Hampi , Land of ruins and Jewel of Vijaynagara Empire

Hello Readers, Welcome to my another blog. This time it is the land of stories, Vijayanagar (Hampi).
There are many ruins in India that have some story to tell but this is Hampi, which has preserved its beauty even after many hundred years.

Ruins telling the story

The month of December, I was still trying to get over from my Spiti trip but Hampi was always in my plan and this time I was all set for this.
In this blog, you will be going through all the details of Hampi, places to visit, food to eat, where to stay, how to roam around the city, etc.

What to expect in Hampi  : -

The ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire present in Hampi, which are included in the World Heritage Site, show that in its glorious past, the artists developed a unique style of architecture, painting, and sculpture.
While walking in Hampi, many times it seems, that we are in the middle of medieval history and you start realizing how grand history of ancient India must have been and how foreign invaders must have ruined it.

Land of ruins and stories, Vithal temple

The artistry you will see in temples of Hampi will be telling you the story of unlimited talent and creativity of Indian artists in ancient times.

A Glimpse of artistry 

Vitthala Temple :

Vitthala Temple is an outstanding example of exquisite art and architecture. The historians behind the stone chariot tell that King Krishnadeva Ray was so impressed by the chariot stuck on the wheels of Konark temple that he got the same chariot built in Vijayanagar.

The most iconic stone chariot  

Found this in our currency note too

Behind the chariot, there is Mahamandap temple. The musical pillars inside this temple can surprise anyone. With these beautifully carved pillars, 60 instruments can be heard. 

The British tried to break it down and to find if something is there inside pillars, but they too did not find anything. It was solid inside. These columns are a living example of Indian ancient engineering skills.

The glory of Hampi empire 

Musical Pillars

Elephant Stable :

Lotus Mahal :

Design of each door of this building is like Lotus 

Ranga Temple :

Another beautiful ruin

Mahanavami Dibba :

Example of artistry and engineering
(used for bathing of the queen in that era)

The island Part

All these are on one side of the river Tungabhadra. When you cross the river and go to the other side, you will see a different side of Hampi.
This is more mythological and related to Lord Ram when he came in this part of the country in search of Sita.

The river can be crossed by boat or using a bridge. There are Durga temple, Hanuman temple. Many hippies can be found alongside the river at this part. I decided to go to Hanuman Mandir first and had to climb 600 steps to reach t the top. But all was worth it when I got this panoramic view from the top.

Funny coracle ride to cross the river

View from Hampi Island

Sunset point from Island
(It was very cloudy so no sunset on that day )

Some mysterious caves

Stones, ruins, stories, myths 

Ram temple:

According to beliefs, Lord Ram stayed and worshipped Shiva in this temple for  4 months. There are many pieces of evidence of the Ramayana era can be found. Continuous chanting of Shree Ram takes you to that period and makes you realize the existence of God itself.

A small temple on top of the stone

According to beliefs, Shiva Lingas which was made by Lord Ram 

Padmanabham Temple:

Another stunning view

Rudra Narsimha

Virupakhsa Temple:

This temple is a unique example of artistic mastery and from a scientific point of view. People are still worshiping here for centuries unlike other temple which are ruin now . This was built by King Krishna Dev Rai in 1510 and the oldest temple of Vijayanagar.
There are underground rooms for meditation. In one of the room, there is a small hole which produces the inverse image of the top of the building inside the room. Today this technique is called "Pinned camera technique".

View of the temple from Othe side.

Small Trek towards Achyuturaya Temple :

Achyturaya temple can also be visited by road, but there is a more beautiful option
There is an old Hampi market behind the Virupeksha temple.  Once you cross the market, a small hill will be visible. You need to follow the terrain which leaves you exactly at Achyutaraya temple, and this is one of the most beautiful temples of Hampi. It takes around 30 minutes of walk.

Glory Of Achyutaraya temple

If you walk more about 20 minutes and cross this temple you can reach up to Vithal temple also. So, all these places can be covered by road or by just walking.

Where To Stay:

Hospet is the nearest town near Hampi where you can find many stay options with different budgets. If looking for homestays, they are available in Hampi near the Verupaksha temple. I stayed in Clark Inn hotel which is closest to Hampi (Kamlanagar) and with great facilities.

