There are a lot of beautiful things that are meant to be seen in life. So keep moving on, because often difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations.
4. The world is indeed a beautiful place
Dandeli is a serene place nestled on the banks of the Kali river, famous for its trails and dense forests and home to many animals and bird species. I was skeptical about visiting this place. It was just only peer pressure and a craze to travel to new places, which led me to explore this beautiful land. And, trust me that was my best decision ever.
We had a beautiful nature walk amidst the forest, spend our day boating and rafting in the river and night under the starry sky. For many of us, it was indeed a treat. The owner of our camp stay was the corporator of the town and had quit the profession because his prime purpose in life was to delight people with his mouth-watering south Indian delicacies. He was one absolutely compassionate human being. He, somewhere made me realize that money may be important for survival, but it is not mandatory for happiness.
I, personally don’t have any pictures captured during our stay in Dandeli. I remember spending a night amidst the dense forest making memories away from the hustle and bustle of the cities and social media. And I suppose that’s what really matters, the time you spend with your friends which lie down your memory lane for years without fading away.
5. It’s always worth it in the end
We arrived in Gokarna, a little tired, a little sleepy but with a lot of hope for the day. After a quick lunch, we headed towards our first destination and the most popular – Om beach! The beach owes its name to the sacred symbol it looks like. As the beach is popular, I thought it’ll be extremely crowded but I was in for a pleasant surprise with only a few tourists enjoying the afternoon sun. The sun started setting by the cliff and we saw a lot of boats against the orange sky. The whole view was so picturesque which definitely left me speechless. This place was an ideal sunset treat making me realize that it’s always worth it in the end!!
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