The Hampi Diaries : #3 Gowri Guest House

Control freak.

Those of you who have traveled with me, can testify that the above mentioned is a trait I personify only too well and quite naturally. But on this trip, I tried hard to tone it down - what with receiving feedback from family (read : parents) and friends.

In fact, I did that pretty much from the trip planning stage. Now, I don't remember when or why but I was apparently doing something super important and so, I didn't have time to look up options for and book accommodation. So, what I ended up doing was direct my control-freak tendencies in a different direction. I called up Chitti (my Aunt) or my Ma and reminded them every other day to book a hotel or guest house or just something! Our tickets and plans were in place, but if there was no place to stay ... 

Finally, one evening, Chitti sent an email with details of our stay for the 2 days and 1 night we'd be in Hampi : Gowri Guest House. Now, normally, I'd immediately Google it up and find out all that I could about the place and even run up Google Maps and figure out distances to places. But I decided to let the magic unfold for itself.

The people at Gowri (or GGH from here on out), sent over transportation to pick us up at the Hospet station - remember the Tata Magic I mentioned in the first post? Anyway, the thing is, there were a couple of elements that coloured our first impression of GGH :

• The ride from the train station felt not just like we were in the middle of nowhere but also perhaps travelling back some centuries in a Tata Magic instead of a DeLorean DMC-12 from Back To The Future.
• Every time we'd pass a village, we'd have passed it before it even began and thus, hopes of reaching GGH kept getting stretched, on and on and on.
• As much as either of us wouldn't be comfortable admitting it, we're city brats. Somewhat. Of course we won't go all out and complain about less city-like surroundings, but the only 'village' like area I've visited is Nadu Kaveri - where my Ma's family deity is present. And we were there for less than half a day. And no one gets to make a joke about how I lived in Chandigarh - the overgrown village. Its a super fancy mini-city, mind it.
• There's something about 21st Century India - tends to make you cynical. The news in the papers is usually always bad news, yknow. And when you're in a state where you don't speak the language, in a  vehicle with strangers in an area devoid of civilization ... 

Anyway, just when we thought we had passed the umpteenth tiny settlement, we took a side road and parked in front of Gowri Guest House. We saw a Bengali family chatting with a man who turned out be the owner, Mr Srinivas.

                 
Inside, it was pretty basic - a double bed, a couple of open shelves and a basic bathroom and clean too. Spartan, yet functional. Did I mention we're city brats and although it's not like we're used to Hiltons or staying in hotels for that matter, we are ... CBs. And like I mentioned, the ride to GGH definitely coloured our first impression. 




Anyway, as Arch first went into freshen up and get ready, Bhaiya and I decided to do a recce of the place and find out how far or close we were to civilization and how we could get to places or even get something to eat.

The view from the road adjoining the Sanapur Lake - this was
what lay in front of our rooms.

As we ventured ahead and towards Gowri Restaurant - dubious we felt, dubious we probably looked, too. Right when we turned back to head toward the room, a voice called out to us. It was Mr. Srinivas' son, Sri Harsha, or Nani - as we'd later learn to call him. He looked like the sort of person who never stopped smiling and was nice to everyone. Anyway, he asked if he could help us with anything. We asked about breakfast. He answered with options. We picked one - Idlis. He told us they'd be ready when we wanted them to be. Then, we decided to be bold and inquire some more. We asked about how one could get around here and where to begin. We got an answer that we became accustomed to, over the next day and a half - 'First you freshen up, eat and then I will tell you and we will plan.' And who were we to disagree with that. So, we went to our room. The thing is, just talking to a friendly face sorta helped.

Beyond the rooms.

Once we'd freshened up, ate, it was was time to talk and plan. I was waiting for Arch and Bhaiya to lock up the room, etc to join me at the Restaurant. I decided to ask Nani for a map - they had already arranged an Auto + Autowallah for us. Btw, thumbs up to Gowri Wi-Fi Spot and printing facilities. And the autowallah was super nice himself. So was his little son, who journeyed with us :)

Gowri Restaurant felt like a nice, Goan shack. Airy and comfortable. The food was prepared by Mrs Sreenivas, almost sort of on demand. There was no menu card - we wanted something simple, some dal, sabji, roti and chawal. And of course, dahi/thair - because we're Tamil and must assert the right to eat Thair Chadam (Dahi Chawal) anywhere and everywhere we go. We were also treated to some home-made mango pickle! Breakfast on day one saw some yum Idlis and on day two, dosas! And on both days - awesome coconut chutney.

We had an interesting mix of people stay around the same time as we did, ranging from two Tamil biker dudes to European photography enthusiasts to a north Indian couple on a short holiday and further a British couple who had driven down in a Maruti 800 from Goa! On our first evening/night, a bunch of sat and watched the entire T20 match between India and Pakistan, on Christmas in Bengaluru. It was interesting that none of the Indians remembered or knew about the match and it was this middle-aged British gentleman who asked to switch on the TV so we could watch the match.

Going the Google Plus style, here's what I'd give a +1 to about GGH :
Owners/staff/people who run the place.
Running hot water!
It's pretty close to the Sanapur Lake, makes for a good walk.
Wi-fi.
Serene surroundings.
Clean!

And here're somethings that I wouldn't give a +1 for, but neither a -1 :
No mirror in the bathroom! Or a health faucet.
There seems to be a little power outage issue in the area - but they don't use the generator much because according to Nani, it's way noisy.
Super far from Hospet station.
It is at a little distance from the Hampi boat point - but there seemed to be many hotels/guest houses lining up the area next to the Boat Point which makes that area way too crowded, so I guess this was okay.

GGH was a really nice place to stay. The super amiable owners eased us in and helped us without really being overbearing. One of the reasons I wished I could've stayed a day or two more was so that I could spend an entire day, sitting on the jhoola, reading a book. It's just one of those places that make you want to do that.