Fall into the falls - Bangalore to Didupe to Ermai Falls

It had been quite some time since I wanted to go on a trek with my colleagues, but I never got the right group apart from Neha. The long pause came to limelight when I started work on a new project with a crazy bunch of people. As much I started liking to come to office every day, I loved hanging out and spending most of my time with them. This lead to the idea of pulling them out on a trek, which finally ended in a treknic to Didupe & Ermai falls in Chikmagalur district organized by Bangalore Trekking Club!

March 22, Friday:

The plan was to meet at the usual Shanthala Silk house in Majestic and leave around 9.45 PM. Metro helped us to reach on time. Huge backpacks loaded with sleeping bag and jacket and my favourite people – A long time plan was on action. 21 people were geared for the enthusiastic weekend. We boarded our TT around 10.30 AM and the trek officially began!

The usual BTC-style introduction started. We had to enact our names and the rest of the crowd should guess it. While this had become a routine for me since I’ve been enacting the same way in all the prior treks, Sanjay and Ajay (my team mates) didn’t disappoint us and Sanjay, as always, exceeded our expectations. While the laughter continued till midnight, we took a break when the van stopped for a quick dinner.

March 23, Saturday:

Amidst the continuous chattering from Ajay & Neha, I managed to get some sleep with the little space in my seat (No Sanjay! The person next to me didn’t occupy a lot of space :P ) My alarm went at 6AM and I woke up to the picturesque mountains of the Western Ghats. While the steep roads with a lot of hairpin bends made the ride scary, the green environment made us to disappear into the magic world. We reached Didupe village around 6.30AM and a huge waterfall was visible from one end and the horse-face (Kudremukh) hill on the other.

The guide was waiting to receive his guests and he took us to his house situated amidst the forest. Initially, it started off as a plain stony path, but eventually, we crossed multiple streams to reach the house. We didn’t bother to get our shoes since the slippery rocks posed more challenges. Couldn’t ask for a better start of the trek.

After quickly refreshing, hot steaming idlies waited for breakfast. The guide took us though the day’s itinerary and we hopped out with our day packs. Hidden paths; Improper terrain; Unknown destination; Slippery stones; Yet, I enjoyed every second, mainly because of the people and the unexpected challenges that popped up as we progressed. Leeches, of course added to the adventure!

The entire trek path was inside the dense forest, which was supposed to be elephant’s backyard in the past. The steep ascent drained out the energy right from the start of the trek. In a couple of hours, we reached our first halting point – a beautiful valley which descended into a steep fall. This nameless place was hidden from the external world, and thus the beauty remained undisturbed. Everyone jumped into the water mainly to clear away the leeches that had been sucking our blood inside the shoes and pants, and we spent some time chatting and taking pictures.

After multiple ascend and descend with the removal of thorn pricks clinging to my hair and spotting snakes and weird creatures on our path, we reached our next destination – the next level of the waterfall, which happened to our lunch spot, but also looked like the perfect suicide spot :P One wrong step and you might land up into pieces! Yet, you could have loads of fun if you are careful and our people are extra-cautious bunch of enthusiasts. In no time, people slowly started getting into the falls and everyone hopped in. Savige bath packed for lunch turned out to be devamirtham after playing inside the water. Bidding good bye to the beautiful falls, we moved to our next destination.

This is when we started going down the path to the base, and it was a complete steep. With the help of the trees and stones, we managed to get our grip. As always, people fell down and got bum hits, yet, we were grateful that it didn’t rain, else our path would have become miserable. Although going down didn’t drain out our energy, the sound of our heart beat kept pumping fast due to the continuous adrenaline rush. The only rule of thumb is to sit and slide if you are not confident about the path! We kept moving down parallel to the falls, hence it was a treat to watch the ambience despite the tricky route. And after one final super steep descend came the surprise element of the day – the majestic Didupe falls!

I was stunned at the first look of it – of course love at first sight and the best part was the presence of the rainbow. Even without bothering to remove our shoes, we merged with the mesmerizing beauty. The water force was so harsh that we struggled to move closer to the falls, yet nothing stopped us. At the end of the day, the free massage from the falls and the photo shoot session was worth the pain of reaching it!

We started our way back to the homestay after completely getting drenched in the beauty of the falls and fancy snacks made of jackfruit pappad and hot bajji was waiting for us. As the night fell, it was time for some games. Mafia came to entertain us and of course, it was fun as always with arguments and quarrel and the night ended with a lavish dinner – special mention to the amazing kesari bath I’ve ever had in my life!

