Enjoying Early Morning moments :-)
Lotus Mahal - Hampi 
Vittala Temple - Hampi
TungaBhadra Dam
Thermal Power Plants - Raichur
Me, Aunt & Cousin in Bidar Fort
Bidar Fort!
Inside Gol Gumbaz!
You Guessed it Right!
Ibrahim Roza - Bijapur
Entry to Koodalasangama
Aihole
Isn't it amazing?
View of Pattadakal
Too Good!
Its me inside Caves!
It was my most awaited trip. I had planned it for almost a month ago. I had complete information like which places to visit, route map, stay details & so on. As the tour days were nearing by, my excitement was getting increased drastically. I am going to share my entire tour experience on a day to day basis below. Just to tell you all, it was a week’s bike ride & I was all alone through out the trip. Enjoy Reading! :-)
Before i start on, the complete trip map is as follows:
Before i start on, the complete trip map is as follows:
Saturday (22nd Nov 2008)
Hurray! Finally the day so long awaited has dawned. I could not sleep after 3 AM out of sheer excitement. Finally got out of my bed at 3:45 AM & made sure that I left home by 4:30 AM. Here begins the account of my journey!
Hurray! Finally the day so long awaited has dawned. I could not sleep after 3 AM out of sheer excitement. Finally got out of my bed at 3:45 AM & made sure that I left home by 4:30 AM. Here begins the account of my journey!
With the cold breeze and high beam lights of heavy vehicles from opposite direction, I could not speed up my bike till the sunlight was bright enough. The awesome roads outside the city spurred me to speed up the vehicle. Cool breeze hitting my face through helmet shield made the moments more exciting. After covering a distance of 140 Kms, I thought a cup of tea would hit the spot and hence I cruised into a Punjabi dhaba. The server gave me a cup of tea which added sparkle to my day as I had never drunk another cup quite like it before. After conveying my thanks to him for his wonderful tea, I headed towards Chitradurga & reached there by 8:35 AM. Good roads helped me to reach the place on time. It was a place for me to grab my breakfast. So ate my fill of idli vada and masala dosas at a small dosa camp near the highway (I knew of this dosa camp since I had been to Chitradurga before. FYI Chitradurga fort is really worth a dekko!). Left the place by 9:10 AM & continued towards Hospet - for my first day’s stay. But bad roads really sucked out my patience & killed my time. On the way I could see lots & lots of dhabas & I was put off by the heavy traffic full of trucks. But it was fun though. I would suggest this road for one who loves to go dhabas :-). Finally reached Hospet by 12 NOON after riding for 340 Kms from Bangalore.
I had no inkling that finding a lodge to stay in would consume an hour :-(. Due to some wedding in the city, all the lodges were fully booked. Finally after a big struggle, I found myself a room in a small lodge. That was the only room available in the lodge. I think it was meant for me to find :-). Since I was short of money & ATM’s in the city weren’t working (some technical issues), I had to compromise on my lunch. I had spent all the money I had for the room advance.
After a quick freshening up & with only some change in my pocket, I headed towards the first tourist destination on my itinerary “Hampi”. But I forgot to take the printout with the list of places to visit in Hampi. Since I didn’t have any details about places of interest, I decided to just wander around and see what I could. I reached Hampi in 20 Min since it was only 12 Kms from the lodge. Then started exploring the place. With the help of localities, I could cover majority of the places worth seeing in Hampi. On the hill top, I could see a beautiful panoramic view of entire Vijaya Nagar kingdom & it was huge. No wonder it was part of my history textbook in school!! Vijaya Nagar Empire was really very vast. I could see some small temples on top of all the hills around. A security guard told me that some hills are at a distance of 20-30 Kms. Oops! Too long na? I realized that I couldn’t possibly see all of them.
I had no inkling that finding a lodge to stay in would consume an hour :-(. Due to some wedding in the city, all the lodges were fully booked. Finally after a big struggle, I found myself a room in a small lodge. That was the only room available in the lodge. I think it was meant for me to find :-). Since I was short of money & ATM’s in the city weren’t working (some technical issues), I had to compromise on my lunch. I had spent all the money I had for the room advance.
