First time in an AC chair, not bad ‘cos it was just a 3 hour journey from Chennai to Tirupati. The only problem being the constant bickering, all the f%#@* families, and what’s a travel without the constant wail of a child? Seems as that is what forms the goal in an infant’s life – eat, poop and wail ceaselessly. Anyway, the AC section proved to be a relief from the heat. Generally I prefer not being on my seat while traveling via a train, but I decided to rest for a journey that was undoubtedly going to be really tiring.
If you’re looking for even a moment’s peace or quiet in an Indian train, surely you’re better off wishing for utopia. The only time that stillness prevails is when its late at night, and everyone sleeps, leaving the train’s humming fill the void, so the afternoon has to be put up with as it is. Can’t really sit in the AC for too long, have to get to my favorite place, the coach gate, where you get to enjoy the breeze on your face, a little bit of sunlight and the hills, some green some rocky barren masses, passing slowly by. They probably have witnessed a good number of trains go by everyday, standing firm at the same place. Each of these hills just seems to be begging to be scaled, each unique in some way, whether it’s the one with the conical giant rock at eh peak, the one with the slow, lazy slope angling up for a mile, or the one that would hold a mountaineering enthusiast’s attention.
The train was on time at the Tirupati station, the station absolutely bustling with people, seems as though its one of those big pilgrimages (maybe it is!). I chose the least crowded station and sat down to kill the 2 hours till my connect to Hospet station arrived. A beggar came down and sat next to me on the bench & tried to engage me in conversation. I utilized the old stony face, deaf ears as the poor chap kept on blabbering in broken English about money. There’s a large number of needy people here, but an equally larger populace trying to simply con you. Finally the train to Hospet arrived, but I was supposed to be on Rayalseema express, and this was Haripriya express. A passenger enlightened me that both trains were the same, the last few coaches being Rayalseema. So I trudged to the end of the train to find that my coach was in fact in Haripriya itself! Again I lugged my backpack 8 coaches to the front, waited for a TC to come by and confirmed that I was in fact in the right coach. Oh joy, now I was hungry, so gulped sown the 2 bananas I had bought.
Woke up at 5 to see light rains dot the Hospet skies, a couple of big factories in the distance spewing smoke. There is one thing about public transport, it won’t try to cheat your socks off. The first auto I met wanted to charge 150 for Hampi (I later got to know that that is in fact how much they always charge). For the 14 kms, I asked him if I took a shared auto, he refused saying he didn’t work o that basis, so I asked to be dropped off at the bus stand. And he picked up a couple other people for the 2 km trip, so much for the non sharing principle! The ride from Hospet to Hampi in the bus was quite nice, the weather had cooled down, my fellow passenger told me (from Hospet the buses ply about 20-30 minutes to Hampi, just board the one with the ‘Hospet-Hampi-Hospet’ sign in front, it leaves from #2 platform). I took the bus even after all the touts’ cajoling as I had researched it (ha) and it cost me only 10 bucks to Hampi. The bus was hardly full (meaning only 20 people standing and noone hanging at the gates for dear life). Outside Hospet city limits, you could see a couple of ruins hidden away in the fields. Once at the Hampi bus stand I was again hot by a barrage of touts, maybe it’s the backpack, the shorts, or the slightly lighter brown skin color that I have than everyone here that instantly alights the touts’ tourist meter. I wanted to feel the difference of entering an earlier civilization (or the remains of it) but was instead hit with internet cafes at every fifth shop (every fifth shop, even if they had like just 2 PCs set up). I was baffled at being constantly asked ‘which country friend’, this from people of my own country!
I usually keep my ego close to my heart, so no asking for directions, so what proceeded was that I wandered for about 25 minutes, passed Virupaksha temple and the bazaar thrice in search of the guesthouses the names of which I had written down.
