Mohit Travelogue : Journey to the Glorious Past of INDIA (HAMPI & BADAMI)

About Hampi

Explore an unknown world where the stones would tell their stories and dreams, and if dreams were made of stones surely it has to be Hampi,

Hampi is layers and layers of cities overlapped into one. From beautiful paddy field to the vibrant hippy culture , mighty boulders, the ruins in Hampi has it all.

A photographers Muse an adventurers kick and a wanderers solace it perfect in all sense.

The Athens and Greece of India, as it is known today, is a vast open air museum showcasing glorious past of the Vijaynagram empire ,Back then it was the metropolitan city of the times, and if you are good in imagination being there u can imagine yourself going back in times, beautiful narrow trails ,street market scattered localities , wide open sky and pollution free air , What else you need ;)

Coming to the journey

From Hyderabad ,Hampi is just 377kms by road, (yes it can be a nice weekend gateway ) road is excellent till mehbobnagar as it’s the same National highway 07 that connects Hyderabad to Banglore from mehbobnagar the State highway 18 starts which is also fine till raichur , from raichur roads get a bit difficult,

I am more of a old school biker , I don’t prefer having an ugly GPS mount on my handlebar, rather I would prefer to carry a folded map in my pocket and check routes with locals taking small tea breaks at the highways.

Yes, that's how i plan my rides :P

Started riding early in the morning around 5:30 reached mehbobnagar around 8 had a small tea break, Reached raichur around noon and had lunch over there, From raichur you find to ways both leading to two beautiful destinations one is the Hampi and the other one Badami which is pretty less explored, When I came to know about this at a small interaction with the locals while having lunch at raichur , that was the time I made up my mind to cover both the places in this ride.
First Contact with Hampi Terrain: The nature welcomes you when you are about to reach and its one of the best part of the whole stretch.

Before reaching Gangavati we have to cross the Tungabadhra Stream ,As i was on two wheels its lucky as it can be loaded to the ferries and sailed to the other side of the riverbed whereas if you are on 4 wheels you will be required to take the longer route,

While i was waiting for my turn to load my bike in the boat why not to remove the boots and relax dipping the feet in the pure stream and enjoy the lush Greenery

being a traveler visiting so many places , one thing that i have learned is People of the place are very much helpful its just that you have to carry positive vibes with you,

Just few kms from the riverbed came across one of the temple from my bucket list it was Vithalla Temple , below are some pics

After spending some time at the Vithalla temple I headed towards Gangavati in search of accommodation, it was hard to find at gangavati so i directly headed towards hampi and it started raining , Luckily i found a decent hotel near the main market of Hampi It was already dark so I stayed at hotel slept early so as to wake up early,

Having Tea had a conversation with this guy who gave me all the guidance and places to visit in return just asked for a tea which was totally fine ;)

Mantanga Hills :
Mantanga hills is one of the place that i would ask all the people visiting Hampi to visit ,it gives a spectacular view of the whole terrain

The view starts becoming beautiful as you keep on climbing

there are a few beautiful road side farms with restaurant which offers delicious meal

mantanga hill is a place where you should not rush ,take your time and enjoy at peace, its just you your inner self and sizzling wind that's it .

Climb down the hill before evening and spend some time at the riverside ruins watching the sunset

Hospet:

Hospet is just around 20 kms from hampi and has a Mighty dam on the river tungabadra which is worth a visit , personal vehicles are not allowed beyond the parking .

They have their on shuttle buses which take the visitors to the top view point and then back to main gate