Be happy when in Hampi!

I wanted to visit Hampi since a long time and I finally did last Christmas (December 2017). As I reminisce about my visit to Hampi, its rocky ground, big boulders that looked like it has been stacked one above the other by some kid while playing, and the calm river Tungabhadra, flowing along this region adding to its magnificent beauty, flashes in front of my eyes. Unfortunately Hampi is fighting its battles of being the UNESCO world heritage site and a tourist friendly or shall we say Hippy friendly destination. Hampi is now completely under Archeological Society of India (ASI) and thus locals are not allowed any more to commercialize it. In fact this led to demolition of all the commercial premises like the guest houses, restaurants etc. in Hampi. Locals feel that this involves politicians and some big businessmen who want to build plush hotels in Hospet, since they consider these commercial premises as threats. After lot of protests and struggles, they were finally allowed to set up guest houses and restaurants on the other side of the River Tungabhadra. This is also referred to as “Hippie Island” many a times. The original name for this place is Anengudi. Hence now if you travel to Hampi you will not find anything other than the monuments and some small food stalls.

Everything about Hampi seems to have some unique flavor of its own. And that has been indeed my experience travelling to different places. Every place has a unique flavor, an exclusive vibe of its own. People, constitutes a significant part of any traveler’s experience and this experience is further enhanced as one interacts with the fellow travelers. 
People’s dialect of this region is naturally a bit on the harsher side, so they come across a bit harsh, but they need not essentially mean disrespect. Probably they are just learning the ways of flourishing through tourism. However, in my experience, some people who earn their living through tourism like Auto rickshaw owners, Tour operators, Guest house owners would talk foul about their competitors in an attempt to attract more business. This also led to confusion whether to trust these people or not. So my suggestion is to research well on various aspects like what are the normal charges for the services. Nonetheless, Hampi as a travel destination will not fail to awe you. And there is plenty to explore and experience!

Reaching Hampi

AIR & BUS: We were travelling from Mumbai, and we had taken a flight from Mumbai to Bangalore (evening flight). From Bangalore we were to board the bus from the nearest bus stop (i.e. 8^th Mile). We had pre- arranged our transport using some contacts, hence we didn’t waste time in arranging taxi at Bangalore Airport to reach 8^th Mile. The Taxi guy was punctual and was waiting for our arrival it took us an hour to reach 8^th Mile from Kempegowda International Airport. We had to pay the taxi guy rupees 1100. We did not bargain much on the price, I think we could have got a better deal. Nonetheless the experience was great, as the driver was aware of the local areas. He also stopped for us at McDonalds drive through so that we could parcel our dinner. We reached on time to board the bus to Hospet at about 23:40 hrs (overnight journey of about 6-7 hrs). We reached Hospet at 6:00 hrs. Hospet is the nearest city for Hampi and since most of the buses reach in the morning, you will find a lot of tea vendors and Auto rickshaw guys waiting at this junction.

ROAD: Alternatively, there are number of buses that ply between Mumbai to Hospet and it is a 15-16 hrs journey. If you are willing to spend so much time travelling, bus is the best option.

TRAIN: There aren’t many trains from Mumbai to Hospet. Just two trains (16533 BGKT SBC EXPRES and 16531 SBC GARIB NAWAJ) and these two do not halt at any main junction in western or central Mumbai. You will need to board the train from Vasai road or Panvel.

Transport

You can get an autorickshaw easily from Hospet to take you to Hampi. As soon as you reach Hospet be careful of the money transactions you make with locals because people here can fool you easily. Hospet to Hampi is around 12 Kms. Anything between Rs.180 -250 is a fair deal. Autorickshaw guy takes passengers till the jetty where normally a motor boat is waiting to take people on the other side of the river. However, the boat service commences only at 8:30 (until 17:30 hrs) every morning. Since we had reached quite early and we had luggage with us, we decided to take coracle which is also an option but an expensive one! The motor boat would normally charge Rs. 10 per person and in case you have luggage, you will be charged one person’s fare extra. But since boat service had not begun coracle was the only option. They charge Rs.100 per person.

Also, the boat fare can change anytime. In case you are visiting Hampi during a long weekend, the boatman can charge you Rs.20 or Rs.30. This price is not fixed and it is up to the boatman.

Accommodation

There are a lot of cheap and comfortable guest houses in Anengudi. The most famous among these is Shanthi Guest house. However, my personal experience with Shanthi Guest house was not great. You need to book in advance as it is the first one to be sold out. It has few huts surrounded by paddy fields. But this could be a little expensive of all but not expensive as per the metro cities standard. Rs. 2500 per night for a very ordinary room to Rs.3500-4000 for nice huts with view of paddy fields. These are peak season prices in case you book in advance you could get a good deal.

We however stayed at Sri Uma Shankar Café & guest house for a night. The staff is extremely helpful and courteous. It has 3-4 rooms on first floor and 3-4 rooms on the ground floor. Rooms are spacious, comfortable, clean and most importantly they have hot water available in the bathroom! Ground floor rooms were Rs.1000 per night for two people. And First floor rooms were Rs.1500 per night. This guest house made us feel at home, if I am to visit Hampi again I will surely stay at Sri Uma Shankar Café.

Sri Uma Shankar Guest House

And for other nights we stayed at Hema Guest house. This one was just okay. I was not very impressed as the care taker or the host never even smiled throughout our stay. Huts were just okay. We bargained with the owner and got the room for three nights for Rs. 5000. Rooms are smaller and just about ok, the bathrooms are smaller as well. There is no hot water directly in the bathroom you will need to get it from their common bathroom.
Other guesthouses were:

Sunny’s Guest House

Laughing Buddha

Raju Guest House

There are many guest houses/accommodations available on this street. You may just walk up to the guest house and ask for the room price. This way you will get rooms for very cheap.