I finally managed to find the guesthouses (they’re all in one big cluster just when you turn right down a small alley past the right of Virupaksha temple at the end of the Bazaar). I turned in at Gopi guesthouse, apparently its budget AND has hot water throughout the day! To a northie in South India, even before winters, this was a bit absurd, but believe me, after 7-8 hours of hiking on the hills, I didn’t want to get out of that hot water. They charge 300 per night, it’s a twin bed, so would work out to 150 per person. I didn’t check out the others, but they’re all quite close to each other and the river.
Had a bath and went to Mango tree restaurant, suggested in some blog. The setting was quite beautiful, you went upstream along the Tungbhadra for a little over a km, then turn right at the restaurant sign.
You pass under a lot of Banana trees (should’ve named it banana tree, would’ve made more sense), and are made to sit quite close to the river, nice breeze and a really good view. I was famished and was delighted to see paranthas on the menu, promptly ordered an aloo parantha, and out of the local cuisine, banana parantha. The waiter placed in front of me something, I wanted to ask what it was. If you’ve eaten a ‘poori’, then increase the thickness about 5-6 times, & put inside chopped (not mashed, chopped into BIG pieces) potatoes. I should’ve been careful when it said ‘POTATO parantha’ on the menu card! Finished almost 75% due to the hunger, and waited for the banana delight. Same stuff, but surprise, surprise, banana pieces inside (40 bucks for this!) For a nice touch, there was a honey bottle (the bottle was an Indian whiskey one with the labels removed, and hopefully honey inside).
I decided to start at Virupaksha as it was the closest, bloody charged me 50 rupees for the camera! Its one for the few temples still operative here. Had some decent carvings on the temple walls, wandered around for an hour till 11, then hiked up to Hemkuta hill bang on the left of Virupaksha. Always carry some water with you as the trip dehydrates you, what with the sun, and the hill climbs. As I climbed up I got a clearer picture of the surroundings, with the bazaar, the river, the road out of hampi, and all the green area extending to the other side of the town. There are quite a few old structures on Hemkuta hill which you can explore, and the boulders next to them also provide a nice touch as you can go on clicking snaps as long as you wish. I decided to proceed after resting in one of these old ruins to the other side. As you come down on the opposite side of the hill, you come out at the ganesha statue and onwards to the Krishna temple. I spent more time in the ‘krishna bazaar’ opposite the temple as the ruins there with a long line of pillared path and a small pond offered a better calling for me, plus there was no crowd there. Then I moved on to the Ugra Narsimha statue about 200 metres from the temple and the big Badava Linga statue next to it. From here on I moved back as this marks the border on this side of the first cluster of places I wanted to see. Headed back to the hotel and had some sandwiches, had a nice shower and rested for about an hour.
It was about 5 by the time I started out again; I wanted to see the scenery from the much higher Mathunga hill at the opposite end of the almost 1 km long Hampi bazaar. Took in the bunches of foreign tourists thronging the place as I reached the monolithic bull statue at the end of the bazaar, the statue is about 10-15 feet tall and sits at the foot of Mathunga hill. I asked a cop for the direction and started the deserted path up the hill. The path had steps half of the way and at some places you had to walk through rocks and shrubs, till you reach the final few steps which are on a slanting boulder, and a bit tricky. I’m not a big fan of heights, but I had spent almost 30 minutes huffing up the hill, so I carried on. Once up I realized that there was another 7-8 metres up that the temple was located, I had no intention of taking the curving route on the hill side to visit a temple, so I sat there and caught my breath for the next hour! (even though I might not be the fittest person, the climb up was a bit exhausting). You could see the temples, the bazaar, the bus stop, Hemkuta hill, the river, the achyutraya temple on the other side, and even farther on towards the ‘royal enclosure’. I sat there as I watched a couple of local lads go up the big boulders to the top of the hill, no way was I going to try it if I’m alone here.