After a quick freshening up & with only some change in my pocket, I headed towards the first tourist destination on my itinerary “Hampi”. But I forgot to take the printout with the list of places to visit in Hampi. Since I didn’t have any details about places of interest, I decided to just wander around and see what I could. I reached Hampi in 20 Min since it was only 12 Kms from the lodge. Then started exploring the place. With the help of localities, I could cover majority of the places worth seeing in Hampi. On the hill top, I could see a beautiful panoramic view of entire Vijaya Nagar kingdom & it was huge. No wonder it was part of my history textbook in school!! Vijaya Nagar Empire was really very vast. I could see some small temples on top of all the hills around. A security guard told me that some hills are at a distance of 20-30 Kms. Oops! Too long na? I realized that I couldn’t possibly see all of them.
I continued to explore. While I was looking at some sculpture, a localite told me that there were some nice places in Kamalapur too (6-7 Kms from Hampi). Since I had enough time, I figured I could go take a look. One thing that really impressed me were foreigners who were really open to new experiences. Some were riding bicycles & some trying to ride “Lunas”. I could see more white faces than localities here :-)
While exploring Kamalapur, another localite showed me a picture of “Stone Chariot”. I had seen this picture a long time ago in some book. I wanted to see it but just because I dint know its name, I thought I will end up missing it. But to my luck, I met the right person who gave me directions to that place. It’s called “Vittala Temple”. After staying a while at Kamalpur, I turned my bike to head towards it. Since there were a lot of places to cover, I went crazy with my camera so that I could capture as much of it as I could. I reached Vittala Temple by 6 PM and soon after that, it began to get dark. Luckily, I could capture some good snaps of the Stone Chariot.
From my experience, Hampi is not a place to cover in few hours. One surely needs a day or two to explore everything. One more important thing is that it’s better to have your own conveyance because a few places worth visiting are at a distance of few Kms from each other.
I reached Hospet back by 7 PM & very first thing I did was to take enough cash from an ATM. Soon after that I saw a juice center & grabbed two glasses since I had not eaten anything at noon. I came back to lodge & got freshened up. Dinner was an easy task since I saw an Udupi Hotel near my lodge. Dinner signaled the end of the day.
While exploring Kamalapur, another localite showed me a picture of “Stone Chariot”. I had seen this picture a long time ago in some book. I wanted to see it but just because I dint know its name, I thought I will end up missing it. But to my luck, I met the right person who gave me directions to that place. It’s called “Vittala Temple”. After staying a while at Kamalpur, I turned my bike to head towards it. Since there were a lot of places to cover, I went crazy with my camera so that I could capture as much of it as I could. I reached Vittala Temple by 6 PM and soon after that, it began to get dark. Luckily, I could capture some good snaps of the Stone Chariot.
From my experience, Hampi is not a place to cover in few hours. One surely needs a day or two to explore everything. One more important thing is that it’s better to have your own conveyance because a few places worth visiting are at a distance of few Kms from each other.
I reached Hospet back by 7 PM & very first thing I did was to take enough cash from an ATM. Soon after that I saw a juice center & grabbed two glasses since I had not eaten anything at noon. I came back to lodge & got freshened up. Dinner was an easy task since I saw an Udupi Hotel near my lodge. Dinner signaled the end of the day.
Sunday (23rd Nov 2008)
I opened my eyes when the room boy knocked on the door shouting “Hot water ready!” I looked at my mobile & it was 7 AM. Got ready in a jiffy & got my bike’s petrol tank filled to its brim. Having done that, I rode towards “Tungabhadra Dam” which was just 4 Kms away from city. Captured the amazing view of the dam & had my breakfast in the dam canteen. After having my fill of the dam, came back to the lodge & checked out. It was 9:30 AM by then.