March 24, Sunday:

It was a cold morning and I woke up to the view of misty mountains. Idiyappam with milk made of palm jaggery and gravy filled our stomach for morning breakfast. While we waited for our coffee, party time began with people dancing crazily for kuthu songs and not to forget the eye-to-eye romantic dance performance by Sanjay and the doctor in the group!  We set out on our next adventure with all the laughter to the mud games arena. None of us knew what was waiting for us, apart from the fact that we were going to get ourselves dirty. We walked across the lawns and meadows to reach our mud pond spot. Basically, it was the season where the farmers will start sowing their seeds and the land was hydrated and strengthened for a better harvest.

By the time, the entire team reached the mud pond, Vikram and few exuberant people got into the water. It wasn’t attractive at the first look, yet, the minute we stepped into water, the cold waves brought goose bumps and we merged with the enthusiastic crowd. Beach volleyball turned into a mud volley ball and it was fun watching people dive into the dirt water to get hold of the ball.  While the pros got into the game so quickly, novice like me became a spectator despite being part of the team. This didn’t last too long when people voluntarily made us to get into the water and made us look ugly. It ended up in a tit for tat game, people running around and chasing each other with hand full of mud and beating each other.

Next, the stage was set for a game of tug of war – the team was split into two. We used our complete force and tried our best to place our legs firmly and eventually lied down completely in the slippery mud as the pull from the other team increased. After a couple of amateur games, we had a competition between the pro in the village and our strong BTC people. As a spectator, we became the cheer girls for our team and motivated, yet, you know what would have been the result? 😊 Cold buttermilk came to our rescue to quench our thirst. Then one group started to play kabaddi and the rest of us played dodge ball. As always, crazy photo sessions brought an end to our mud game time.

After refreshing, we took a jeep ride to the place where our TT was waiting, which happened to be another adventure. It was a roller coaster ride with crazy bumps and forceful water streams across our way. The other group had also noticed a huge snake. Then we went to our next mane – where our lunch was getting ready for us. We were offered a variety of items – huge ladies finger sambhar, salad, rasam, payasam, appalam and ended with the amazing sukku kaapi. Since we reached the place very late, we missed the chance to go on a paddy field visit.

We took a walk to the Ermai falls where we got an opportunity to do some social work of cleaning the area around the falls – thanks to our cleanliness-friendly people who never bother to use dustbin to dump the waste. The entire place looked so different and free from plastic after the clean-up and I could only wish if people took small efforts to not to ruin the public places and teach the same to the next generation! While the clean-up drive brought mental satisfaction, we were mesmerized with the beauty of the multi-level Ermai falls. Since it was too deep, we did not take extra effort to get into the water, but the swimmers didn’t spare this waterfall too.

As the place started getting darker, we returned our way to the home. Our next task was to prepare our own dinner – the best part of the entire trip! Although I cook just for fun, I’ve never made anything for a huge group. My chapattis had never been round and I was sitting there kneading the dough! :D Vikram was the highlight in our group – he managed most of the cooking himself – special mention to the yummy potato subzi. We started back to Bangalore by 10PM.

Bidding good bye to the amazing group, we departed our ways at 4AM. It was one another awesome weekend with my people. TGTC begins here!

The Story of how I backpacked with my parents..! [Part 1]

Solo backpacking had always been in my checklist. While the year 2016 gave lot of opportunities to trek, I also wanted to travel to the famous and not-so-famous places. Even though I always had a desire to do solo trip, our wonderful society had its constraints and limitations. As always, I kept waiting for someone to accompany me. My best friend VJ got married and now, I am left alone. After a silent phase of four months, the plan of taking my parents on a trip struck me. Fortunately, the selfish-me started thinking outside myself and the initial plan was a trip to Malaysia. As rightly said by a Tamizh proverb “Perasai perunashtam”, I forgot the fact that you need a passport to go anywhere outside India and my mom didn’t own one. Mission Malaysia dropped, but my dad saw my enthusiasm and asked me to plan for a trip to North India. While my parents had always been only through tour packages, I wanted to give them a different experience – a trip in my style, which ended up as a pseudo-backpack trip!