As it happens, I had landed at the time of dusshehra, and in the night, the Virupaksha temple had a huge procession. The foreigners were happily clicking away at the sights they normally get to see in some Indian documentary. The lights, the huge statue being carried to the temple and the accompanying festivities, the dhols and trumpets going at full blast as well. Even the hotel I was staying in had locals coming in every 2 minutes to greet the owner and offering leaves (this, I was told was a symbol of good luck). And would you believe it, I was the only Indian tourist at the dinner tables, there was a German couple, a few Americans, and other foreigners, but just me poor Indian! I slept off at an early 9 to work off the weariness, after off course, a nice hot bath. Day 1 - lots of walk, and not bad places as well.
If you’re looking for even a moment’s peace or quiet in an Indian train, surely you’re better off wishing for utopia. The only time that stillness prevails is when its late at night, and everyone sleeps, leaving the train’s humming fill the void, so the afternoon has to be put up with as it is. Can’t really sit in the AC for too long, have to get to my favorite place, the coach gate, where you get to enjoy the breeze on your face, a little bit of sunlight and the hills, some green some rocky barren masses, passing slowly by. They probably have witnessed a good number of trains go by everyday, standing firm at the same place. Each of these hills just seems to be begging to be scaled, each unique in some way, whether it’s the one with the conical giant rock at eh peak, the one with the slow, lazy slope angling up for a mile, or the one that would hold a mountaineering enthusiast’s attention.
The train was on time at the Tirupati station, the station absolutely bustling with people, seems as though its one of those big pilgrimages (maybe it is!). I chose the least crowded station and sat down to kill the 2 hours till my connect to Hospet station arrived. A beggar came down and sat next to me on the bench & tried to engage me in conversation. I utilized the old stony face, deaf ears as the poor chap kept on blabbering in broken English about money. There’s a large number of needy people here, but an equally larger populace trying to simply con you. Finally the train to Hospet arrived, but I was supposed to be on Rayalseema express, and this was Haripriya express. A passenger enlightened me that both trains were the same, the last few coaches being Rayalseema. So I trudged to the end of the train to find that my coach was in fact in Haripriya itself! Again I lugged my backpack 8 coaches to the front, waited for a TC to come by and confirmed that I was in fact in the right coach. Oh joy, now I was hungry, so gulped sown the 2 bananas I had bought.
Woke up at 5 to see light rains dot the Hospet skies, a couple of big factories in the distance spewing smoke. There is one thing about public transport, it won’t try to cheat your socks off. The first auto I met wanted to charge 150 for Hampi (I later got to know that that is in fact how much they always charge). For the 14 kms, I asked him if I took a shared auto, he refused saying he didn’t work o that basis, so I asked to be dropped off at the bus stand. And he picked up a couple other people for the 2 km trip, so much for the non sharing principle! The ride from Hospet to Hampi in the bus was quite nice, the weather had cooled down, my fellow passenger told me (from Hospet the buses ply about 20-30 minutes to Hampi, just board the one with the ‘Hospet-Hampi-Hospet’ sign in front, it leaves from #2 platform). I took the bus even after all the touts’ cajoling as I had researched it (ha) and it cost me only 10 bucks to Hampi. The bus was hardly full (meaning only 20 people standing and noone hanging at the gates for dear life). Outside Hospet city limits, you could see a couple of ruins hidden away in the fields. Once at the Hampi bus stand I was again hot by a barrage of touts, maybe it’s the backpack, the shorts, or the slightly lighter brown skin color that I have than everyone here that instantly alights the touts’ tourist meter. I wanted to feel the difference of entering an earlier civilization (or the remains of it) but was instead hit with internet cafes at every fifth shop (every fifth shop, even if they had like just 2 PCs set up). I was baffled at being constantly asked ‘which country friend’, this from people of my own country!
I usually keep my ego close to my heart, so no asking for directions, so what proceeded was that I wandered for about 25 minutes, passed Virupaksha temple and the bazaar thrice in search of the guesthouses the names of which I had written down.
Had a bath and went to Mango tree restaurant, suggested in some blog. The setting was quite beautiful, you went upstream along the Tungbhadra for a little over a km, then turn right at the restaurant sign.
