Hampi (also known as Pampa Kshetra)

We started our 2 day trip to Hampi on Thursday evening from Bengaluru. We planned our travel via bus from Green Line Travels and Holidays (booked from redBus) and it was scheduled at 10:45 PM from Anand Rao Circle to Hampi Kamalapur. This was an AC sleeper bus and had comfortable seats, fairly well maintained sheets and pillows for use. It was a 6h30m overnight journey and we reached Hampi Kamalapur Friday morning.

We were dropped at Kamalapur, this is where you can book autos towards Hampi and this can be done as a drop off facility but the auto drivers will lure you to buy full day plans as one of the ways of exploring the sites at Hampi is via Auto. So, these packages vary based on the season you are travelling. We were there at October end and their packages were roughly around 1500/- for a full day auto tour which is fair enough I would say as you get to see everything and its a pickup and drop everywhere and the auto driver acts as the guide for you as he knows all the places in and out in terms of history too.

Believe you me, one thing I loved about Hampi were the auto drivers, humble & down to earth people

Alright, let’s begin. So, we had 2 days in hand and a hell load of stuff to visit see and enjoy. We were two people and took a room near Virupaksha Temple which cost us around 700 for the day (it was basically an extra room the localities had kept for renting out whenever tourists/visitors came to Hampi). It was a decent room with attach bathroom and served our purpose of baggage handling and a peaceful night sleep.

We freshened up and booked an auto right outside where we were staying who agreed for 1200/- full day tour.

So, here’s all that we covered on the very first day:

Vitthala Temple

Lotus Mahal (must visit)

Queen’s Bath (must visit)

Elephant Stables (must visit)

The Royal Enclosure (must visit)

Hemakuta Hill Complex

Virupaksha Temple (must visit)

When you enter Virupaksha Temple, you are greeted by Laxmi, the elephant who blesses you by placing her trunk on your head only and only if you give her money. We tried offering her bananas and she just ate them and when we gave her 10 bucks, she blessed us. No fruits works, only money, it’s a must see in the Virupaksha I will say.

We ended Day 1 trekking up the Hemakutu Hill complex where we enjoyed the sunset. The trekking wasn’t that challenging and it took over 40 minutes for us to reach the top of the hill and we were bang on time to enjoy the sunset along with which we had the view of the Tunghabhadra river.

We stopped at Laughing Buddha, Gowthami and Mango Tree and some other places to eat and we were satisfied with the food, the service and the ambience mostly.

The most difficult problem visitors face during Hampi visit is cash availability as the network in the area is poor and PayTM/GPay/etc transfer facilities are rarely there. So you need to have enough cash to suffice for two days at least which would be roughly 4-5K. We ran out of cash and had to rush to Kamalapur (where the bus dropped us, is a good 10 KM away from Hampi) because the only one or two ATMs were present in that area, and not in Hampi.

Day 2 was about exploring the Hippie side of the island which has cafes and has places where you can just sit, chill and relax. We booked our stay for Day 2 at Shanthi Goes House which is probably the last one in the line of guest houses you will see at the Hippie side. This place cost us 1600/- and we were given a cottage with attached bathroom and this place was better than Day 1 stay we had booked. This place also had a common dine area which had a good view and people could just sit and chill. Some were into their books whereas others were having a great time playing UNO. We also came across some Europeans and South Americans there.

I forgot to mention that you need to go to the Hippie side from ancient Hampi either via ferry/boat which has a fixed morning to evening schedule till 5 PM or via auto which costs a fortune I would say. Once you reach the Hippie side, you have the Kishkinda Trek for sunset, some amazing cafes to sit, chill and relax and scooter rent availability to explore around if you know how to ride a 2 wheeler. The ride is an enjoyable experience with both sides of the road surrounded by lush green lands. The scooter rent is a bargain game that you need to play well enough to get a good condition scooter under 500 for a day.

After the two day fun on b both sides of Hampi, we took a bus back from Kamalapur to Bengaluru which is another happening story I would want to share. Remember, how I told you the auto drivers are humble guys, so we checked out from Hampi stay (Shanthi Guest House) in the evening and booked an auto for Kamalapur. We couldn’t have the dinner as we were running late, so we packed and left and it started raining cats and dogs on the way. Furthermore, we couldn’t trace the bus as the route map wasn’t available from RedBus and we were waiting at the bus stand. We were hungry and we had no place to stand/wait. The auto driver suggested we sit in the auto till the bus comes and he also went ahead to see if there were some restaurants available providing food but with no luck. He waited with us for an hour or so just so that we could board the bus and only left when we boarded and he didn’t ask or charge us anything extra but yes, we did tip him for what he did for us and while we waited for the bus to arrive, he and I played LUDO on his phone and we both won one game each, haha!

So, overall it was a fun experience and the place was worth it. Although everything couldn’t be covered in 2 days, we still made the best use of time and enjoyed everything that we could that came our way. Our favourite experiences were Laxmi, the Elephant, the coracle ride in the backwaters and the way the auto driver went a step ahead for his customer’s concern.

If you go to Hampi, you could use these contacts:

Scooty Rental: 8762439533

Auto Drivers for Full Tour: 9880144595 (Rudra), 9620038214(Bunny), 8277176343(Ganesh)

Coracle Ride in Backwaters in cheap price: 8884924927(Nagaraj)