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Onward journey
It was a cold dry morning midweek of November when I trotted down the stairs to retrieve a few CDs from my Scorpio, and this
week had two holidays embedded in it. As I neared the car, it winked at me and asked, “Aren’t you taking me for
a ride?” I knew it was time to burn asphalt again! I had been to the UN World Heritage Center of Hampi once before,
and my heart had been longing to return ever since. I packed a few pairs of shorts, tons of mosquito repellent and some food.
With a renewed sense of adventure lingering in the air, Scorpio and I set out at 7:00 AM Thursday, taking National Highway
43 towards Tumkur, Chitradurgh and eventually leading to Hospet, a mining town a stone-throw away from Hampi. The JAS Toll
Road Company maintained toll road from Bangalore to Tumkur was a dream by Indian standards and Scorpio quickly revved up to
140 Kmph on the smooth asphalt (we coughed up a toll of rupees twenty for this pleasure). We drove through some beautiful
scenery as mountains and never-ending acres of fields surrounded us. The numbers of dogs attempting to cross this highway
made me take a mental note to later investigate a possible nexus between this road and dog libido, as there seemed to be so
many of them, and every five kilometers I found a dog with its guts pasted on the road like strawberry jam on fresh brown
toast. At Tumkur we had to change to a normal state highway, which was nonetheless ok on my lower back and bum till Chitradurgh.
This is where the nightmare begun, the road turned so bad that shifting to third gear made me want to celebrate like an F1
driver on death row. Poor Scorpio took a beating, as there was no place to hide from gapping potholes out to chew his tires.
The hills surrounding us were an eye sore as they were littered with wind harnessing turbines, spinning slowly in the mid
afternoon sun like weeping windmills from yore. We discovered a Reliance Petroleum outlet with sparkling clean western style
restrooms (and yes, clean running water), eateries and plenty of parking to rest a sore derriere. I strongly recommend this
joint to people traveling with families as the ladies will find relieving their watery burdens here more inviting than the
piteous roadside bush.
At Hospet, I stayed on the road straight as against taking a right into Hospet and Hampi. The idea was to travel to the other
side of the Tungabadra River into the Virupapura Gaddi Forest where scores of leisure resorts are located. I passed the TB
Dam and took a right towards Sanapur (this right turn is difficult to locate since there are no visible road signs. My suggestion
is look out for an Indian Oil Petroleum outlet; the right turn comes up exactly 1 KM from here). I traveled about 17 KM on
this dirt road before reaching the forest by 2:00 PM.
Arriving at Hampi
The historical city of Hampi was once home to the 14th Century Vijayanagara Empire and its dominant feature is the massive
number of rocky mountains surrounding the ancient city. The Tungabadra River passes through this royal temple town, and it
is important to note there is no bridge to cross this river for almost 30 miles in either direction; hence it was important
for me to drive the extra distance to the side of the river where the resorts are located. River crossing is by motorized
boat or coracle (round boat made of bamboo and coated with tar for waterproofing) and costs Rupees five for Indian nationals
and Rupees ten for foreigners. Looking north, the right side of the river is where the bulk of the historic city ruins and
monuments are located, laid into two main sections; The Temple Zone and The Royal Enclosures. You can book an auto for Rupees
three hundred and take a 4-hour tour of all the major temples, forts and royal domiciles. If you have more than a day and
are energetic, you can also walk from site to site. Keep a pair of sunglasses, a hat, water and plenty of sunscreen handy,
you will need these as the stones and rocks tend to absorb and radiate the sun’s heat. Standard colas like Coke and
Pepsi are available abundantly. Some of the places require the purchase of a ticket and again, its Rupees five for Indian
nationals and Dollars five for foreign nationals. Guides are available to give you a running commentary of the significance
of the monuments you are watching, though self-explanatory text is posted at the entrance of each monument. You can cover
the major attractions in half a day but if you intend to see all the monuments, you will need to spend at least two days.
Virupapura Gaddi Forest Reserve (Karnataka Forest Department)
The Virupapura Gaddi Forest lies on the opposite bank of the Tungabadra River, and is not really a forest in conventional
sense. It hosts a series of resorts in a row, and please be cautioned by my use of the word “resort”. Most resorts
here offer cottages with basic amenities such as:
Twin bedding (I suggest you take your own linen, what’s provided by the resort is dodgy)
Electrical fittings limited to a fan, one or two light bulbs and one power socket
Attached toilet (most provide Western style but some have Indian style) with running water (hot water is provided
only on request)
Mosquito nets (not very effective as most of them have holes in them)
The rent for each cottage varies from resort to resort, but is always between Rupees 150 to 300 per night per cottage (irrespective
of number of occupants). Almost all resorts have restaurants that serve an excellent array of authentic continental food,
from Israeli to Italian and Greek.