After thorough research about the places in the North and drafting multiple itineraries, I finally concluded to cover Chandigarh-Manali-Mcleodganj-Amritsar on a 6-day trip. On consulting few tour operators for a similar plan, they charged a mountain considering the reduced strength of 3 persons. Packages work best if you go in big groups, unlike our case. One fine morning, I booked the flight tickets without informing anyone and then told everyone that the trip is going to happen between 8-April and 16-April. This is how the trip in analysis phase moved to reality. Our next step was to sort out the local travel and accommodation, since I was travelling with my family and hence this became a pseudo-backpackers trip. While Airbnb and OYO rooms helped in identifying decent rooms, IRCTC and HP State transport buses for transportation. Everything was set for the big week, including my new baby – Rucksack from Wildcraft!

Preparations for the trip started just a day before we started, as there were lot of obstacles on our way. Yet, my Dad supported me and made my dream come true. While my parents had to come from Neyveli, they started on Friday night and reached Bangalore. The travel officially began on Saturday evening when the OLA Airport taxi waited for us outside the apartment at 6.30PM. I was geared up with happiness and tension, however I made my mind to calm down and enjoyed the moment. It gave a different feeling when you take the responsibility, and a moment to be proud of yourself. It was 7.30 PM when we reached the airport. Thousands of memories ran through my mind on seeing the huge airport watch tower in front of me and the open parking lot. Burying all the thoughts inside myself, I clicked selfies with my super enthusiastic parents and finished our mom-made idly with onion chutney for dinner.

Since our flight was scheduled at 9.30PM, we went inside the airport by 8PM. Despite the warning message to not to leave power banks in check-in luggage, I still took the risk just for fun. I don’t want to set wrong examples here, but I ensured that I will not repeat it again. We got into the flight by 9PM and struggled to put our seat belts (typical first-timer scenes *wink*), although we have travelled in a flight thrice on different trips. As the flight started to take off, my Dad became so scared and I was mocking at him. Once the flight reached an altitude, the lights of Bangalore started fading away and it was a beautiful scene to watch. I had some interesting conversations with my dad, which I will never forget in my lifetime. At that moment, I felt that I had my best friend in my same family all these years. Dad also gave me surprise advises to take travel as my part-time occupation and start a career out of it. Since I was already flying high, this statement made me to fall from that height! :D

As the conversations went, food was served. Since I ordered fruit diet and 2 veg meals during my web check-in, I got a plate with 2 pieces of watermelon, muskmelon and pineapple. Dad and mom got rice and subzi. We ate well and managed to get some sleep as the next one week was going to be tiring. Never take the last seat or last-but-one seat in a flight, because you can’t adjust the backrest! This is a lesson which I learnt through this trip, however, we managed to have quick nap in the straight seats. After a lot of turbulence warning, we were flying on top of Delhi by 11.35PM, but got the clearance to land only by 12. As the pilot announced the temperature outside to be 30 degree Celsius at midnight, the heat waves were already attacking my body. Good morning Delhi! Finally, I had my legs on the national capital.

As our train to Chandigarh was scheduled at 4.30AM, we were supposed to reach Old Delhi railway station. The communication problem started the very moment I stepped on Delhi, as people rarely spoke English. I booked Ola cab to go to the airport, but the driver spoke some nonsense in Hindi and I finally ended up cancelling the taxi, as he was moving away from the airport. Since we had no other option, we took the airport prepaid taxi which costed 620Rs., which included the night service charges. A shady omni was waiting for us to drop us in the railway station and my parents were equally scared while we travelled in that van. Although I tried to track the navigation through google maps, the fear persisted because I was in DELHI!

Finally, we reached the shady station at 2AM, and the next shock of my life waited there. Our train number was not getting displayed in the screen! On checking the train running status, I realized that our train was running late by 2 hours. If only I had known this earlier, we could have stayed in the airport and started late. Else we could have planned an alternate way to reach Chandigarh by bus. Since my mind was shocked and sleep was running across our eyes, we managed to bribe the cruel lady who took care of the AC reservation halls and got a place in one corner of the room. My dad stayed awake and asked us to sleep. I felt so bad for putting my parents through such a situation and learnt the next lesson of my life – ALWAYS check the running status of the train and try to book the trains which start at the boarding point. Since I couldn’t sleep, I made my dad to rest since his eyes were reddened due to lack of sleep and I stayed awake to take care of our luggage. Although none of us could sleep completely, we took turns to lie flat and give some rest to our body. As time flew away, our train was getting delayed drastically.

