Weekend Travel to Lord of Historical Monument Hampi_Vijaynagar dynasty_ Karnataka_India

Best time to visit: July to Jan of the year

How to reach: By train _ Nearest Railway station Hospet Jn. Often connectivity from the cities like Banglore , Hubli and Madagoa ( Goa). 

Nearest airport is Hubli domestic airport. 

Ideal transportation for the budgeted traveler would be the train to Hospet Jn. According to the current railway timings, you will reach Hopset jn in the morning around 8am. From there you can go by walk to bus station, it is just 1.4km away. And do not forget to have your breakfast at Naivedya restaurant which falls on the way to bus station. Bus fare to Hampi would be 16rs from Hospet.  

Accommodation : You can enjoy the homestays and hostel near the Tungabadra river sides or else you can take hotels near Kamalapur which is cheaper and 4km away from the Hampi temple complex. Since the bus facility is fantastic to reach Hampi , kamalapur would be ideal location for the stay.

How to roam around: There are many ways to travel around like, by walk (If you are staying for 7 day mins ) , by taking the bicycle for rent where you need to pay 150 rs per day ( If you are staying min for 4 to 5 days) and faster way to explore would be the local autos where they charge 1000rs to 1200 rs for a day. But you can also have a brief of Hampi within 2 days.

Best restaurant to enjoy the food is Mango Tree near Tungabadra river and Virupaksha temple.

About Hampi, The Great Vijaynagar Dynesty:

Vijay nagar empire was the second richest kingdom after Beijing during 15th century.  The city has been compared to Rome in its richness, size and attractive art and culture of the kingdom. During this time, more importants  has been given to the Art and sculpture, roads and infrastructure. Vijaynagar architecture was the dravidian style earlier and later scattered to whole Hampi including temples, palaces, bazaars, mandapas, gardens and military structures. Where some of the monuments where the Jain style ( Hemakuta temple complex) and also indo-islamic style (Lotus temple and the Elephant stable) architecture. You could see the huge  art and cultural diversity within the empire. The group of monuments here were included in UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in the year 1986. And almost 5 year back from now Archelogycal department has been taken over the ruins. Before this , around 340 families used to stay near the hampi bazar place right infront of the Virupaksha temple. Later as per the order passed, families has been shifted to alternative place to make the bazar as the tourism place.  Almost all the monuments are ruined by the Islamic empires like khaljis and Tughlaqs during 13th century and again in 15th century attacks (Talikote attack) respectively. They say it took almost 6 months to destroy the heritage with the help of coalition of muslim sultanates, where the heritage was huge and  rich enough to give a tough time to the destroyers. This is one of the significant character of the heritage.  There on wards it was just a hidden heritage or you can say forgotten place till 1856 . Later a famous photographer called Alexander Green law had visited the place and captured the wealth of the ruins in his camera. You can still see those photos at the exhibition place near the Hampi police station at the market place. This is how again Hampi got stand its name back and research on the place has began. Nevertheless number of excavations carried out during the research. Now what ever you see over there as ruins were,once up on a time the flouring kingdom with prosperity. Each monument, each broken idol over there tells the hard story behind the ruins.  Adding to this, apart from main temple, Virupaksha and few once , no pooja would be performed since there is no idol inside the Garbhagraha in most of the temples. In Hinduism, if the idol is broken or fallen down , no worship would be performed or continued. After visiting the place , you will definitely experience mixed feelings where one side you are very proud of history and other side the ruins will remind you the destruction story of the rich art and culture of Vijaynagar dynasty.

Some pics during my visit 

·        Virupaksha temple

It is part of the Group of Monuments at Hampi, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Enjoy the view from the Hemakuta Hill temple complex. Sit and relax on the rock mountain . 

Hemakuta hill and temple complex

Hemakuta temple complex has combination of Jain and Dravidian architecture. 

·        Matanga Hill ( Sunrise and Sunset)

From Hampi bazar you could turn right and start climbing the hill which is Matanga . It takes around half an hour to climb and 10 mins to descend . Make sure that you reach the spot before sunset to enjoy the ethnical beauty of the Hampi ruins.

·      Tungabadra riverside and Kodandarama temple (Best to visit in evening time)

Visit during the evening. Best place to meditate. Here in you are interested you can go for boating. But they ask for more. Here you can test your bargaining skills. This place is just 1km away from the Virupaksha temple . Just walk towards the Hampi bazar and turn left before the Hampi Police station. From here you can walk towards the Pushkarani and from there to Achyutaraya temple.

·        Achyutaraya temple

After visiting the Achyutaraya temple , you can afford to do a small trek to climb the uphill and come towards the Hampi bazar top. 

·       Vijay Vittala temple and Talari Katta

·        Lotus Mahal

Palace place! Rich in carvings and architecture. No Palace remained touchable. This was a Gazebo for recreational activities.

·        Elephants stable

Elephants kept here for the Navaratri preparation.