I stayed at Gautam Resort and loved every bit of it. It has the best lounge style restaurant seating, is the only resort that
serves beer, and has the friendliest staff and a kitchen cat to boot. The owner Deepak is an enterprising gentleman who will
take great pains to ensure you are comfortable and well taken care of. The restaurant here is lighted in a psychedelic manner
and sports a large TV with a DVD player. You can bring your own choice of sentient music and it will be played on request.
The orphic spirit
Why live here you may ask? The answer is difficult to comprehend readily. This place has a cult feel about it, a certain ‘je
ne sais quoi’. It is frequented by thousands of American, European, Mediterranean and Israeli tourists each year. The
influence of tourism is so heavy it’s not uncommon to find entire menus written only in foreign languages. You will
see dozens of hippy-style dressed westerners walking or cycling from place to place, some of them have been living there for
months at a stretch. I have met a few who have given up everything they owned and settled in Hampi, even marrying into the
local villages and parenting offspring of mixed race. The place is peacefully quiet; on a sun soaked lazy noon it’s
possible not to hear any other sound except birds chirping and the wind blowing. Buy a cool beer, relax on the lounge style
beddings in the restaurants and read that book you always wanted to read but never found time in your urban life, that’s
Hampi at its best.
The locals are very tuned to foreign cultures and speak some degree of English. In spite of the overwhelming rustic nature
surrounding Hampi, you will still find Internet access and STD/ISD available in plenty to keep you connected to the outside
world (mind you cell phones work scratchily, so don’t depend on it). The tourists you meet at Virupapura Gaddi Forest
come from a bewildering array of backgrounds; from Israeli soldiers, British writers, Greek musicians and German artifact
hunters to American backpackers, I have seen them all. And with each person you interact you feel like you have grown a little,
there is so much to learn from just about everyone. At night all the residents of the resort come together to eat dinner,
drink beer and watch a DVD movie, in community style. It’s easy to spend several months away from the civilized world
when you are at Hampi, and when the going gets boring you can always rent a Harley Davidson or an original Royal Enfield and
drive to Goa (subject to availability). In short Hampi is an ideal agrestic retreat to soak your soul when corporate nisus’s
start to do you in.
The Flipside – Things to beware of
0 Mosquitoes – Plenty of bloodsuckers, be prepared with tons of repellant
0 Phony restaurants – Plenty of dodgy restaurants claim to be “Recommended in Lonely Planet”. I would suggest
have your breakfast at your resort and pack lunch to eat while touring. That’s what most people here do.
0 Clothes – Don’t pay above Rupees 100 to 200 for any clothes you may buy here, they are generally not worth more
than that. Bargain!
0 Beggars – It’s common to be surrounded by beggars, the realistic ones demanding Rupees two and the enterprising
ones demanding Rupees ten. Some even ask for “Skulpen” by which I understand they are asking for a “School
Pen”. Just ignore and keep walking.
The sound of goodbye
All good things need to end at sometime. I packed up on Sunday morning, ate a hearty breakfast of porridge and omelets, drank
a ton a tea, packed lunch and set off on the return trip. The staff at Gautam’s gave a cheerful farewell and plenty
of invitations to visit again. I tanked up at the Indian Oil outlet near Sanapur and drove non-stop till the Reliance outlet
near Chitradurgh, where I took a bio-break and a few minutes to eat my packed lunch. Then on again through the highways till
Bangalore, reaching at 4:00 PM. The trip metered in at 375 KM in each direction, taking approximately 6 hours each way. The
hustle and bustle of Bangalore was a far cry from the tranquility of Hampi, but it was nice to be back in civilization again.
Cogitating back, the sounds of silence and smells of solace were the exact prescription I needed to break the walls of corporate
monotony. Till another time and another trip, adieu.
Appendix
For more information on Hampi please visit:
http://www.karnataka.com/tourism/hampi
Information on resorts at Virupapura Gaddi Forest Reserve:
Biography of author
Kiran Rao is an avid travel writer who enjoys leaving behind all known to journey to distant lands. He has traveled and written
on Africa, US, Europe and Asia. Kiran Rao can be reached at thoughtfultraveler@yahoo.com
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