I then started the journey of Day-2. I had a long ride this day, per plan. I headed for Raichur. I had to take the same Hampi route. On the way, I was just recollecting my experiences of the previous day. I reached Gangavati which was at a distance of 40 Kms by 10:45 AM. Bad roads put breaks to my speed & killed my time :-(. It was all village roads. After Gangavati, I could see a signboard which said ‘Raichur – 135 Kms’. Since I was in short of time & the road had gotten better, I increased my speed. And the next thing I knew, I had fallen down!!! :-( But luckily my speed was then just15-20 Kms/hr. Nothing happened to me but my cute pal( my bike, in case you got any ideas!!) got injured. Yes! Bike dome had a scratch!! It was all my mistake. I tried to overtake a tractor from the wrong side & slipped. I was totally under control & at the wrong time, my shoe slipped too. It was my first fall in my entire riding history :-(. Immediately I called up Ravi (from whom I borrowed the bike) & informed him about the incident. He was a cool guy & told “nothing to worry about the bike & just enjoy your tour!” but I was not convinced. I had never imagined that I would ever fall off a bike :-(
That incident put a damper on my speed too. Finally reached Raichur by 1:30 PM after a journey of 175 Kms from Hospet. I couldn’t see anything in Raichur since I was short of time. I finished my lunch in an Andhra mess and left for Bidar. On the way I could see a beautiful view of the “Thermal Power Plants”. Those huge pillars were eye catching. I had seen those pictures in my dad’s office magazine. But I had never dreamed that one day, I would be clicking photos of them :-)
According my plan, I had to reach Mehaboob Nagar and then take a deviation towards Bidar. But I was sure that it would consume a lot of time. So decided to take a short cut & headed towards Narayanpet – a deviation from Makthal. The road was very narrow but of a good quality. From Narayanpet, I managed to reach Gomatkal by 5 PM. Yes! It was late. But goats, cows & buffalos on the road & zigzag curves slowed down my speed. I realized that I had to ride another 150 Kms & it was already getting dark. From Gomatkal, the road was superb until Kodangal. All these places were part of Andhra Pradesh & language was an issue to figure out the route. Reached Kodangal by 6 PM hoping that the roads still be good going ahead. But it was absolutely opposite to my wish. The road was very bad from Kodangal :-(. It had already turned dark. Narrow, bad roads & villagers who looked just like film villains! All these put the fear of god inside me :-( and I wondered if I could make it to Bidar or not. It was very scary ride.
Finally reached Chincholi by 7:15 PM & called up my aunt. She told me that after a few Kms from Chincholi, the roads are good and I could ride faster. I took heart from that and continued. At this point I was 60 Kms away from Bidar. I remembered my aunt telling me of robberies taking place at nights on moving vehicles. So there was no chance for me to take a small break & finally with lot of ups & downs I made it to Bidar by 9 PM. Reached my aunts place & she was eagerly looking out for me. She was quite worried since I had taken a bad route. My bike, jacket & helmet were full of mud :-(. I freshened up & as expected my aunt had prepared “Jola Roti” & my all time favorite “Jamun” yummy! :-). Got my stomach filled up & then directly to bed. Off! It was long ,long journey. An unforgettable one!!
Monday (24th Nov 2008)
Got up leisurely by 6:30 AM. I knew in advance that today’s journey was not very long. All I had to cover was to ride around 150 Kms. So I made plans to visit places in Bidar with my aunt’s help. I had enough time to wash my clothes, clean my bike which was covered in the mud of my previous day’s journey. After grabbing a bite, we left to the Bidar Fort. My aunt was my guide and company through out since she had taken leave from school (she is in the teaching profession). So sweet! :-). And even my cousin was enthusiastic to give me company. So he joined us in his bicycle. The fort was really fabulous. It’s huge!!. They have maintained it well, its neat & clean. After enjoying it for an hour & capturing some snaps in my camera, we headed towards other places of interest (Chaubara, Gajina Kamba – Glass Pole). Then we visited the Narasimha Zhara, a temple for which we had to walk in water that came up to our shoulders for about 10 Min inside caves. My cousin and I went went & had a good time :-). After that, came back home & had a nice lunch. Post lunch I took a small nap & then went to the Sikh Temple. It was very calm & I loved it. At 5 PM after tea, I left for Gulbarga. I knew I would get there by 7:30 PM. So was riding at a constant speed & reached on time.
While entering the city, traffic police flagged me down & checked my documents. He asked me for license. I gave it to him, but in that license, my photo was completely out of shape. It was a chance for him to get money & he asked the same. I didn’t have any change other than 100 Rs. I gave him that & started negotiating with him just hoping that he will return some money. Finally he gave me 40 Rs back :-). I never had guessed he would return some money!!! I really enjoyed getting some money back from him. Filling petrol in my bike, I reached my aunt’s home in Gulbarga & yummy dinner as expected & sound sleep :-).
