Trip to HAMPI->BIJAPUR->BADAMI->AIHOLE->PATTADAKAL->GOKARNA->MURDESHWAR->GOA->BANGALORE

Another day another Trip with Sati Parvati (white Hyundai Verna (first Model)). This time the travellers were only Gauti and I.

Finished my work early and came back home to start packing. It was another 10 day jounrey that we were partaking in and hence had to pack thoughtfully.
We had decided that we would leave bangalore by 10PM on the 26th of September. The route map that we had planned was as follows. Bangalore - Hampi - Bijapur - Badami - Aihole - Pattadakal - Gokarana - Murdeshwar - Goa - Bangalore.

As per plan Gauti reached home and started cursing me for being late as usual...:) Finished our prayers and left my place in Koramangala by 10:15 PM. We had initially decided to go to Hampi via Chitradurga. However after reading a lot of comments on TeamBHP abt the road condition from chitradurga to Hospet we decided to take the route recommended by the Tbhpians...Blore - Hiriyur - Bellary - Hospet. By the time we got out of the bangalore traffic conditions and onto the toll roads it was already 11PM. From there although it looked like the toll guys were stealing money from us it was a breeze of a journey. We were in Hiriyur by 12:45AM. Took the deviation onto Challakere and started driving towards it. This is a state highway (SH19) and hence a two lane road. Just a few mins into this road we noticed a massive traffic jam ahead of us. We somehow went off road and were able to overtake at least 12 to 15 trucks and found a gap in between where we slotted into. We did not know what the problem was so I got off the car to go ahead and check it out. Here another truck driver came up to me and we started talking. Suddenly he realised that his phone had switched off. Now he switches on his phone and it asks him to enter the time. He looks at us and says in Kannada "Its night so it must be PM and not AM. We look at him and tell him that its morning and then he says oh ok then is it AM or PM". Gauti and I giggle a bit and then we help him set the right time. However i went ahead to see what had happened. I do not want to go into the graphic details but a truck had collided with another truck and the driver seemed to have escaped but the cleaners’ body was hanging on the door. It was disturbing. However i could not see the other truck. Anyway nobody looked like they wanted to help so Gauti and I called up the COPS. 100 - Ring ring... Accident on road please help...COPS Reply - Not in my jurisdiction please call another number and gives me the number to call (so much like them). So we called the other number and they mentioned that somebody else had already complained and the cops were going to be there in 10 mins and as soon as i hung up i could hear the siren of the police Jeep. They went ahead and cleared the debris so that the vehicles could pass. Total time lost in the whole fiasco-1 hour, Time now 2:10 PM. We started driving and checking the Google maps reached Bellary at around 4:30AM. We missed the left turn to the bypass and hence went right into Bellary. Using our Google maps we started following the road which it showed towards hospet. We were a little sceptical coz at one point Google maps showed that we were driving on the runway of the Bellary airport....beat that :) Soon we hit NH63 and we were on our way to Hospet. A distance of around 65kms took us an hour and a half as the roads in bellary weren’t too great. But once outside the city we took off. We reached Hospet and went straight to Hotel Malligi as suggested by senior TBHPians. I don’t think there is any hotel which can beat the prices here. Since it was more or less cloudy we did not bother booking an ac room and we got a room for Rs350 per night which I could not believe. The room was nice. A TV, hot water, 2 separate beds, clean sheets and a clean bathroom....awesome!!! Gauti and I crashed on our beds and fell asleep in the next 5 mins. We had decided to get up by 9:30 so that we can leave by 10 and be in Hampi by 10:30. However we got up by 9 had our bath and were ready to leave by 9:45. So we decided to have breakfast. Since dosas were over, the only thing available to us was idli vada and idli vada is what we had; 3 whole plates of it...I mean we shared 3 plates :)

DAY 1

Came out and noticed that the car had been washed clean. We were pleasantly surprised as a guy came up to us telling us that he cleaned the car. So we thought we would give him some money as a tip and gave him 20 rupees. To our shock he mentioned that the standard charge was Rs 40. We were taken aback but however agreed to pay him and asked him to clean it the next morning too. Saying this we left to Hampi...The next 13 kms to Hampi was a very peaceful and serene drive which did not take more than 20 mins. We reached Hampi and parked our car in the parking lot. Immediately there were 2 guys who came up to us asking if we needed guides whom we calmly said no to. However as we went walking towards the Bazaar street there were atleast another 4 to 6 of them who asked us the same question. But we said no to all of them as they were asking us to pay them Rs800 for 3 hours. So we did not bother.