·        Mahanavami Dibba

As name indicates this was the place for worship during Navaratri. All the cultural programme during this time used to performed over here.

·             Queens bath

This was the swimming pool of the queen. Where water supply was channelized from the water source which was 2km away. However you could able to see the drainage system and water supply system even though.

·       Remember one thing, Hampi is a celebration each time you visit , you enjoy different blossom. 

Roopkund _ Trek to the skeleton lake_ 2016 June

Region :- Uttarakhand 
Duration :- 8 Days 
Grade :- Moderate To Difficult 
Max Altitude :- 15,696 Ft. 
Approx Trekking Km :- 53 Kms. 

The line up crowd was slowly moving to the snow hill by crossing the icy weather condition , slippery adventures thin path with one side snow mountain and other side deadly valley . This was my first early morning trek at Himalayas , where we started our journey around 2am from our Bagwabasa campsite in the morning as per our technical guide's advise. It took almost 4 hrs to reach the most beautiful ever frozen lake "RoopKund". Stunning Beauty!!

It was a bit difficult and tiring journey though , by seeing the beauty of the lake most of us had wet eyes. The Divine feeling . The feeling when you find the internal real peace in your soul. The feel when you get satisfied after putting lot of energy and you reach your destiny. Like a mother , who forgets her pregnancy pain and get satisfied by seeing her new born. We all got emotional for sometime by seeing the scenic beauty and calmness of the lake . 

There are lot of hidden stories about this lake. This lake is the symbol of love towards Parvati by Shiva. This was created by Shiva for his wife to get ornamented during her Singara. Where she could see her reflection to get ready after her bath. 

Although the journey till the Bagwabasa is interesting enough to keep you motivated to walk towards the Mystery lake . More importantly , you can see the bunch of skeleton spotted all over the lake area.

 
It has been believed that a group of people who were in a urge to cross the mountain unfortunately a stroke of snow fall hit the area and they died on spot. Over the period , because of the snow and the low temperature skeletons has been naturally preserved by the nature. 

On the way to Bagwabasa , you are blessed to pass through a holy place called KaluVinayaka. Where it believed that Lord Shiva cut the head of Ganesha and replaced that with Elephant's head. There is a small Ganesha idle inside the stone made shelter. 

The over all 6 days trek with 2 days travelling with a minimum 1 month fitness workouts which is compulsory for a high altitude trek . Prepare yourself physically and mentally to enjoy the snow trekking.  Happy Trekking

Hallstatt _ The Heaven on Earth

The village Hallstatt is such an unbelievably spectacular place that even the Chinese have created a copy of the ancient salt mine village :) The most beautiful village I ever visited. It will teach you that "what is the meaning of LOVE at FIRST SIGHT .

How to reach _ If you are planning to do a Euro trip please add this in your must visited list. Better to rent a Car from Salzburg and drive to the most beautiful way to the hallstatt. In our case , since my brother stays over there in Munich, we were fortunate enough to enjoy the BMW to the destiny. 

The place is famous for its oldest salt mine of the World. Adding to that the beauty of Hallstatt enhances more due to the streets of the old city. 

An ancient salt mine with a subterranean salt lake and to skywalk hallstatt viewing platform. 

Best time to visit : May to September

Way to the Salt mine

Subterranean Salt lake

Street View

Bhimeshwari Water Fall - Hidden divine Water Fall

Location : Kogar Ghat - On the way to Bhatkal to Sagar ( Karnataka)
How to reach : Drive through  Bhatkal -Sagar state highway. After crossing around 25km towards Sagar , you find a board written Bhimeshwar Water fall on left hand side . Park your vehicle at the left side bit off inside the mud road which leads towards the water fall. Since the inclination is not decent please do not forget to apply the hand break before leaving the vehicle. Another option would be to  reach the place by taking the local transport . Buses which goes to Sagar via Kogar ghat could be got you there.

Bhimeshwari Water Fall

After parking  , you need to walk around 1.5 km to pitch the water fall. The real beauty of your visit starts right there from the parking area  . You will get a chance to enjoy the deep forest in . At the same you could  possibly  capture snaps of birds and nature in. 

If you are lucky enough  you might get to have  black tea offered by priest of the temple who stays in that guest house. In case if you are planning to stay there for  the lunch , you need to inform the  priest in prior to make the arrangements. Later you can pay them as per the price mentioned. Do not worry they will not ask for much money . Definitely it will be lesser than your Mec D bill. And the food is delicious trust me.  If you are going to visit the place during Monsoon please do carry some provisions like sugar & tea powder as it is very far from the town. This will be big help for the residence staying there.

