Jan 22nd,2016 18:00 hrs
You can call these numbers for finding out dorm availability @ mayura guest home(dorm tariff is not mentioned on the visiting card)
That orange tent is my baby.I carry it everywhere I go travelling.Look at those three still sleeping..:P
I'm making use of every long weekend in 2016. January 26 being public holiday I'm going on a four day trip. First to Hampi for the half marathon. I took a sleeper bus to Hospet from Vashi.I don’t fancy bus journey and to add to that due to some mechanical problem the driver was taking us at 40 kmph. We reached there by 12 in the noon which is 4 hrs late.But I met a kannadiga girl and learned some basics of kannada to pass the time in the bus.To all my kannada friends “Heggiddira?”..:D
She helped me find a local transport to Hampi and I reached the Bib collection point.All my friends were waiting there.
We did not book any room priorly.Camping was an option in our hand so we haven’t bothered much.But one of our friend found this beautiful and cheap accommodation.It is a government guest house(Mayura Guest Home) in Kamalapur which is 4kms from Hampi and dorms are not open for online booking,so it was available even during peak time as very few know about that and most of the people prefer pre booking.We were 11 and booked one dorm with 10 beds.it costed us 1500 per day.So basically 150 per head for a 10 people gang.So cheap and the premises are so clean and beautiful.Only problem is you have to book the whole dorm even if you are not 10.But in my view it’s still a pretty good deal for 5 and above.
Hampi-
I knew Hampi was a heritage sight,but I did not expect the rocky muddy look of the village.It’s all red and stony around you.I’m not big fan of art but I fell in love with the rocks and the sculptures and how they were carved without missing intrinsic details.we roamed only in south Hampi,which is where all the historic monuments are.Pictures say more than words.Here are few pics I clicked in Hampi.
One more thing which I noticed is many of the constructions have stone layer as base and brick layer on the top!
My gang
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| Lotus Mahal |
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| Elephant stable |
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| Hazara Ram temple |
Hazara Ram temple was my favourite in Hampi.Lot of carvings and each one has a story to tell!
He was pencil sketching a carving and was really good at it!
Coming to the run,I maintained a slow pace through out the first half due to my knee pain and I walked and ran sprints in the second half.I was able to finish 21kms in 2:48 hrs even though I walked for a while in the second half.Everybody finished less than their best time as the weather was so pleasant and the route was full of shade with trees and scenic except for a 3/4 km stretch where we have to run along main road.Overall I loved the heritage run and would love to do more runs with them.
Even though Hampi was Krishnadevaraya’s kingdom the only pic I found of him was in hospet bus stand unlike Maharashtra where you can find shivajis idols everywhere!!
Gokarna-
It’s a paradise.If you wanna enjoy exotic beaches without too much crowd then this is the place for you.You wonder if you are in a foreign land as foreigners outweigh indians in number.I met this old foreign woman carrying 4 lts of drinking water in bottles.Wondering,I asked where she was coming from.She said that she was getting drinking water for the day from Rama temple uphill where there are spring waters.She has been visiting Gokarna every year from quite a few years.No wonder she is visiting every year.I’m planning to go there whenever I wanna get solitude.
To reach from one beach to another you have to trek up a mountain and get down.Alternatively,you can take a rickshaw if you don’t have your own vehicle.We trekked and covered four beaches in one day.First comes gokarna beach which is not bad and bit crowdy compared to other ones.I slept on the beach for an hour or so,tired from previous day run and journey.Then we started trekking towards Kudle beach crossing Rama temple where you can find lots of people meditating.Waters are so pristine and blue.I got into waters only in this beach.It is of same ground level even if you go deep inside.Good place for swimming!
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| Beach stroll |
After getting tanned and exhausted we started trekking towards Om beach looking for yummy food.We dined in Namaste cafe which is decently good and everything tasted yummy as all of us were starving.Then we continued to trek towards half moon beach where we crashed to camp.It was our sunset point with beautiful views.
Sitting there on the rock felt like sitting at the edge of the world and entrance of the infinite ocean.
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| Me lost in the sea and beauty |
The red sun dropping into the sea and his colours diluting in the sky is a double treat with the reflection in the waters.The colours drifted from red,orange,yellow and finally to grey.The blue waters of the sea turned to grey but the cold winds touching my cheek hooked me on that rock for a little while more.Just when the day and excitement was about to end dolphins sighting geared me up.What a beautiful day it was,every next day seems more exciting than the previous when I’m travelling.Nature,it’s beauty and what it has to offer us is immeasurable.All we have to do is embrace it and leave no carbon foot prints.
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| Camping |
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| Morning visit by tourists to half moon beach |
I should tell more about half moon beach.Apparently,camping is not allowed on the beaches ,but half moon beach is one place where there is no patrolling due to it’s small size and lucky us that we reached that beach by sunset without knowledge that we were not supposed to camp on the beach.One of the best places I’ve ever camped and it was only 500m long(I’m bad at this,but it is definitely not longer than that)..Thats it!!..two restaurants on either corners behind the hills.I think you can book rooms over there,but we camped out on the beach and had food in the restaurant.An d also last but not least..Longest and brightest shooting star I’ve seen till date(5-6 sec!!).
Only drawback is you won’t be able to view sunrise from this beach due to mountains.Next time i’ll trek further up and explore paradise beach which I missed this time.
Gokarna,you are in my focus now and i'll keep visiting you,you beauty!