While I was sitting in front of my tired parents, I decided to change our plan to skip Dharamashala, so that we could free up some time in the busy schedule! Although McLeodGanj was a must-visit place in my list, I cancelled it considering my parent’s state. I cancelled the accommodation and bus tickets, without thinking about anything. Although my dad asked me to wait and cancel it later, I didn’t want to make my parents suffer more. Keeping my fingers crossed, I prayed God to give us positive moments in the rest of the trip. I went with mom and had some local tea outside the railway station. After a 5-hour delay, our train was scheduled to reach at 8.45AM. As we waited in the allotted platform and chit-chatting, there was another train in the next platform which was also flying from/to Chandigarh. I sent my Dad to check the status of our train and he came running to ask us to board that train. Panic moment began as neither the passengers in the train nor the station board displayed our train number.

My dad checked with a TTE and confirmed that this was our train and we boarded the train FINALLY! If only we hadn’t boarded this train, things could have been worse and I could only thank God for warning us at the right moment. We ate bread for breakfast, travelled in the hot weather and finally reached Chandigarh around 2PM, which we were supposed to reach by 9AM. The auto and rickshaw waalas surrounded us to take their vehicle, despite telling them that our rooms were close to the station. Since the sun was scorching hot, we took two cycle rickshaws which were driven by human beings. It was an experience and admired these people who balanced our weight so comfortably. Yet, they charged only 10 per person. On seeing the Golden Inn restaurant which was booked through OYO, I was super impressed. It was worth the cost, although it was outside the city.

We refreshed quickly and stepped out on our first sight-seeing day. Finished lunch at New Mitran da Dhaba outside our hotel. We shared 2 veg thali which consisted of 4 parathas, subzi, dhal and rice only at 50 per plate. Then we booked OLA cab to reach Bougainville garden at Sector 3. A Singh drove us through the streets of Chandigarh and acted us a local guide. The Bougainville garden was filled with colourful everywhere with limited number of people. It also had a war memorial in the middle of the garden. After clicking number of pictures, we walked towards rock garden at sector 1. My mom grumbled as we made her walk all the way, and Dad was having fun looking at it. We also saw the double decker tourist bus, which we were supposed to take if only the train hadn’t played a tragic role in our plan. The double decker bus will take you to all the major tourist places around the city in a span of 4 hours at 50 per head, although you are responsible to cover the entry ticket and other charges.

The Rock garden was super crowded with the entire Chandigarh tourists and the locals at a single location, since it was a Sunday. They charged 30 per head as entry ticket, but the place was much more worth it. It was basically a dream garden of a crazy guy who assembled all the useless pieces into a beautiful garden. The place was filled with statues made of broken glasses, bangles, pots, and lot more. There was an artificial waterfall with trees and branches across the park, a fancy building constructed by sacks filled with sand, monkey images which looked like nature came into reality and the list goes on. We were exhausted at one point and the garden never ended. My dad insisted that we should have brought Jithu (my sister’s daughter) and she would have loved this place. At one point, my dad took a break and I went with mom to explore the other places. They had a huge open space where shows were taking place and aquariums with variety of fishes. It was a place worth visiting if you visit Chandigarh.

Then we walked to Sukhna lake – the man-made lake in the city, which was even more crowded mainly due to the evening hours. The sun was setting and the lake was filled with colourful boats with cheerful people pedalling around and having gala time with friends and family. I sat with my parents and watched the scenes with lot of thoughts running in my head. I wished my friends were there at that moment with me. Around 7PM, we planned to leave the place and decided to take the bus to the hotel. However, things didn’t turn in our favour as most of the people blindly rejected us as we started speaking in English or responded in hindi which we didn’t understand. I ate a different variety of bun over there, where the baiya kept the sabzi under a closed lid and stuffed the bun with this subzi. While I expected the bun to be fanzy, the taste made me to take back my words. Even the pani puri was too bland with just potatoes offered as stuffings, but my mom wanted to have it and I satisfied her wish. After multiple struggle, we took an auto to Sector 17 where the main bus stand was located. We got to visit the main bazaar area of Chandigarh where the streets were filled with hi-fi branded shops. Finished our dinner at a small restaurant where one dosa costed us 150 Rupees.

We walked to the main bus stand which was in the dark due to a power cut, and thanked God for making us to visit this place for one major reason. We enquired about the Manali bus and they told us the volvo buses ply from Sector 43 only. If only we hadn’t received this detail, chaos would have happened on our Manali trip too. Then we went to the local bus stand to catch a bus to the railway station, however, there was some confusion. Since it was 9PM, I booked a cab and we reached the hotel safe and sound. Took hot shower and bid good night to Chandigarh. Pulled my blankets as the AC made the entire room very cold.

April 10, 2017.