In front of us we could see the Virupaksha Temple and the street towards the temple looked very broken down. As a part of the cleanup drive by the government most of the temporary structures on the left side of the street was demolished. We left our slippers outside and as soon as we entered we saw a group of 3 very colourfully clad men staring at us. We did not pay too much attention to them and walked on inside into the temple complex. As it had rained the previous night there was quite a lot of water inside the temple and the monkeys that were around were having a ball running and playing in the water. It was strange to see that the whole temple complex which not only consisted the temple but other historical structures as well was very clean. However the area around the temple itself was very dirty. Flowers, coconut shells, plastic bags and incense stick thrown all over the floor. To our surprise the Temple was closed. So we went on to check the other structures around and ended up sitting on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. Gauti being the curious cat went ahead and spoke to a few guys sitting around. They mentioned that the level of the water had really risen and there were a lot of structures which were under water. We could actually see a couple of structures which were partially under water. We looked around to see if we could hire a boat or a coracle which would take us on the river but couldn't find any and so we moved on.

From there on we got out of the temple complex and climbed a hill to see the Sasivekalu Ganesha statue, Vishnupada Temple, Kadalekalu Ganesha and the Hemakuta Teample. These temples were very beautifully carved and made, but it was very surprising to see that there was absolutely nobody else who had taken the effort to see these places as it looked absolutely deserted. I guess if we build some malls around these temples then maybe these temples could have a few more vistors!!! :) Once we had seen and admired the wonderful architecture we started walking back towards our car as we were very thirsty. It was time for a nice Goli Soda which is available everywhere. We had 2 whole glasses of these and did they quench our thirst or what!!! Next on our way was the Krishna Temple, outside which was the majestic Krishna Bazaar. Went inside the temple and spent sometime admiring the structures inside. Out of nowhere we heard children yelling and screaming on top of their voices, a school picnic to Hampi filled with kids who were barely 8 to 10 yrs old!!!!! That's when we realized that there was no point staying there as the noise was so loud that we could barely hear ourselves talk. After this we came outside and walked towards the Krishna bazaar and sat there for time. For Gauti this was the most disgusting part of the trip as old women were actually using the structures which looked like shops in olden days as urinals. It was upsetting to see that the world heritage site was getting this kind of a treatment from the public. How can we stop this??? Is there no end to this???

Moving on from here we decided to go to the Vitthala Temple which had the famous stone chariot inside. We had to park the car 2 to 3Kms away from the temple as they were not allowing vehicles to go up to the temple. The only vehicles that were allowed to go up to the temple were battery operated vehicles which were driven by women!!!!! When we asked why we were not allowed to go in our vehicles the lady mentioned that the structures inside the temple complex were very weak and cracks were forming all around so they did not want polluting vehicles to go anywhere close to the temple (So much for BHARATH Stage 3!!!!). Anyway once we entered the temple complex we could see the beautiful stone chariot in the courtyard outside the main temple. We could see why no vehicles were being allowed as all the pillars inside the main temple had started to disintegrate and had cracked and fallen down on the floor. we were not allowed to even go inside the main temple. Took a lot of pics over here and then moved out from here. Around the temple there were other structures around so we took a walk and saw as much as we could. We saw the kings Balance, the two storeyed Gateway, Ruined Gateway and the Vishnu Temple. This was again on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. There was a very young guy maybe around 12yrs old selling sugarcane juice there and we thought we would feast ourselves on it. So Gauti being himself told the guy that he would like to spin the wheel of the machine which the boy agreed to and voila we had sugarcane juice. A few foreigners who were walking by noticed this and walked up to us to explain what juice this was. They did not know  what a sugar cane or a sugar juice was. So Gauti asked them if they have ever had Rum, to which they said yes and then when Gauti mentioned that this is what rum is made of, it was as if god himself had appeared and enlightened them. Gauti offered them a sip which they had and then moved on from here.