After getting refreshed , now this is the time to move towards the beautiful water fall next to the epic rock cut temple. Here I am really confused to prioritize my praising. Not to sure , from where should I start. whether it is the temple which is adding the prior beauty to the Water fall or other way around. During rainy season you could literally watch the water, falling on the tip of the temple to increase the beauty coefficient of it .And it surely reminds you the Gange falling from the Shivas Head. It is Divine at the same time.( Sorry i don not have a right photo to post. Better you visit the place and feel it :) )
Take a round around the temple and enjoy the water fall. But please be safe as it is bit slippery
ohh !! I am really sorry , I forgot to add a spicy topic above this. Please be prepared for the leeches attack  before starting up the trek.  Better to wear shoes and trousers to avoid leech bite.


Enjoy the Divine Water Fall.

First Himalaya trek experience with Indiahike.

Batch July:2015

http://indiahikes.in/hamptapass/

July 17th -July 18

How to reach Base camp:
Journey begins from Goa airport to Delhi domestic terminal. Where my journey of adventure already started by missing my bus to Manali from the Kashmir gate :Delhi. How bad a metropolitan traffic would be!! I must thank my destination guts where it helped me to complete my journey by taking local 2+3 seater ,where we need to fight for ladies seat in front of staring XY chromosomes. Finally we end up in a local government bus of Himachal , which travels via Chandigarh and takes 18 hrs to reach Manali perhaps  Volvo and execute coaches will consume only 11 hrs. Definition of WE is Me and Preeti. But trust me not even a single second I thought to return back. 

I can not thank enough for welcoming us with a smile on face to Indiahike and co trekkers although we were late because of our overnight journey by local transport . And waiting for us with patience though we are late to reach the base camp. But fortunately we were not the 10th wicket. :)   We started our trekking at 2 pm in empty stomach. Where we didn't get the chance to have our afternoon meal. I also did not get chance to pluck " apples and apricots" from the orchards adjoining the trail. 

Day 1

The base camp is at Jobra , 1 hr vehicle journey from Manali. After registering at the check post , vehicle proceeded further.

After reaching Jobra we had little food , where our stomach felt that yes something came in to gear us further. Anyway for the first time I was trekking with some weight so initial stretch became really taxing till I get adjusted to the situation. Trail passess through beautiful alpine meadows following the Rani Nala.Take off your shoes if you want to feel the icy cold water of Rani Nala. Pitch your tents at Jwara besides the river. 

Day 2

The trail stays along the banks of the river for most part of the day.The initial climb involves a lot of boulder hopping. Walk along the Rani  river into a valley dotted with tiny multi coloured flowers until you reach Balu Ka Gera. Balu Ka Gera is a level ground made up of the sand and dust brought down by the river.  Balu Ka Gera, 11,000 feet above sea level. Comparatively, we reached early to the camp site than the estimated duration.  Balu Ka Gera is one of the beautiful camp site in the summit  . One side the great Himalayan View , other side Hampta river with many water falls.  

Day 3

The trail moves along the river which is lined by tiny pink and yellow flowers.If you trek during month of July -August , you will find a lot of snow, else you may see a few snow patches.There are two steep climbs over ridges before you reach Hampta pass. Hampta pass at 14,000 feet is pretty windy and with gods grace there is no rain or snow fall where it could have made our journey difficult. The descent to Shea Goru from the pass is slightly tricky. Better to slide down if any one wants to experience the snow slide and this is the best option I feel. The snow was very slippery to trek down.  You will reach Shea Goru in about 2 hours form there. Camping at  Shea Goru beside the heavy flowing river. Temp might reach minus at night. 

Day 4

This is the most  beautiful day out of all. It is a gentle downhill walk to Chatru, with a few tricky sections.The trail continue along the river, and there are two three huge glacial flows down the mountain side. Need to be very careful while crossing across. Little negligence might lead to the danger event.  Camp at Chatru beside the many streams that flow through the meadows. Chatru is a beautiful camping spot with lovely mountain views.  It will take you about 4 hours to reach Chatru from Shea Goru. From there we went to Chandratal via road by Tata sumo. Where you will have to literally search for existence of  the road  . Since it was raining , the road got  disappeared and small Nala has formed instead.  Camping near Chandratal after traveling 3 hrs from the Chatru. 

Chandratal is very beautiful moon shaped lake. Sitting on the bank of the lake and seeing the mountain itself , you feel that you are blessed. We took bath in the lake as its been almost 4 days that we could not touch the water. We have celebrated our summit successful party at Chandratal camp with nice music and group dance. 

Departure Day

Indiahikes will arrange vehicles to drop trekkers back to Manali.It will take about 4-6 hours to reach Manali depending on the condition of the roads. Book your return tickets from Manali late in the evening to give you enough travel buffer time .Another option would be stay at Manali for two more days , enjoy the place and depart. And also dont forget to buy enough time for shopping in Manali :) 

Learnings: Always better to reach the base camp one day prior. Kindly get all the gears which ever mentioned in the package guide. 

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ಎಂದು ಪಿಸುಗುಡುವ ಬಯಕೆಯಾಗಿದೆ...

One night there was no light :) :)

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