I opened my eyes at 6 AM to my Dad’s loud voice, which he was doing on purpose to wake me. Since our bus to Manali was scheduled at 8AM, we planned to start at 7AM from the hotel. Unfortunately, we couldn’t utilize OYO’s complimentary breakfast, but had aloo paratha in a restaurant – Chef 43 inside Sector 43 ISBT. Our big green Volvo to Manali was standing in front of us, which was going to be our home for the rest of the day. The bus was very comfortable but sun was scorching hot as we drove across the curvy roads. We halted at a dhaba around 10AM for breakfast, where we drank salty orange juice which tasted good surprisingly.

As the bus moved across villages and mountains, the view kept changing and eventually boredom started with time. I started reading my book and slept now and then. It was lunch time and we had paratha with cauliflower subzi and vegetable pulao at a highway restaurant - Sundharnagar dhaba. Yes, we were getting used to the North Indian style of food as idly and dosa was never an option in those menu cards. After 3PM, we started getting closer to the beautiful snow-clad mountains, which increased the curiosity. River Beas was flowing on one side and mountain was on the other. The driver drove very carefully, but he had a complete control over the vehicle despite driving at a faster pace. A surprise awaited us at a place called Aut, when the bus turned inside a long 3KM tunnel carved between the mountains. Well... It was a scary ride as there were very few lights and vehicles were moving continuously.

It was 6PM when we reached Kulu. We had to switch buses to go to Manali as our bus were very tired after the long journey :D The cold waves started and our jackets were back on action. The snow- clad mountains attracted our views, with rafting and paragliding pulling our attention on the other hand. We were stuck in a bad traffic jam for some time, and our bus flew to Manali at a rapid speed once the road was cleared. 

Finally, we stepped onto the Mall road of Manali by 7PM. The place was super crowded with tourists and shops everywhere. Went to the Manali taxi centre and booked our cab for the next day to go to Solang valley, who charged 1000 rupees. We found an auto to reach our homestay – North end Inn in Old Manali, who charged 150 for a 2KM ride. But the ride was equally scary as our hotel was located uphill and the road was very narrow. Vijay uncle was waiting for us and welcomed us with a big smile as we entered the hotel. I was so excited looking at our room as we had the perfect view to snowy mountains. As it was a full moon night, the view couldn’t get any better. The temperature was 2 degree Celsius and we were freezing. Finished our dinner and quickly went to sleep. I fought with Dad to take the place closer to the window, so that I could have the best view of the snowy mountains when I wake up.

To be continued..! Read here. The Story of how I backpacked with my parents..! [Part 2]

Lost in the ruins of Hampi

Hampi - a must visit place in everyone’s checklist. A place where my best friend Vj wanted to go so badly. A place which I kept pushing as I was not a history person. For people who don't know about Hampi, it is the destination if you are a person who likes to demystify the ruins of the past. Also, if you want to take some amazing photographs, undoubtedly it is your shooting spot! Located 350 kms from Bangalore, it was once the capital of Vijayanagara empire with the best architecture. Also, the reason for Hampi to be chosen as the capital is even more interesting. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides and Tungabhadra river on one side, which made the place very secured and difficult to be conquered. Hence the kings of Vijayanagara empire had saved their precious jewels here, which triggered the opponents to conquer this region and it happened on one fine day leaving behind the ruins for the future generation. 

 

We decided to visit Hampi suddenly because we wanted to make Vj’s long term wish of visiting Hampi to come true before the D-day (She was getting married in July!) The plan started one week before the decided date (June 18,19) and we were worried about our travel tickets as the trains didn’t show availability. The best mode of transportation from Bangalore to Hampi is to take the Hampi express which leaves from Bangalore at 10pm and reaches Hospet (13 kms from Hampi) early morning. Out of nowhere, I got the idea to search for tickets from Mysore and hurray! There were 2 tickets available and booked them right away with 2 confirmed and 2 on RAC. I tried the same logic for the return travel but it didn't work out and we ended up booking in KSRTC sleeper which starts from Hospet at 10pm. Gagan booked the accommodation at Padma guest house (Rs.2160 for two rooms) just a day before our travel and we got it as this was off-season to visit Hampi. But I would say that June is the best time (provided if you are lucky to escape from the rain)

Geared up for the trip, we hurried to the railway station to catch the Hampi express at 10pm. Bidding goodbye to Bengaluru for the weekend, we set our expedition towards the majestic Hampi. After a good sleep, we woke up to the bright weather. The train reached Hospet on time at 7am.Refilled our empty bottles with Aquaguard purified water in one of the railway station stalls at a minimal cost of 5Rs per litre. We walked in search of the Hospet bus stand near the railway station. It would be best to withdraw cash at this town as the probability of finding an ATM in Hampi is very less.