Food:

Be ready for typical south Indian cuisine. In the Hampi market (near Virupeksha ) you can find many food stalls on the streets with delicious Dosas, Idlis, Appe, etc.
But there are many good restaurants also in Kamla Nagar where you can chill and enjoy different varieties of food.
It is recommended to carry some packed food also if you are planning for a whole day visit to Hampi as you may not find many food stalls at these places.
But must try:
Mango Tree restaurant
Tibetian Kitchen
All tribes coffee shop

My love for south Indian food 😉

How to roam around the Hampi  and plan your day:

There are many options for this. You can rent a cycle, motorcycle, auto-rickshaw or cab. If you are staying in a hotel, they will provide you Hampi map with all those places. Based on the number and convenience get the taxi or auto or bike. There are signboards for each spot that can be followed easily and if you are in taxi/auto, they know almost all spots.
Hampi is divided in three zones,

• Vitthala Temple
• Virupaksha temple
• Island side

Spend a day in the Vitthala temple and nearby places. Reserve another day for the Virupaksha temple.
One day for the island should be enough so that Anjani temple and other parts of the island can be visited.

A map which is always useful when exploring new places.

In my opinion, get a cycle on rent and explore everything by yourself. That will be much more fun. Auto, taxis driver will say all these places are very far and will ask for 700 or 800 Rs. but actually, they are not. Get taxis, autos if you are with senior citizens.

Should you take a guide or not?

Outside every temple, you can find many guides. I would suggest taking a guide for the Vithal temple and Virupeksha temple only and negotiate well. But explore the other temples on your own. If you want to dig more then buy a book in Hampi and read there. It will be more informative.

People work hard for living
(Coracle ride)

Hope this blog was helpful to you. If you have any queries please comment below.
Happy traveling.
Keep traveling, Keep sharing.

Spiti , A land of mystery

Slow beginnings, some beautiful melodies , few crazy buildups and then boom .
This is not the composition of any post rock song , this is my story of Spiti.
Hello Readers , I welcome you all to join my Spiti journey  , a land of mystery where God himself resides .

The beautiful land of Lama

What we planned:-

We were a group of 7 members and we decided not to do any bookings from any agency. We all took the responsibility to manage the accommodation of each place.

As part of planning this trip, we rented tempo traveler, all places accommodation, including one buffer day in case of any road blockages.

How we Planned :

Overall planning took some time. It took around 1 month. After reading many blogs and doing research we got a contact of Tempo traveler driver , Hans Raj Ji. (All contacts are given below).
After some more research of the Spiti region, we finalized the itinerary.
We planned Shimla -> Kaza -> Chandratal -> Manali route.
With help of Hans Raj Ji and Google (our driver) we came across some good accommodation options , including homestays and Hotels.

Spiti circuit :  

This is what we planned to cover, String from Chandigarh upto Manali

After all this planning we were all set for the lifetime epic road trip of Spiti.

Day 1 - Chandigarh to Narkanda:

It all started from Chandigarh where I met my friends in our vehicle .
In temp traveler, few known and few unknown faces but all eyes had same excitement. Finally we all were set for Spiti.
We started from Chandigarh around 12:30 PM  towards Narkanda . It took just 2 hours and we were already in mountain roads. 

Just before reaching Narkanda

A quick stop for lunch and around 8 PM we reached AAA hotel, Narkanda. A good dinner and sound sleep . Noway we could have been tired as we all knew it is just beginning and there were more longer journeys were waiting for us.

Day 2 - Narkanda to Sangla :

At 6 AM ,I opened my door and there were hundreds of Apple trees with thousands of Apples hanging on them.
It was a pleasing sight.

Morning view In Narkanda

Apple Gardens

We started our day early as Narkanda to Sangla is 160KM and we also planned some  en-route sightseeing.
Our first stop was Hatu peak ( 15 km ahead from  Narkanda) .There is a small but beautiful temple also at the top.
Due to very narrow roads ,vehicle couldn't go to the top so we took Taxi to go to peak.

Temple at Hatu Peak

View of  Valley from Hatu Peak

It took around 3 hrs to explore the peak and temple there .
We were back to our traveler and continued our journey . Roads were getting narrower and beautiful and lush green color of valley were so pleasing to eyes. Apple trees were all around us.
Few more Kilometers , and we were in middle of most threatening roads already.
Huge mountains , narrow roads , alongside river. All these were not dream . Everything was real.

On the way to Sangla , Some threatening roads 

Around 9 PM we reached our stay at Sangla . River side Camps at Apple orchards . The way from Narkanda to Sangla took some good time but all the way was so beautiful and mountains are so huge that you can not take your eyes off them.
Surprisingly no one was looking tired .

Best way to call it a day. Dinner at Apple orchards

Day 3 - Sangla to Chitkul :

Waking up at 6 AM with soothing sound of birds and river waves were the highlight of this stay.

My Camp at Apple orchard , Sangla

River , Mountains , clouds - simply Magnificent
Apple orchards , Sangla

Sangla to chitkul is short but very beautiful drive . We reached Chitkul around 11 AM and stayed in Zostel.

