Gems of Karnataka- Hampi and Jog falls

This has been a long time coming. Hampi and Shimoga were two almost unplanned trips that my friends and I took in college. Hampi is a small town which is located within the historical capital of Vijaynagar empire and is famous of the ruins and Hindu temples.

Hampi was my first ever girls' trip. We took an overnight train from Bangalore and reached Hampi early in the morning. We were not staying for the night and therefore, rushed to see as many places as we could. We hired an auto for the day and relied on the auto driver and wikipedia to guide us to the most important of the monuments.

While there are a lot of monuments scattered all over Hampi, we short-listed and visited the Vittala temple, the Virupaksha temple, the twin sister stones, Nandi shrine, Underground Shiv temple (beautiful but smells of bats and stagnant water), Queen's Bath though this was barely a fraction of the grand city of Hampi.

Ruins of Hampi

The most beautiful of the ruins is the Vittalla temple. The temple houses the famous musical pillars and stone chariot. It is one of the two stone chariots in India- the other one being in Konark. The musical pillars are 56 pillars lined in the temple grounds produce musical sound when tapped gently.

Stone chariot at Vittala temple

The temperature was high and we made multiple pit-stops for soda-pop, a drink made of somewhat cold soda, lemon and salt. As teenagers are prone to, we fooled around the temples, posing for weird photographs, including one of us dancing on a temple platform (we decided that the platform would have been the stage for the temple dancers of the empire to perform on).

Tunghbhandra river runs through the town. We made a stop at the riverside. It felt incredible to put our tired feet in nice, cold water and enjoy some of the breeze. The view was beautiful and we had a lot fun watching elephants bathe.

Soon enough it was the time to eat. I was in charge of making a list of places to visit and Swati had been in charge of deciding the lunch venue. We ended up at the Mango Tree restaurant for a late lunch. It was situated at the riverbank and had a great view. The seating arrangements were quite traditional- cushions and mats of the floor. We had a mix of Indian, continental and Israeli dishes and left feeling happy and content. We did some touristy shopping and left for Bangalore by the evening train.

We did another girls' trip not much later. As always, not much had been planned and we went wherever we could get tickets for, i.e. Shimoga. Jog falls, being the second highest waterfall of India, is the most important tourist destination in Shimoga. We went in summers (wonder now why we had such affection for heat!) and therefore, the waterfall was comparatively dry. We however walked down 1400 steps to the bottom of the hill and enjoyed the cool water and the scenery. The view from this side of the waterfall is awesome and made me wonder what it would be like to see it in monsoons when the waterfall is in its full form.

While the walk down to the hill felt like a breeze, the walk up explained the meaning of the phrase "an uphill battle". Tired from too much activity and excitement and having slipped in the pool at the bottom of the fall a few times, we struggled to get back to the top from where we were supposed to take the bus back to our hotel. It was great to reach the hotel and crash on our beds, anticipating the adventures of the next day.

Next day we headed to to Sakrebailu Elephant camp. We went without much expectations and had an awesome time watching the elephants and bathing them. The staff is very friendly and accomodating. We were giddy like kids when a baby elephant posed for our camera (we thought she was posing anyway). A short trip to the tiger and lion safari completed the day.

P.S.- We did not find great food anywhere in Shimoga but gorged on Mysore Pak it is famous for.

Best of the Western Ghats- Bhandardara

Avi and I had just got our car and wanted to take it out for its first road trip. We had been to Lonavala, Khandala and Goa too many times and wanted to go to a not-so-common place. We decided on Bhandardara which is as yet unspoiled. Lush greens, untouched villages, narrow roads through the hills and Arthur lake made it a perfect weekend getaway.

First, a bit of information on the practical matters. Bhandardara is approximately 4 hours from Mumbai. The last leg of the drive has bad roads but a brilliant view of the hills.

We chose to stay at the MTDC resort. MTDC has the knack of picking out the best location everywhere though usually not much else can be said about their resorts. We were pleasantly surprised by the room which was comfortable and clean and had been recently renovated. Our room had a view of Arthur lake and the hills. The service however had not improved since we last stayed in an MTDC resort. They refused to take our order for snacks at 6.30pm because kitchen closes at 7pm and it takes them half an hour to make pakodas!

Our grievances with MTDC services apart, the trip turned out to be great. Since we had not done much research on the place, we decided to take a guide with us. We started with Wilson dam. The park leading up to Wilson dam is quite unkempt but makes a pleasant picnic spot. The water from the dam falls in the shape of an umbrella which is quite beautiful to watch.

Park near Wilson Dam

After spending some time taking in the scenery from different sides of Wilson dam, we went to Arthur lake for boating. The lake was at the same level as the road and it felt like the force of water was barely being stopped by the gates to the dam. We even spotted some birds around the islands in the lake. We took a motorboat though it retrospect a rowboat would have been a better idea. The noise of the motorboat took away from the serenity of the moment.

Arthur Lake from the boat

Our next stop, Randha falls has been created by Pravara river and is an exceptional sight. It falls from the height of 45 mts and can be heard from a distance. 

Randha Falls

Pravara river also meets a seasonal ravine near the waterfall reminding me of the Gate of the Kings from LOTR. It is probably the most beautiful part of Bhandardara. You can even walk over the hydro power dam created near the waterfall. Our feet were hurting slightly after walking in sun so we dipped our feet in the water and enjoyed the breeze for a while. 

The view of Pravara River near Randha falls

We then headed to the Amriteshwar temple, built in 1100 AD. The temple itself is set on the banks of the lake and has some beautiful carvings. It is a functional Shiv temple and loses some of its charm with people walking in and out to worship. The drive back from the temple to the resort was a beauty with Arthur lake on our right Western Ghats around us and the sunset.

Drive from Amriteshwar Temple

Sunset in Bhandardara

We skipped Mount Kalasubai during this trip. It is the highest peak of Maharashtra and supposed to be a beautiful trek but that is for the next trip.