Restaurants:

Almost all the guest houses have a restaurant of their own. We enjoyed food at every restaurant we tried except at Sri Laxmi Golden Beach resort. The location of this restaurant is just awesome but food was not at all good. We did leave a feedback note to the owner. Hope he works on it! The restaurant is located adjacent a rice field. The view is magical due to the boulders that can be seen on the other side of the field.

Try local food at Sri KP home-made pure veg food. A local lady prepares food which is very tasty and her husband runs a travel agency named “Uma Travels”.

Sri KP home-made pure veg food

Raju Guest house cafe

Sri Uma Shankar Cafe

Local Commute:

You can hire a moped bike or a bicycle to move around the hippy island. Moped bikes are available for Rs.250-400 per day. Bicycle is available for Rs.100-150 per day.

Actually, you won’t need any vehicle as the center is really small and most of the guest houses are around the center. So, walking is enough. However, if you wish to visit some places on the side of the island, like the Sanapur lake or the waterfall then definitely you will need either two-wheeler or an autorickshaw.

To visit the monuments, you will need to cross the river and come to Hampi. Please note the boat timings: 8:30 – 17:30 hrs. Sometimes they may just take people post 17:30 hrs if there are lot of people waiting to cross and they will charge you more, like Rs. 50 per person. Once the boat service stops you will need to take the Coracle service for Rs.100 per person.

On the other side of the river i.e. Hampi where all the beautiful monuments are located, you will need to hire an auto rickshaw or join some group which has a guide to take you to the important monuments. The group will be either on bicycle moving from one monument to another or by walking. The guide will be describing the monuments and also some historical events associated to the monuments.

Things to do:

1. Bicycle tour of Hampi with Ravi. Ravi is a tour guide in Anengudi. He is available in Raju’s Guest house. He organizes tours on bicycle and autorickshaw. We had opted for bicycle. It was great fun! We went around the major monuments of Hampi on bicycle. It was a task as Hampi has quite a few slopes and the bicycles provided were not geared ones, so we had to pedal hard during up hill slopes. Nonetheless, we had great fun! Ravi assigned a guide Arun who explained the history of the monument in detail. After covering some monuments, they stopped at a restaurant for lunch which serves good local food. Post lunch we covered some more important monuments like Vitthala temple. This tour takes complete day. Towards the end of the tour we had to carry our bicycle until we reached Matanga hill from where the road to Hampi market starts, and that’s where our tour ended. This tour cost us Rs. 800 (excluding food, entry charges etc). Entry charges for all the monuments included is Rs. 30 for Indians and Rs.500 for foreigners. Retain the ticket as the same ticket is valid for other monuments.



Bicycle & Auto tours arranged by Ravi



Raju Guest House where you can find Ravi



The famous stone chariot at Vitthala






Lotus Mahal






Elephant Stable






Virrupaksha Temple








Watch a sunset on Matanga Hill. This is a small hill but due to boulders you will need to trek a bit. It takes about 30 mins to trek this hill, the trek on the top is little steep. But the view is breathtaking. You can see the entire Hampi from here. Be careful as this hill is visited by wild animals in the night so as soon as the sun sets ensure you head back.






Sunset view from Matanga Hill








Visit Sanapur Lake & the waterfall on the other side of the river. Sanapur lake is about 3-4 kms from Anengudi and it is beautiful. However, I would suggest to visit this lake in the evening. You will not be able to see the lake until you reach the end as it appears hidden. It is actually lake formed by the Tungabhadra Dam. The beauty of this lake is accentuated by the boulders surrounding it.  You can also enjoy a coracle ride in this beautiful lake.






Sanapur Lake








Watch Sunrise from Anjaneya hill or Monkey hill. This is a sacred place as it is believed that Lord Hanuman was born on this hill. You can see lots of black faced monkeys here. The hill has a temple which is open from 6:00Am, however the you will get Darshan only at 8:00AM. There are about 575 steps to climb the hill. It is quite safe to climb the hill in the early hours before the sunrise. We hired an autorickshaw who charged us Rs.500 to take us and get us back. TIP: It could be cold in the early morning if you are travelling during winter carry enough warm clothes.






Just before Sunrise at Anjaneya Hill






Sunrise from Anjaneya Hill








Camping on the boulders: Hampi is full of adventurous activities. This is one of the activities that I missed since I did not have more time to spend in Hampi. Camping on boulders seems fun. I did enquire at Tom & Jerry’s adventures. They have a small shop just next to Hema Guest house. They arrange for Bouldering, Rappelling, Camping, Trekking & Slacklining. When enquired they had quoted Rs.1500 per person this included dinner & breakfast.  They also said there would be bonfire and if possible, they would try to keep barbeque as well. Unfortunately, we could not do this.






Tom & Jerry Adventures contact details








Visit Daroji Bear Sanctuary. Situated about 15-20 kms from Hampi. You can take an autorickshaw they should charge you about Rs.800-1000 for the round trip. If you have a vehicle, then the charges are Rs.500. The sanctuary is open from 2:00 – 6:00 PM. TIP: Carry Binoculars.











You could also visit nearby Tungabhadra Dam.












We had hired an autorickshaw to visit all the other monuments which were not covered during the bicycle tour. Auto guy took us to the Archeological Museum which is in Kamalapur. Entry charge is Rs.30. This museum has the before and after photographs of all the monuments. Some monuments were excavated.











 Learn to make Dream catcher. There are shops which teach you to make dream catchers and jewelry using the thread. The dream catchers are beautiful looking artifact.











For Shopaholics this is not such a great place, although you will find many shops on the street of Anengundi which sell dream catchers, jewelry, clothes, music instruments, shoes, bags etc.

Beautiful Anengudi Street