Trip To Hampi

After joining Google in 2007, our team of close friends have been going on vacations every year. The first one was to Suryalanka beach and the second year we went to Pondicherry. We joked ourselves that this has become an annual pilgrimage to some place every year and should continue that. So this year we went to Hampi, the village famous for the ruins of Vijayanagara empire.

By the way, the closest members of our team are Lathish, Archana, Surekha, Kalyan and of course, myself. Though during the first two trips some other colleagues also joined us, it's usually the five of us. However, this time it was just myself, Lathish and Surekha that went of the trip, since Archana was abroad for her studies and Kalyan had some last minute alterations in the plan.

Anyway, the trip went on smoothly except for the return journey when our bus was delayed by 3 hours. Now coming to some of the highlights of the trip were, of course the Virupaksha temple, other ruined palaces, temples in and around Hampi. And, the best part is that you get bikes ranging from Luna's to Bullets for hire just for 150-300 rupees. It's the best mode of transport to go around the ruins spread over 25 square kms.

Every home in the Hampi village is turned into a guest house and rented out to tourists. Each home (or guest house) has it's own small restaurant. The beauty of these restaurants' is that they serve Indian and continental food. Believe me, continental food here includes, Tibetan, Mexican, Lebanese, Israeli, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and some more dishes from countries I don't remember. The best part is that they serve it cooked  fresh and don't use any preserved or frozen ingredients. The price is unbelievably cheap. We ate the Egg paratha which was very delicious. There are 10's of hotels/restaurants here, so food and accommodation is never a problem, except that prices fluctuate based on tourist season. I should specially mention the Shanti guest house apparently the best one, where we did not get accommodation and Ranjana guest house where we stayed. Mango Tree is another restaurant that gets a special mention. This is a small eatery serving variety of food, and located in an orchard on the banks of river Tungabhadra. Don't miss this place.

I forgot to mention that alcohol and non-vegetarian food (except egg) are prohibited in Hampi. If you prefer these two, then you need to go the nearest town of Kamalapura (just 7kms away).

Hampi is also know for it's foreign tourists. People from across the globe come here, you won't believe me, and spend several months studying the Vijayanagar empire. Infact, some of them know many more details of the place than the local people. The shops, hotels, restaurants, souvenir stalls, even the bike renting shops have foreign exchange facilities. It's just amazing.

After spending two interesting days, we returned to Hyderabad. I totally recommend Hampi for all those who haven't been here. By the way it's just 380 kms drive from Hyderabad if you want to drive there.