8th
December 2013
“We must go
beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the
wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our
journey.” – John Hope Franklin
We have reserved
the 2nd day to explore the 2 things. One is the trek to Matunga
hills and other one is to explore the Kishkinda and other sights which are
across the river.
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| Most difficult turn on our trek to Matanga. Critical point for vertigo |
We have put up
an alarm of 5:30 am but wake up at 6:30 and were ready by 7:30. We had light
breakfast at one of the roadside vendor. As we had to
trek Matunga hills, we prefer easily available idli and took an Auto from Hampi
Bazaar to the place from where we need to start the trekking. The place was
very near and there is no need of an auto but I thought we were late so we
prefer auto.
We started trekking
for Matunga Hills at 8 am and completed it around 10 am. It was quite
challenging and enjoyable. Read it in detail about it here.
We spent a beautiful time up there at Matuga hills.
"Remember
that time spent on a rock climb isn't subtracted from your life
span." -- Will Niccolls
We came back, cross the river by mechanized
boat which took around 2 minutes and reach across river at 11. Please note that
all the places in Hampi are very near to each other and do not take much time. Environment
was quite Goan type across river. All the restaurants, roads, ambiance and
people were just like Goa. My memories of Goa became refreshed.
There was
series of restaurants and the instrumental meditational sort of music was
played everywhere.Must visit place
across river is Anjaneya Parvat which is considered as birth place of Lord Hanuman
and is famous among foreigners as Monkey temple. There are 2, 3 more temples and
Pampa sarovar which is actually lake where Parvati performed penance to show
her devotion to Shiva.
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| We sitting at Moped |
We were contemplating about how to start and as Anjaneya
temple was little far, we were confused whether to hire cycle, moped or take an
auto. There was 1 very good restaurant Gautami. We went into it for some
breakfast. It was a good restaurant and manager recommends us to take moped. We
hired moped and went to Lord Hanuman temple. The route was very beautiful. Don’t
expect proper road but it will take you into very interior and also offers some
splendid landscapes.
There were
around 580 steps to reach to the top. We parked our Moped and started climbing
the steps. As soon as we started, 1 monkey jumped from tree on the shoulder of
my wife. Before we can understand anything or can take photograph, he took the
banana that was coming out of one of the pocket of the bag and vanished. My
wife enjoyed it very much however, I became little scared as there were large
no. of monkeys in that place. And it is also believed that all the monkeys belong
to some deity of that age.
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| Entrance of the temple. Temple can be seen at the top of the hill, white colored |
Temple was at great height and it was looking
difficult to reach but once started, we reached at the top in less than half an
hour.
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| Paddy field view from Goan Corner restaurant |
After coming
back to, we rode a lot in the village exploring different restaurants. I had
read a lot about the Goan corner restaurant and went straight to it. It was at
the other end of the village. Though it was accessible by bike, the route was
long. You can walk though the paddy field also which is a shorter route. We ordered pasta
here.
After enjoying the ambiance and the superb view of paddy fields that this
offers, we headed straight to Laughing Buddha.
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| Laughing Buddha |
This place was also very nice
and offers a stunning view of Virupaksha temple. We relaxed there for 2 hours,
had some good food and finally crosses the river again.
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| View from Laughing Buddha Restaurant |
At 4:30, we reach the place from where coracle
boats were working. We boarded a boat and ride in the river amidst the numerous
boulder sites which don’t know how balancing each other. Read more about it here.
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| Me enjoying the ride |
After the trip,
we walked the Hampi town and Hampi Bazaar and contemplating about that era when
Hampi was inhabited by the Kings. We reached our room at 6: 30 and rest for an
hour and then again started exploring restaurants. Though I do not each much
while traveling, I didn’t know what had happened to my taste buds at this place.
It appears to me that have woken up from the deep slumbers in Hampi. We went to
sleep at 11.
Day 1:
Day
2:
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