The Hampi Diaries : #7 The end? Nah. Just the Second Day.
Its amazing how I haven't yet closed the final chapter of the Hampi Diaries but am itching to write about the Jaipur Literature Festival that I attended over the Republic Day long weekend. But I shall finish what I first committed to.
Lunch at the Mango Tree.
Now, when you reach the ... 'gate' of the Mango Tree, you need to park your cycles there and walk a bit (I think the boards put up there said it was just a 1 minute long walk to Mango Tree). It's a nice, winding lane with trees on both sides. One honestly wouldn't know what to expect once you start walking on that path. And then suddenly, you hear voices and soon enough, see the faces behind those voices. We had gone at a time which would have been peak lunch hour. Naturally, a lot of people were waiting to get tables to eat. We didn't have to wait much and managed to get a place in about less than 10 minutes. The ambiance is terrific. So the idea is such that, there is a pavement along a huge mango tree, and people sit on mats on that pavement and eat. Apart from that, there's a little amphitheatre-ish seating arrangement as well. The beauty lies in it facing the Tungabhadra River. Amazing stuff.
The menu has a lot of different cuisines and even Nutella sandwiches! The prices are decent - especially commensurate with the amount of food. I had the Mushroom Dry Fry with Rotis - LOVED it. My cousins had a thali each - SO MUCH FOOD! It was great. Even though we didn't try it, we heard a lot of people order what seemed like the house specialty - the Mango Lassi.
After that amazing meal, it was time to say goodbye to the Mango Tree as well as our bicycles, unfortunate on both accounts. Once we returned the cycles from where we had hired them, we got around to meeting our Auto Walah. First stop was the Vitthala Temple.
There are two ways to get to the Vitthala Temple from the point where cars/autos/buses are stopped. You could choose to walk up the 1 kilometer long walk or pay Rs. 10 and hop on board the government-operated (or is it UNESCO-operated? Hmm) carts or well, elongated, high-capacity golf carts. We decided to walk it. Along the way, we took in the sites - the Gejjala Mandapa, Kuduregombe Mandapa and a Pushkarni (sacred tank). We stopped at the Pushkarni. And it was a warm afternoon, so water was appealing. But it looked beautiful! And it looked like something that had stayed static through the centuries.
The Vitthala Temple was truly something that I'd classify as a 'ruin'. The archway was half broken. When I entered it, it felt like a place that was probably a hub, an energetic place at some point and then maybe someday, someone plundered this place and tried to take away its beauty and just left it to look like it had been conquered. It was an eerily sad feeling but at the same time, I was admiring it. Anyway, for those of you who remember the Stone Chariot from their history books, here's where it is. Since the ASI was conducting some restoration work, some parts were closed to visitors. Also, from here, look across and you see the Anjaneyadri Hill Temple! It felt amazing to realize that we had climbed all the way up there.
On the way back, we took that long-high-capacity golf cart thing. Since we were low on time and had a train to catch that night, we didn't want to take a chance at missing the last boat (worst case scenario) back to the other Boat Point. And therefore, we had to pick and choose the places to visit or drive by. Our auto-walah stopped in front of the Queen's Palace and plainly told us ki 'is mein kuch nahi hai, bakwaas hai'. We decided to see the Mahanavami Dibba - solely because that's something I clearly remembered from my History textbooks. The Mahanavami Dibba is as such, not much to see. But back in the day, it used to be the place where rituals were conducted. Like a huge, high-rise stage.
Our next stop was the Lotus Mahal and Elephant Stables. The Lotus Mahal had a very Mughal/Delhi Sultanate feel to it. The design, that is. And the Elephant Stables looked like they had more space to live in that most people in Mumbai do. The issue however was, there was a crowd of teenaged school children who were a crazaaayyy bunch, super loud and just plain too many! And so, for the most part, we were running away and ahead of them! So we finished this quickly and headed back to the Boat Point.
Anyway, after all of that, we reached GGH. Chilled for a bit, got dinner packed and took a long journey through dark roads in the midst of boulder hillocks to a railway station (Munirabad) that was closer than compared to the Hospet station. That station was far shadier than Hospet in daylight and this was night. And to add to everything, the lights went out. And it was pitch black. And a goods train passed by as well. I guess we were lucky to not fall into the railway tracks!
