A Getaway From Mumbai to Hampi

Indiatimes
Indiatimes
Updated on Jun 06, 2014, 19:30 IST
If you're looking for an interesting getaway, consider taking a leisurely road trip along the Mumbai-Belgaum-Badami-Hampi route.

If you're looking for an interesting getaway, consider taking a leisurely road trip along the Mumbai-Belgaum-Badami-Hampi route.


Mumbai-Belgaum


Hampi is about 750 kms from Bombay. We decided to take it easy and meander a bit along the way. Stop and smell the sugarcane, so to speak. While searching online for overnighter options en route, I stumbled upon a fascinating place. The Hermitage is a secluded 45-acre working farm in the middle of the forested Western Ghats, about an hour further down Belgaum. It's like a cool home stay ranch -the slight difference being the electric fencing keeping bears and wildcats out.


We started really early on the excellent Mumbai-Belgaum highway, in the optimistic hope of making it to the Hermitage for the Parsi-Anglo-Indian (go figure) lunch asserted by our hosts. Even with the inevitable directional missteps, the relatively fewer breaks afforded by strangely enlarged bladder capacities of my companions in the car meant that we just about made it there in time for lunch. After a wonderfully eccentric repast (much like the owners themselves), we had a chance to soak in our surroundings.

The place is an absolute hidden gem, the operative word being hidden. You literally have to go off the road into a forest trail, be convinced that you've lost your way (the directions include being "on the lookout for paintings of owls, which may or may not be there") and worry sick about the state of your tires before you finally sight it.


With no cell phone coverage or TV, a total guest capacity of seven and eco-everything, it is the place to get away from it all. You can read, take guided forest hikes, tank up on hot spiced rum, swim under a waterfall or just kick back and breathe in air way fresher than at Aer. All in all, The Hermitage is a must do.
Belgaum-Badami


After the not-so-quick-overnighter at The Hermitage, we started out the next day for the nearly 1500-year-old world heritage Chalukyan temples at Badami.

Getting from Belgaum to Badami is quite rigmarole; we spent about five hours covering the less than 120 km journey on unruly roads before we finally caught up with the town, and I'm still not sure exactly how we ended up there. A rundown shabbiness symptomatic of semi-rural India pervades the town which is generally devoid of character, or even a half decent hotel to park the derriere in for the night. That said the magnificent cave temples more than make up for everything else.

Another reminder of the glory that was ancient India, the temple complex is awe-inspiring. Carved into the side of a sand stone hill with a persistence rivalled perhaps only by the modern day tele-marketing executive, it must have been quite a technological feat in its day. Climbing to the fort up from the Museum is miss-able; the delightful little Shiva temple by the temple tank is not.
Badami-Hampi


Three hours drive south-east of Badami lies Hampi, a major pit stop on the hippy traveller circuit, abounding with the firang crowd for who even Palolem's gotten too mainstream. Littered with giant granite boulders (the entire area almost feels like a playpen for Titanic children, who piled up heaps of rocks for fun eons ago) you find hidden banana plantations, lush paddy fields, and the stunning world heritage Vijayanagar ruins. Hampi is unequivocally enchanting.


We stayed at Virupapur Gaddi, north of the river just across from Hampi, where the major backpacker scene is at. This area is ideal since technically not in Hampi, you have access to alcohol and non-vegetarian food (both prohibited in Hampi) as well as better guesthouses with great views overlooking paddy fields or the river and temples at Hampi Bazaar. Covering the major sites (Vittala Temple, Royal Centre, Underground Virupaksha Temple, Queen's Bath, etc) can be done in a couple of days, but that's not what Hampi's about.


When in Hampi, it's best to just... linger. We managed to coax one of the local fishermen to take us camping into the prohibited reservoir area; now every holiday that doesn't involve midnight lake crossings on unsteady coracle boats in absolute pitch darkness will seem a little humdrum.


As Bombayiites, we are kind of starved for road trip choices compared to our NCR cousins up north, but Hampi fights valiantly to even out the scales a bit. Seven days just flew by; it was time to hit the road back up towards home.