Singha wrote:AkshayM wrote:Singha, any update on the weekend trip to Hampi? Any changes for the better?
the NH13 from chitradurga to hospete is in passable shape but very narrow and lot of trucks. we witnessed the aftermath of a head-on between 2 trucks and the smouldering fire of another cotton truck that had fallen over and its cotton was still burning. we used this route only on return trip. get tiring to constantly nose out from behind trucks and overtake in the face of oncoming traffic for 150km. truck drivers drive very safe though...its the taxis & buses one has to be scared of.
while going we drove fast to hubli-dharwad , had late lunch, then took interior state highways (good condition, almost no traffic) upto badami....via navalgund...impressive crops of barley, wheat, corn, sunflower, chilies doing gods work feeding our hungry nation. its possible to stay overnight there now due to clarks inn opening. just dont expect it to be the taj but passable. our tata sky subscription had run out but we didnt complain as it was 10 hr drive incl halts for breakfast near tumkur and lunch@dharwad. wanted to buy thakurji peda but no parking near the shops on main street. google thakurji peda for history. had lunch at a 100% veg ripoff of bbq nation called Sigri we found by accident. clarks inn staff is bengali and cooked some good chicken tikka lababdar and tandoori murga. feel asleep at 8.30pm on dec31. at midnight people burst some crackers and it was quiet again.
next day saw the badami cave temples, bhootnath temple, buddhist cave(islamic types had broken its face as also many other statues there) and climbed to badami fort. then on to pattadakal which took a while as interior roads are small. then reached the NH13 150km north of hospet which is fully 4 laned and uber smooth now. some of the construction work and hilly climbs reminds of the SFO-LA highway where it climbs the mountains before entering the LA metro area - some pass is there. huge concrete ramps.
we had got a good deal in hyatt place hotel in jindal steel township around 30km south of hospet. the road from hospet-jindal-bellary is still the nightmare it was and hospete has hardly changed in 4 years - unruly, pigs running around (lot of pigs in north KA!)
http://hampi.place.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html
the hotel had given us a pkg of breakfast, dinner, one day taxi to hampi .... the township and the hotel are uber-AMAZING. high class airbnb HQ type construction, very spacious, huge pool, great open kitchen dining area, massive soothing high ceiling lobby , (rickety) cycles to explore the town, huge tv with all channels, fast wifi. highly recommended. just search for hyatt hampi. its some 30km away from the sites.
we used their complimentary taxi to visit hampi sites the next day and then on to the pool and exploring the township.
the township itself is uber-amazing and best township I ever seen...my wife grew up all her unmarried years in PSU townships and agreed. I crawled on the ground - yep tight iphone and lexus type material selection and panel gaps in the roads, gardens, sidewalks....
- there is one kaladham center with a huge garden and fabindia type shop which has a 3d hampi show at night. ticket is rs 40, free if u stay in hyatt right next to it. the show narration is by a live employee and could be better. but well worth for the gardens and decor with murals on walls and beautiful
backlit photos of hampi. 5pm-8pm. I have been to the Met & Nathist in nyc and all smithsonians in DC but in chi-chi factor this place is a notch above.
http://www.jsw.in/steel/kaladham
- there is big north indian style 3-dome temple thats serene and heavily surrounded by woods
- a lake and childrens play areas which have ducks and peacocks
- a museum to the jindal empire founder, his life, sayings covered under a grass laid concrete dome - again very neat, very polished
- township has huge sports facilities, shopping center and green tree lined roads to walk romantically in
per a engineer who I met near the lake they were charging him rent of Rs2400 for his apartment and Rs1200 for his kids school. said he developed a red rash everytime he went to Hyd due to the traffic vs the township. kids looked disciplined achievers like most township kids - playing hard (football, volleyball, martial arts I could see), studying hard. parents all of same educated class - no rich slackers there to spoil the mood.
a hotel employee told me that ludhiana, sivakasi and bellary were the richest districts in the land with lots of people (mining barons here) roaming in bentleys and roll royces.
while returning, we took tornagallu(township) -> sandur -> kudiligi -> NH13 -> chitradurga. the route to NH13 has been recently widened and very smooth now except sandur town where its narrow.
there are two ranges of green hills and a rather beautiful lake with a island the road winds around
https://www.google.co.in/maps/@15.11688 ... .98z?hl=en
the hampi sites - the ASI has managed to complete the demolition and relocation of all shops in bazaar street to kamalapur 4km away. so no more israeli coffee, german bakery mess. behind the virupaksha temple they have cleared out the riverside as well and trying to clean and recover the temple tank.
the parking lot is the same old shambling earthen yard with vendor stalls around it. paid toilet was functional and ok.
for the vittahala temple I suggest you walk the 2km or so rather than approach from behind by road which we did due to kids. from roadhead parking lot to temple is another long bazaar street around 1km long. electric buggies ride but long queue. a KSRTC volvo also does the loop and you need to be alert to get on it at both ends . ticket = rs 10 one way.
if you can try to climb matanga hill for the sunset view and if u have another day, cross the river behind veerupaksha temple and make tracks for the high hill with hanuman temple on top. its said to be his birthplace and anegondi on other side is deserted , its a older city...nice romantic for a couple to walk around with occasional kissy kissy.
the royal palace area looks the same from 4 years ago, vast, sprawling, fairly neat, no vendor shops to muddy the place but disorganized way of car parking.
we skipped aihole as I knew the std was less than pattadakal and we ran out of time. dont miss the malprabha river ghat behind the pattadakal nandi temple. its co-located.
suggested route would be blr - tumkur - hiriyur - bellary bypass - jsw - hospet. preferably avoid hospet. but check how the hiriyur-bellary road is now - it was uber smooth 4 yrs ago.royal orchid hotel in hospet is good also and has a pool to have fun with your woman.
if going to badami and working way back like we did (unusual) go via tumkur - chitradurga - davangere - haveri - dharwad as you can steadily cruise there at 100-120. huge numbers of windmills on this route with trucks carrying blades for more. make sure to have a 3G pack on phone and google maps loaded as its necessary to navigate inside dharwad and finding interior roads. google maps is hopeless inside hospet though...it nearly made me fall into a canal and I avoided it as I had been on that road before by taxi
). Just this afternoon a colleague came knocking at my office door and said "Hey do you know what happened during my wife's travel to Mumbai"?
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The culture ministry, also headed by Sharma, will be asked to work on the museum and other cultural content related to Ram and Ramayana.
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