We decided that since we had seen the northern part of Hampi we would go and see the southern part of it too. So we headed off to see the Zanana enclosure, the Mahanavami Dibba, the Lotus Mahal, The Royal Enclosure, the elephant stables and few other structures. We just couldn’t believe that there were so many places to see and so less time as we had decided to leave Hampi early next morning. We somehow managed to cover most of the places in our must see list. On our way back we could see a massive statue so we stopped and jumped across a fence to see what it was. This was massive 6.7 metres tall Lakshmi Narasimha idol, Very beautifully carved and worth us getting off the car and jumping over a fence to see it. This was one of the smallest but the most beautiful places i had ever seen. Horses and goats grazing around lush green grass everywhere...Man this was bliss. We really didn't want to leave this place as it felt like heaven on earth, but we had to leave as it was late and we still had to feast our eyes on the Tungabhadra Dam. Reached the dam pretty soon and we had to walk maybe 400 to 500 metres to reach the entrance of the dam. Once there they did not allow us to walk over the dam but there was plenty of space from where we could stand and watch. The Tungabhadra River had swollen up and was looking more like a violent sea. The water level had reached maximum capacity and hence the dam was releasing water in full force from all the 32 possible gates. It was a scary but beautiful sight. We couldn’t stand straight; the winds were blowing that hard. Took some more pics here and decided to get back to our room before it got dark. After this we crawled back into our room in Hotel Malligi. Freshened Up went to the restaurant and had a couple of drinks which were very cheap (Compared to Bangalore). We then had dinner and crashed in our rooms. I think both of us fell asleep within 2 mins of us hitting the bed. We were that exhausted.


DAY 2
The excitement of the drive and the places we were going to visit today woke us up quite early. We were all dressed up by 8:30 in the morning and were ready to leave. Had a nice breakfast at the restaurant in Malligi and left the hotel by 9:30 in the morning. Next stop - the controversial Alamatti dam. This dam is on the River krishna. We didn’t expect the roads till here to be in a good condition however they were pretty decent indeed except for a stretch at the start which was in a pretty bad condition. A distance of 140 kms from hospet. We reached here by 11:30 in the morning and again to our luck there was some work going on at the dam and hence we couldn’t go over the dam. We saw a small path going downwards so we thought to ourselves "all roads lead to Rome"!!! We took this and it lead us to a fenced bank of the river Krishna. From here we could see the dam (Although not clearly). The water level over here was more or less how it was at the Tungabhadra dam, the river had swollen and hence the gates were fully open. The waves were more or less like the ones you would normally sea on the beach. This did not look like a river at all. The winds were blowing so hard that it was difficult for us to stand in one position. Anyway spent around 15 minutes here and took as many pics as we could. Found plenty of dragonfly's on the ground as they were not able to fly due to the wind!!!

Next stop Gol Gumbaz Bijapur!!! A distance of about 75 kms was covered pretty quickly as the roads were pretty good. Entered Bijapur and it was around 1:15PM in the afternoon. Our stomachs were making a lot of noise by this time and hence we stopped over for some lunch. The first hotel that we saw had a suffix "international" (Don’t remember the name though) and hence we immediately pulled over and ran into the restaurant and we could immediately see that there was nothing international about it. However we were too hungry and immediately ordered for a nice plate of chicken biryani which we thought we would share. Apparently this was not enough for both of us :). Out came another plate of Mutton biryani and voila in 10 mins the plates were shiny clean!!! :) I must say this...although there was nothing international about the place the biryani was lip smacking good!!! Next stop The Gol Gumbaz and nothing to stop us now. We reached Gol Gumbaz and noticed a very similar pattern that we noticed in Hampi; Entry Fees - Indian - Rs10, Foreigners - Rs250. This was absolutely ridiculous and when Gauti asked the person in the counter as to why this massive difference in entry fee the guy just gave us the blankest look I’ve ever seen in my life and that was all she wrote!!! Anyway we bought the tickets for the camera and for ourselves and entered the main area. The Gol Gumbaz was much bigger than what I had read about in my history class in school. It is actually pretty massive. It is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur. There was a building right infront of it. We noticed that a board on it said "Archaeological Survey of India and Musuem". We did not have enough time and hence we skipped this. Went straight into the Gol Gumbaz. It was quite disturbing to see what was happening inside actually. People inside were yelling on top of their voices to check the acoustics. The acoustics of the Gol Gumbaz is one of the best I’ve ever heard so far. The "Whispering Gallery" was to place to be once inside and we had to walk in the towers to reach the whispering gallery. The towers are 7 stories high and the steps were very steep indeed. We finally got into the whispering gallery gasping for air. It was unbelievable to see what was happening here too. Names scribed on the walls of the dome, people standing on opposite sides of each other and yelling on top of their voices while all it took was a whisper. The Dome is 44 metres in diameter and the acoustics are out of this world. Gauti and I stood opposite to each other, one on each end of the diameter. I went close to the wall and just whispered Hello; Gauti on the other side could hear it loud and clear. Back came a response "what the hell...how can i hear you so clearly??????” We were blown away by the acoustics. After being amazed by this engineering wonder we came out of the gallery and onto the terrace. It was a very pleasant view from the top and we could see and hear the whole city, greenery everywhere and large signs or urbanization too. Once we settled down and had seen enough it was time to leave.