Some more spectacular views

View from Zostel, super cool place to stay in such heights

I never imagined that Chitkul may have such splendid view .

Yes..it is that beautiful

River side moments

It was a relaxed day and serenity of this place was taking us to some another level . A short walk took us to the river (Baspa) side which was perfect for chilling .
Reading book , listening song , walk and talk or just sitting . Everything was just perfect when you are at the river side.
There is a Dhaba of Negi ji which is last Dhaba of India , everyone had Rajma chawal there.
We had enough time to explore the Chitkul village.

Last Dhaba Of India

Staying in Zostel is itself a different experience .delicious food and friendly hosts .
Chitkul is at height of 3,450 meters and that was enough to be hit by AMS. We all had headache and breathing issues there but drinking more water and having good sleep always help to overcome from AMS. 

Day 4 - Chitkul to Kalpa :

This route has most dangerous roads but most scenic.Mountains were getting dry . All those green valleys were left behind.

Endless journey

On the way we visited Nag temple and Budha monastery which is 150 years old monastery.

Budha Monastery, Kalpa

Now i tell you why I said Kalpa has deadliest roads . Spot our vehicle there 👇

Suicide point  , Kalpa

We checked in to White nest Hotel in Kalpa and had lunch.
This hotel provides the best view of Kinner Kailash and we could spend our evening starring those lovely peaks.

View of Kinner Kailash Peak

Day 5 - Kalpa to Tabo:

We were getting into the core of spiti . In the Middle of barren mountains . The shining mountains.the flowing river and our moving traveler . Every turn has something new to offer .

Barren mountains

On the way we found a spot which had confluence of two rivers ( spiti and Baspa) in  place known as Khaab.

Confluence of two rivers (Spiti and Baspa)  

Scenes were getting more beautiful in each turn . We didn't want to reach the destination . We were not tired . All we wanted was to keep on looking those mountains .

Such roads and Grey mountains 

We took a stop to Nako had lunch there and visited a very old monastery , explorer small Nako village and lake.

Nako Lake....villagers believe the day this lake dries up , this village will  be over

View from Nako village

Different shades of mountains

Our next stop was Gheun village which has India's first mummy situated there .

This temple has the first Mummy , Gheun

After all these stops we finally made it to Tabo.
We stayed there at Namsay homestay. Namsay is one of the most beautiful homestays we have been to. Wonderful location, delicious food, and friendly host. I would recomment to stay here if you want to feel the beauty of this village.

Day 6 - Tabo to Mud :

Another  morning and stunning views of mountains .
Here we visited oldest monastery from 996 AD

Tabo monastery 

We were stunned by looking some strange shaped mountains .

Some magnificent views and shapes

It was very difficult to believe what we were seeing .  Throughout the journey ,Baspa river was flowing along with roads.
Tabo to Kaza is straight road but we had to take left diversion to go to Mud village, Pin valley national park.
On the way we so spotted Ibex

Spot the Ibex there

Mud village is ending point of pin Parvati pass trek which starts from Kasol .
On the way we visited Dhankar Monastery and Dhankar lake
To reach till lake , we had to trek around 2 hours. But the views around us was simply breathtaking .

Never imagined such desert in Himalayas

This trek had some more diversity of Himalaya to offer. This time desert.☝
As We were getting near to lake , landscape was getting wider and weird . A small patch of grass in a symmetric manner throughout the landscape was another perfect example of diversity in Himalaya .
Finally we made it

This sight is worth trekking 2 hours

This trek had easy to moderate difficulty level.
After getting down we visited Dhankar Monastery .

Aerial view of Dhankar lake

By the time we reached , it was too dark in mud.  We stayed here in Tara home-stay . Don't miss the Pizza at this place.

Day 7 - Mud to Kaza :

First sunlight of day , and we all were awaken to see the beauty of village .

Different colors mountains 

We had to travel to kaza and it was a short journey so we explored the village . This village  is also famous for peas.
It was time to leave for Kaza .

Another turn , another view

Unreal!!..on the way to Kaza

Every mountain there had different colors , different shapes . We were awestruck, clueless and , by the time we reached Kaza, We were already hypnotized by Spiti.
Finally we made it to kaza around 4 pm

Nature at its best

Here also we stayed in Zostel. This is really super cool place to stay .
Kaza is the most busy town in vally and we could see many shops , markets , vehicles .
There is famous Himalayan cafe in market. We had dinner there .
Sleeping in dormitories along with group is so much fun in Zostel.