Hunger panic began, yet we convinced ourselves to reach Hampi and then have our breakfast. As the bus entered the small village, we could see boulders on either side with temples visible all around. We stepped into the ruined city and oops! We realised that there is absolutely zero network coverage on all our mobile phones and wondered how we were going to find our home stay. Luckily some random person directed us to the hotel, which was very close to the bus stand. Refreshed quickly and stepped out on our next adventure. But our stomachs were starving for food and we walked across the four streets in Hampi again and again in search of a restaurant who would give us some hot dosas. Unfortunately, this place is mostly visited by the foreigners and hence the restaurants also adapted their style. With a lot of struggle, we found the treasure, the hotel who served from hot masala dosa to mouth-watering pooris. They didn't fail in surprising us with some wholesome English breakfast compromising of the masala omelette, pancakes, potato mashes and a tall glass of coffee.

Then we decided to explore Hampi by auto as we were aware of the impact of cycling in Hampi. Right in front of the Virupaksha temple, we managed to hire an auto for the entire day, who promised to cover most of the places by sunset as most of the heritage sites would be closed by 6 PM charging us 800 per day. Without wasting our time any further, we boarded the auto by 12.30 pm and in no time, we reached our first temple in 5 minutes. The auto driver took us through the history behind Kadalekalu Ganesha temple. It was a 4.5 m long monolithic statue in the shape of a peanut (kadala) and hence the name. Also, this Ganesha was so sophisticated that only the Kings get to visit this temple. They walk via this Ganesha to reach the Virupaksha temple. But, this didn't escape from the hands of English invaders who had broken Ganesha's stomach expecting for gold, thus ruining the single stoned architecture. As a tourist, we only got to visit the broken Ganesha but he was really huge. Like a foreigner in our own land, I was surrounded by the local kids who asked me to click a picture of them. History of Hampi had changed, but the current generation in this village is still struggling for a stability in their life. 

Next, we hopped into the auto to visit 2.4m long Sasvekalu Ganesha who was just 2 minutes away from the current place. The story behind this temple is even more interesting that the people had constructed the temple thanking God for the flourishing growth of mustard in the area and hence the name. While one side of the statue is in the shape of a mustard, the other side is sculptured depicting Ganesha sitting on his mother’s lap, which is supposed to be known as Gowri Ganesha. Unlike Kadalekalu Ganesha, this statue is kept in an open environment where anyone could get access to him. And the history tells that all the villagers would cross this temple to reach the Virupaksha temple. However, this beautiful temple was also ruined by the Muslims who broke the trunk in search of jewels.

On our way to Lakshmi Narasimhan temple, we got a glimpse of the Krishna temple, but we did not stop there as the statue had been moved to Chennai. The 6.7m long Narasimha is considered to be the largest statue in Hampi. Next to this temple was the 3m Badavi Lingam where the Lingam was placed in a pool of water filled with small fishes. To quench our thirst, we drank tender coconut and lemon soda outside the temple which were sold at 20 and 15 rupees each.

Our next halt was the Underground Shiva temple. This was known as Prasanna Virupaksha temple, with the Shiva located under the ground. The temple was filled with water as we kept going down the steps and it was slippery as well, as the water was filled with algae and fishes. Initially, we wanted to go inside and explore, but little did we know that it was occupied by bats as well and we took back our steps. If you are brave enough, you can dare to go inside the temple, as nobody is going to stop you apart from the random bats. But be ready to walk on knee length water which increases as you move inside!

It was 2PM and we never felt hungry. We proceeded to an abandoned area which had a mosque, watch tower and a band tower. We took lot of photos standing on multiple rocks, but was chased by the localites who asked us to get down the stones. Our next stop was my personal favourite among the entire trip – Lotus Mahal. It constituted the Elephant stable, Rani’s summer palace, watch towers and museum, among which the palace and the science behind it attracted me a lot. As the name tells, this was constructed mainly for the queen and hence it was protected by watch towers on every corner, however these watch towers were in the control of trained aravanis (half man half woman humans). However, the main logic lies in the construction of this palace. The building is constructed on top of a tank which had continuous supply of water from the nearby river. This water was transferred to the pipes in the building and the pipes transferred water to all the pillars in the palace, thus providing a cooling effect even during the hot summer and hence the name ‘Summer Palace’. Science had indeed played a major role in the past, that the people had invented air coolers without the use of electricity or any components.