Next Stop - Jumma Masjid. Took us some time to find the entrance to this. Finally found the entrance and parked Sati Parvati there. Got out of the car and we had to walk up a flight of stairs to enter the main area. Our legs were already hurting climing the steep stairs in Gol Gumbaz and now we had to climb some more stairs. Somehow we managed to drag ourselves up the stairs and entered the main prayer area. One of the most peaceful places ive been in and was well maintained too. One part of the wall was decorated in what looked like brass. However when we went close to it to see what it was a gentleman there was kind enough to explain to us that the whole part was plated in Gold and I’m not too sure if he said whether half the Quran or the full Quran was inscribed on this. Whatever it was, it was beautiful. Clicked few pics over here and the decided to leave soon as it was already 3:30 in the afternoon. We still had to visit Ibrahim Rauza and the Malik-e-Maidan which is the largest medieval cannon in the world, Being 4 m long, 1.5 m in diameter and weighing 55 tons.

Next Stop - Ibrahim Rauza. A loud generator sound is what we heard as soon as we got out of the car. I was wondering why was a generator needed in a monumnet. We were pretty curious to know what was happening and hence asked a couple of Cops who were standing there. They mentioned to us that a Kannada movie was being filmed and hence all the wires and the generators. Gauti and I were very curious to see who the actors were and rushed inside. To my greatest surprise i could see our very our KANNADA MOVIE ROCKSTAR JAGGESH!!!!! Funny as he is his attire could give Govinda a run for his money. A huge crowd had gathered to see the shooting and Gauti and I had our share of laughs looking at the whole scenario there. Now coming to the location itself. It is easily the most beautiful structure in Bijapur. This was built by the 6th king-2nd Ibrahim Adilshah between 1610-1626 to be his wife Taj Sultana's Burial Palace. However the irony here is that he died before the queen did and he was buried there before her. Here there are two buildings on a common platform, surrounded by beautiful gardens on three sides. These buildings have perfect domes at the top with crescent moons and symmetrical minarets at the four corners. Between them is the water pool with a fountain in it. The left building is the one that contains the tombs of he king, his queen, his daughter, two sons and his mother. It has minarets that rise to a height of 24 meters and are considered the inspiration for the minarets of the Taj Mahal. We clicked loads of pics here and then decided to move on to the last thing that we wanted to see - Malik-e-Maidan

We reached Malik-e-Maidan pretty soon as it was just a kilometre away from Ibrahim Rauza. Again we had to climb some more steps and went right on top to see the Cannon. It was pretty big indeed. The great Muzzle is in the shape of a lion with open jaws, and between the sharp curved fangs is a small elephant on both sides of the muzzle. The small ears have been drilled into holes to attach tackles. A Guide on Top sheepishly asked us if we needed him to explain what it was at a nominal price. We politely declined as we had done our homework previously. It was already late evening and it looked like the sun would set in the next hour or so. We decided to leave as we had to drive all the way to Badami as we had planned to spend the night at Badami. The roads from Bijapur to Badami are also in a very decent condition and we covered the distance of a 120 kms in 2 hours. We were in Badami by 7:30 PM. We stopped first at

Hotel Badami Court

as it looked like a good place to stay in. I got off the car and went up to the reception to find out about the prices. The guy at the reception told me that it would cost us around 4000 per day. I got back and we drove off without looking back!!!! We drove towards the town and stayed in a lodge (again ive forgotten the name) which was right next to Rajsangam international hotel. We had decided that we will stay at badami for two nights and then leave to Gokarna, hence we got a quote of 1300 for two days. After some bargaining we got the rooms at Rs 1100 for two nights. It is a pretty average room with TV and Hot water available in the morning. Also a BAR attached to the lodge we were staying at we could ask for nothing more. Kept our bags in the room and headed out for dinner. Gauti met one of his friends (David) from Spain at badami as he and another friend of his had come to the same place that we were dining at. Pulled some chairs together and with a couple of hours and drinks at our disposal we had a ball of a time. Went back to the room and both of us crashed within a few seconds I think. End of a busy day 2