Day 8 - Kaza exploration , key monastery, Kibber village :

To explore Kaza and visit other places we decided to rent bikes. First site to visit was famous key monastery .If you ask me what is the first thing I imagine when talk about spiti , my answer would be this place . Key monastery.
Riding a bike till key monastery and capturing below image was best moment of this expedition.

Moment of the whole trip !!, Key Monastery 

To get this splendid aerial view of monastory we actually had to climb a small peak . After reaching that spot i clicked thousand of photos 😄. But that one was just perfect.
After seeing this view whole -heartedly we got down finally.
We had lunch there in small restaurant near key monastery.
From here we drove to kibber village which is now declared as sanctuary .Kibber is a small but very beautiful village.

Peaceful !!

It was getting dark and we went back to kaza .

Day 9 - Kaza to Langza ( a twist in the journey ) :

Everyday We were getting up early as we had to travel somewhere or explore , but this day was different . It rained last night and rained heavily . Locals of Kaza said they never seen such heavy rain from very long time .
Then news came that all roads are blocked due to landslides on both sides of Kaza.
Our dream of Langza was fading away but we had nothing in our control. Around 10 AM it was getting brighter so did our smiles. Kaza to Langza is just 1 hr so we all were optimistic to reach there.
Time was running fast and it was already lunch time . After lunch we finally  made up to Langza .But let me tell you, drive till Langza is scariest drive till date. It just took breath away at many places . After few life threatening turns , I left everything to almighty (to our skilled Bus driver actually )😀
Conditions were  getting worst due to rain last night.

Event the routes were clear but still small stones were on the roads and they were threatening 

But the moment we touched the Land of Langza , we all were lost there .
Different colors of landscapes , wide range of mountains , and above all it was Budha statue facing the mountains.

The Buddha Statue

The Langza Village

What if i tell you we were not ready to sleep that day just because next morning we have to leave that place .
Suddenly we all got quite.We all just wanted to be there for life long .
Lara homestay is very famous here in while Spiti , and this was the best stay we had till that day .
After dinner we went to rooftop and experienced the brightest night of our life time .

Amazing Langza

Day 10 - Back to kaza ---A day of broken hearts :-

As per plan , today we had to reach Chandratal but we got news that all roads towards chandratal and chandratal to Manali are blocked .It was difficult to digest that we are missing chandratal . But nothing could we do .
We went to Komic village which is the highest moterable village in the world at the height of 15500 feet . Here we had Seabuckthon (local tea) at world highest cafe .

World's Highest cafe at Kommic

We also had to skip Hikkim(where world highest postoffice is situated ) due to risky roads there, but we managed to post out postcards . We gave our letters to the guy at restaurent in Komic and he agreed to post them .
While I am writing this blog , some of my friends has already received the letters .

It was time to go back to kaza . As per our new plans we should be reaching to Kalpa tonight but we got hit by another bad news that Kaza to Kalpa route is also blocked due to landslides . So we had to stay back in Kaza for that day also .
There is a mountain just in front of Zostel . So I hiked that in my free time .

Day 11 - Kaza to Kalpa :

Many tourists were stucked in kaza for four days . Situations of Chandratal and Manali were getting worst . News of floods in this area were all around the country.
Our dream journey was coming to end .
We all were leaving with heavy hearts.
We were going through familiar huge mountains ( which probably were smiling this time  😊)
We checked in to same Hotel in Kalpa, White nest .

Day 12 - Kalpa to Chandigarh:

Last day of our journey .
We kept looking Kinner Kailash peak until it was visible .
Spiti mountains were flashing in-front of us.
Those colors , shape , landscapes , home-stays , Lamas , monasteries , villages , roads were not allowing us to accept that we are entering into city .First time in 12 days I checked my e-mails , social media messages .
I welcomed back myself to this world.
Yes Spiti is another world .

Our journey ended. The dream was over.

Things to carry :

Keep sufficient water bottles and eatable always . Drinking more water help to acclamatize.
Sometime it gets windy and very cold so keep enough warm cloths .
Carry enough cash . ATM is available only in Kaza and people deal there in cash only .
Download offline Google map of region.

Best Time to visit :

Mid June to September end is the best time to go to Spiti. Please note Spiti is rain shadow area and it doesn't rain heavily. But places en-route to Spiti may have heavy rain fall during this time and it increases the chances of landslides.
After October to April / May it remains cover with snow and mostly all roads are inaccessible during this time. So plan your travel accordingly and always keep buffer days to your itinerary as landslide and getting stuck there is not very surprising.

Who made this possible :

Above all it was the group who made this journey possible and filled every second of this trip with joy and happiness. 

Crazy Spitian.

As final note, please remember life is very harsh in mountains . There is no harm in paying extra to those home stays and little shops.

Life is difficult in mountains