On moving further, the beautiful elephant stable was constructed. History says that the elephants which are used every year for the Mysore Dushera festival are given the best care in this stable. With each elephant having its own private space, there were 11 partitions in the entire construction. Towards the right side of the stable was the museum which contained multiple sculptures of Gods and Goddess, which will be open from 10AM to 5PM and closed on Friday. The Lotus Mahal also had an entry ticket of 30Rs. per person, while they charged the foreigners at a much higher rate.

Next, we moved to the Hazara Rama temple, and as per the name, it contained 1000 carvings of Ramayana in the walls. Well, if you know Ramayana, you could relate to the story, but if you are a person like me, then you have a beautiful lawn outside the temple where you could capture some beautiful photographs. But beware of monkeys in this place.

Then we went to visit the Royal Enclosure, which hosted multiple buildings. An elevated, now partially dismantled construction, is the King’s audience hall, which the King used to address the grievances of the people. You could capture the entire view of the village from this elevated building. Adjacent to this is the Mahanavami Dibba, which is mainly used to entertain the Tax collection officers on their visit to this region. This was opened only for 9 days and the elephants are used for this function. We could also spot a small swimming pool at one end, where the water was transferred into the pool using an open pipe-like structure.

By 4.15pm, we headed to the Queen’s bath, which was protected by a huge pit around the building, so that nobody can surpass it easily. Apart from that, it was a small closed pool at a reasonable depth. Then hunger panic began and the autowala took us out to a restaurant outside the village. Nobody could easily spot the Tamarind tree food point. We had some good food, among which the curd rice was the best of the lot and headed to Vittala temple.

We reached the Vittala temple by 5.20PM and it was getting cloudy. You could either walk to the temple or take an electric car by paying Rs.10 per head. We were happy to observe women empowerment in this UNESCO registered site, yes, the electric cars were driven by female employees. The Vittala temple was so beautiful especially with the sun setting at one end and the swift breeze, this place had some magic in it. The temple was constructed in the form of a chariot with the horses pulling the Vishnu temple. The beauty lies in the outer pillars which are constructed such that it will create musical waves when you touch them. Since the temple was about to close, we had to get back and the autowala bade goodbye by dropping us near the Virupaksha temple at 6.50 PM. None of the places will be opened after 6 and hence we had to find ways to kill time.

We walked to the sunset point (after the sunset though! J) and it was nothing but heaven that we witnessed. The environment was so silent and peaceful, with the continuous mantras enchanting from the temple on one side and darkness falling everywhere, it would be the ideal place to get into deep meditation, if you can deal with the mosquitoes. We sat over there and spent some quality time looking at the silent village around us, imagining how the capital city would have flourished in the past. The capital was carefully situated in a secured place which was covered by rocks on all three sides and Tungabhadra river flowing on one side.

Then it was dinner time and we wanted to visit the popular Mango Tree restaurant. The place was properly designed for the hippies in town, there were few chairs but you could sit on the mattresses spread on the floor and enjoy the meals at your own way. We spent more than 2 hours at the restaurant, just chatting and talking non-sense. Ordered food crazily as we always wanted to taste the varieties, our madam Vj wanted Hash brown potatoes and since it was unavailable, she ordered Mashed potatoes without thinking of the actual end result. Then we made some weird combos to empty the mashed potatoes, pancake stuffed with potatoes and pepper sprinkled on top of it, my crazy lady was actually enjoying it. Indeed, we wrote a small birthday note on the pancake using honey and wished Gagan in advance. It was raining heavily outside and the umbrellas were in action, Sriram and myself went to the restaurant to collect the secret pie ordered for Gagan’s birthday. A birthday cake became a pie because the little village did not have even a single bakery.

Bidding good night to the silent city, I slept off while others were busy on their phone searching for networks. It was midnight 12 and Happy birthday Gagan! Not sure if he expected the pie, but it was a different birthday celebration altogether and I went back to sleep again. As usual, I was the first person to get up and wanted to visit the Sunset/Sunrise point. But none of them woke up and I slowly disturbed everyone’s sleep.

We had our breakfast in the same Venkateshwara restaurant as our boys didn’t want to taste anything different and we were impressed by the food served here. Ordered all the varieties from English breakfast to the local South Indian pooris and filled our stomach. The rates were also normal for a tourist place that the set breakfast costed 150Rs, egg masala dosa at 70Rs and egg bhurji sold at 90Rs. Vj finally got to enjoy her hash brown potatoes as part of the set breakfast and many newer items. By 9.30am, we started on our mission and the first spot was the famous Virupaksha temple. This was one among the few temples in the city where poojas are still done and the spirituality has been restored. After the temple visit, we went to explore the other side of the Tungabhadra river – the hippie side of Hampi.