You pass under a lot of Banana trees (should’ve named it banana tree, would’ve made more sense), and are made to sit quite close to the river, nice breeze and a really good view. I was famished and was delighted to see paranthas on the menu, promptly ordered an aloo parantha, and out of the local cuisine, banana parantha. The waiter placed in front of me something, I wanted to ask what it was. If you’ve eaten a ‘poori’, then increase the thickness about 5-6 times, & put inside chopped (not mashed, chopped into BIG pieces) potatoes. I should’ve been careful when it said ‘POTATO parantha’ on the menu card! Finished almost 75% due to the hunger, and waited for the banana delight. Same stuff, but surprise, surprise, banana pieces inside (40 bucks for this!) For a nice touch, there was a honey bottle (the bottle was an Indian whiskey one with the labels removed, and hopefully honey inside).
I decided to start at Virupaksha as it was the closest, bloody charged me 50 rupees for the camera! Its one for the few temples still operative here. Had some decent carvings on the temple walls, wandered around for an hour till 11, then hiked up to Hemkuta hill bang on the left of Virupaksha. Always carry some water with you as the trip dehydrates you, what with the sun, and the hill climbs. As I climbed up I got a clearer picture of the surroundings, with the bazaar, the river, the road out of hampi, and all the green area extending to the other side of the town. There are quite a few old structures on Hemkuta hill which you can explore, and the boulders next to them also provide a nice touch as you can go on clicking snaps as long as you wish. I decided to proceed after resting in one of these old ruins to the other side. As you come down on the opposite side of the hill, you come out at the ganesha statue and onwards to the Krishna temple. I spent more time in the ‘krishna bazaar’ opposite the temple as the ruins there with a long line of pillared path and a small pond offered a better calling for me, plus there was no crowd there. Then I moved on to the Ugra Narsimha statue about 200 metres from the temple and the big Badava Linga statue next to it. From here on I moved back as this marks the border on this side of the first cluster of places I wanted to see. Headed back to the hotel and had some sandwiches, had a nice shower and rested for about an hour.
It was about 5 by the time I started out again; I wanted to see the scenery from the much higher Mathunga hill at the opposite end of the almost 1 km long Hampi bazaar. Took in the bunches of foreign tourists thronging the place as I reached the monolithic bull statue at the end of the bazaar, the statue is about 10-15 feet tall and sits at the foot of Mathunga hill. I asked a cop for the direction and started the deserted path up the hill. The path had steps half of the way and at some places you had to walk through rocks and shrubs, till you reach the final few steps which are on a slanting boulder, and a bit tricky. I’m not a big fan of heights, but I had spent almost 30 minutes huffing up the hill, so I carried on. Once up I realized that there was another 7-8 metres up that the temple was located, I had no intention of taking the curving route on the hill side to visit a temple, so I sat there and caught my breath for the next hour! (even though I might not be the fittest person, the climb up was a bit exhausting). You could see the temples, the bazaar, the bus stop, Hemkuta hill, the river, the achyutraya temple on the other side, and even farther on towards the ‘royal enclosure’. I sat there as I watched a couple of local lads go up the big boulders to the top of the hill, no way was I going to try it if I’m alone here.
As it happens, I had landed at the time of dusshehra, and in the night, the Virupaksha temple had a huge procession. The foreigners were happily clicking away at the sights they normally get to see in some Indian documentary. The lights, the huge statue being carried to the temple and the accompanying festivities, the dhols and trumpets going at full blast as well. Even the hotel I was staying in had locals coming in every 2 minutes to greet the owner and offering leaves (this, I was told was a symbol of good luck). And would you believe it, I was the only Indian tourist at the dinner tables, there was a German couple, a few Americans, and other foreigners, but just me poor Indian! I slept off at an early 9 to work off the weariness, after off course, a nice hot bath. Day 1 - lots of walk, and not bad places as well.
Dude...Why do you start the first sentence of your first blog with abusive language!!!
ReplyDeleteYou should rather say a prayer or something :)