The trip to Hampi will always be memorable. But this first trip was also sacrificial, as my cousin brother kept repeating. There is so much to see. And we didn't have much time or rather, didn't know how to go about it. Are we experts now? Not really. But we have a better idea about how to plan the next trip. In fact, give me a buzz (or a comment here - totally appreciated) if you need help in planning your trip. I've tried to cover most points I think that will be helpful for future travelers - I've even given you reasons to visit!
End of The Hampi Diaries (I guess it's never really the end. But yeah... for now.)
P.S. - I really think I had a few more pointers to write here but I can't remember anything! And sorry about posting after sooooo long. Anyway, happy my-second-favorite-month-of-the-year to you!
Lunch at the Mango Tree.
Now, when you reach the ... 'gate' of the Mango Tree, you need to park your cycles there and walk a bit (I think the boards put up there said it was just a 1 minute long walk to Mango Tree). It's a nice, winding lane with trees on both sides. One honestly wouldn't know what to expect once you start walking on that path. And then suddenly, you hear voices and soon enough, see the faces behind those voices. We had gone at a time which would have been peak lunch hour. Naturally, a lot of people were waiting to get tables to eat. We didn't have to wait much and managed to get a place in about less than 10 minutes. The ambiance is terrific. So the idea is such that, there is a pavement along a huge mango tree, and people sit on mats on that pavement and eat. Apart from that, there's a little amphitheatre-ish seating arrangement as well. The beauty lies in it facing the Tungabhadra River. Amazing stuff.
The menu has a lot of different cuisines and even Nutella sandwiches! The prices are decent - especially commensurate with the amount of food. I had the Mushroom Dry Fry with Rotis - LOVED it. My cousins had a thali each - SO MUCH FOOD! It was great. Even though we didn't try it, we heard a lot of people order what seemed like the house specialty - the Mango Lassi.
After that amazing meal, it was time to say goodbye to the Mango Tree as well as our bicycles, unfortunate on both accounts. Once we returned the cycles from where we had hired them, we got around to meeting our Auto Walah. First stop was the Vitthala Temple.
There are two ways to get to the Vitthala Temple from the point where cars/autos/buses are stopped. You could choose to walk up the 1 kilometer long walk or pay Rs. 10 and hop on board the government-operated (or is it UNESCO-operated? Hmm) carts or well, elongated, high-capacity golf carts. We decided to walk it. Along the way, we took in the sites - the Gejjala Mandapa, Kuduregombe Mandapa and a Pushkarni (sacred tank). We stopped at the Pushkarni. And it was a warm afternoon, so water was appealing. But it looked beautiful! And it looked like something that had stayed static through the centuries.
The Vitthala Temple was truly something that I'd classify as a 'ruin'. The archway was half broken. When I entered it, it felt like a place that was probably a hub, an energetic place at some point and then maybe someday, someone plundered this place and tried to take away its beauty and just left it to look like it had been conquered. It was an eerily sad feeling but at the same time, I was admiring it. Anyway, for those of you who remember the Stone Chariot from their history books, here's where it is. Since the ASI was conducting some restoration work, some parts were closed to visitors. Also, from here, look across and you see the Anjaneyadri Hill Temple! It felt amazing to realize that we had climbed all the way up there.
Anyway, after all of that, we reached GGH. Chilled for a bit, got dinner packed and took a long journey through dark roads in the midst of boulder hillocks to a railway station (Munirabad) that was closer than compared to the Hospet station. That station was far shadier than Hospet in daylight and this was night. And to add to everything, the lights went out. And it was pitch black. And a goods train passed by as well. I guess we were lucky to not fall into the railway tracks!The trip to Hampi will always be memorable. But this first trip was also sacrificial, as my cousin brother kept repeating. There is so much to see. And we didn't have much time or rather, didn't know how to go about it. Are we experts now? Not really. But we have a better idea about how to plan the next trip. In fact, give me a buzz (or a comment here - totally appreciated) if you need help in planning your trip. I've tried to cover most points I think that will be helpful for future travelers - I've even given you reasons to visit!
End of The Hampi Diaries (I guess it's never really the end. But yeah... for now.)
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