The river crossing is not an easy task and we had to use the regular boat service to get to the other end. You could either take the coracle ride, which is a bit expensive, or take the normal boat which will cost you 10Rs. per head for the 2-minute ride. However, you might have to wait until the boat gets filled completely. In no time, we were on the other side of the village, with people surrounding us marketing their two-wheelers. Yes, the best way to explore the town would be to hire a bicycle or motorbike. The TVS XL had a day rent of 100Rs. with an extra expense of 75Rs. per litre for petrol. While there were no concrete roads, we were riding on the zig zag broken roads around the village. We also got to witness a crocodile in a river crossing around the village area.

We were on the roads without deciding about the destination. Then we asked a localite for the places to visit and they directed us to the dam and the backwater area. The entire area was so peaceful with grasslands on either side of the roads. While there were few slopes in the path and the vehicle didn’t accelerate beyond a limit, the pillions got the privilege to push the vehicle forward. After a quick round of photo session around the dam, we moved to the backwater area.

With the river on either side of the road, connecting the dam and backwater, we halted at a random point where there were options to take a relaxing ride in the water. While we were hesitant to spend money on a ride in still water, Vj wanted to take the coracle ride as she had never got the opportunity. So we hopped off our vehicle and bargained with the boat guy for a decent rate. The place was completely remote with guys coming around to have some gala time around this place. This place was definitely unsafe for girls, but since we were escorted by our guys, we did not have any issues.

The 20-minute ride costed us 250 bucks for the four of us, yet it was so silent and relaxing. The boat guy dropped us in a so-called-island and we were playing throwing stones at the water aiming for longer distance. After some gala time, we got into the boat and reached the source point. We were completely clueless about our next halt and let our bikes to go in its own way. Then we got to know about the Aanjaneya Hill, which is considered to be the birthplace of Hanuman. If you are planning to visit this temple, be ready to climb the mountain which has 600 steps carved in it. You can park the vehicle at the basement and take the steps. As we reached the top, it started to rain heavily and we spent some time under the shades enjoying the weather. The temple had a piece of floating rock in a glass of water, depicting the Rama Sethu connecting Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka in southern end of the country. Since we were running out of time, we came down quickly and returned the two-wheeler, bidding good bye to the hippie town.

It rained heavily and the boats were stopped and hence we had to wait until the rain stopped. There was one another beauty in this river crossing, where the little Nandi statues were located on the river, with the head popping out of the water. Once the rain stopped, we got into the first boat and went to the other end. It was 5PM and we forgot about our lunch. So, we looked for restaurant around the same street and ended up in a place which served freshly made pizzas, but Gagan did not want to miss few places for food and hence we walked out of the restaurant after drinking lemonade.

Then we walked to the Hampi bazaar which was located exactly opposite to the Virupaksha temple. As we climbed the stairs, there was a huge monolithic Nandi with Matunga hill located on the right. As the rocks were slippery after the rain, we were advised to not to take the climb and hence we moved further inside to reach the Krishna temple. Things were ruined around, yet the place had so much history carved in the walls and pillars. Outside the Achyuta Raya’s temple is the famous Courtesan street, popularly known as the Sule Bazaar which was flocked with merchants around the world to sell their expensive gems. Further ahead on the bazaar is the Pushkarani, a stepped tank with lotus spread around the place. This was the place where the statues of Gods and Goddess were placed during the annual boat festival. As it was getting late, we got a glimpse of few more temples around the area and came back to the hotel.

As we had packed our things already, we wrapped up and reached the bus stand quickly. Bidding goodbye to this amazing town, we went back with lots and lots of memories. As we reached much earlier and didn’t have proper food after breakfast, we wanted to eat loads and ordered loads of food crazily in a restaurant in Hospet near the bus stand. But we were almost full half-way through the order, and we forced ourselves to eat more than what our stomach wanted. After a heavy dinner, we reached the bus stand and our sleeper bus was already waiting for us.

The weekend flew so quickly that we were worried about getting back to work from the next day. With lot of random discussions, we dispersed for the night and a wonderful trip came to an end.

My fellow mates in the trip: Vijayalakshmi (Vj), Shamili (me), Sriram, Gagan