Tuesday (25th Nov 2008)
Opened my eyes to the sounds of trains!!!. Yes! My aunt’s house was quite close to the railway track. It was 7 by then. Got up & freshened up in no time. My uncle had taken leave from office just to give me company in visiting places around the city.
I informed them well in advance that I have to leave city by 11 AM at least. Then my uncle and I went to the Gulbarga Fort. It was nothing special but was worth a visit. We reached home by 10:30 AM covering few more places around the city. By that time aunt had already prepared lunch. It was too early for lunch but she wanted me to have lunch in their home. So had early lunch & meanwhile my uncle called up his friend to enquire the route for Bijapur & stay arrangement over there. He told me that the route I had planned to take was a bad one & gave me a better route to reach Bijapur. He booked a room for me too. Big thanks to him :-)
It was almost 12 NOON when I left my aunt’s place. As my uncle had suggested, I took the new route & it turned out to be good one :-). I enjoyed my ride throughout & reached Bijapur by 2:45 PM. It was around 100 Kms from Gulbarga. On the entry into the city, a huge tomb caught my eye & surprisingly it was the world famous “Gol Gumbaz”. I was really excited. Luckily my lodge was just a Km away from Gol Gumbaz. Checked into the lodge, dumped all my baggage & straight away went to the Gol Gumbaz! Hurray! They have maintained this very well too, and the garden surrounding the monument was superb too. It was exactly as I had seen in pictures :-). When I went inside, I could see that the tomb was really huge. Its nearly as tall as a 6-storey building. Lots of kids were making noise, probably they were busy finding out the science behind its echo system. Yup! The sound in the tomb echos. I too yelled “Hello” loudly & captured a video in my camera. But couldn’t get the echo clearly since the sound disturbance was high. There was an old man who was clapping his hands & seriously looking at the tomb. I guess he too wanted to know the miracle behind the echoing beauty :-). Well having said that, when you come out of the terrace, one could see the beautiful view of the entire district. After that my next visit was to the Jumma Masjid. There was nothing so special in it. But had heard a lot on the internet about it. So gave that a visit too. Next was “Ibrahim Roza” in the row. It was a really calm place with two mosque like structures adjacent to each other. It was very good. My exploration had ended for a day by then. Reached the lodge by 5 PM. Then it was just dinner & sleep to end my day.
Wednesday (26th Nov 2008)
I knew in advance that I have to travel & visit a lot today. So as per plan, got up by 5:30 AM & checked out from lodge by 6:30 AM. Luckily, Kamath Hotel was open by then, & I grabbed my favorite idli vada. After having the early breakfast, the high way with a mild mist was waiting for me. Yes! I headed towards my next destination Almatti Dam & Koodalasangama. It was around 7:15 AM when I left Bijapur. Almatti Dam was around 60 Kms & since the road was of good quality, I took an hour to reach the place. But they dint let me inside the Dam since it was closed for viewers :-(. I had to manage by clicking the snaps of the backwaters.
From Almatti Dam I continued to Koodalasangama at around 30 Kms from Dam. Heavy trucks blocked the road reducing my speed dramatically. I reached the place & found nothing eye catching :-(. Since I knew that in my next destinations I won’t get anything for my stomach, I had a snack in Koodalasangama itself. Kamath Upachar is good one for snacks there. Then again the journey continues. After riding for few Kms, I saw a direction board pointing the way to heritage destinations “Aihole, Pattadakal & Badami”. Yes! These were awaited places of my tour. It was a narrow village road after I took deviation from highway. Though road was good, I purposely slowed down just to enjoy the ride between acres of Sunflower farms & small villages. Nature was at its best here.
Reached Aihole by 1:15 PM & started my expedition again. It’s not as huge as Hampi & hence I could cover everything in 45 Mins. Then left to Pattadakal which is at a distance of 15 Kms from Aihole. Again the small villages & eye catching greens :-). But it was hot; a burning sun & no shadows of trees on road. In Pattadakal I realized that I can cover everything in 30-40 Mins since all the monuments were grouped together. I took a few quick snaps & gave a break for my bike & back for around 20 Mins. I was tired of the heavy bag on my back. My next & last spot for the day was Badami – famous for “Cave Temples”. It was just about 25 Kms from Pattadakal.
When I entered those marvelous huge caves, I felt so small!! I think Badami is the best example for capabilities of Chalukyas. Those breathtaking sculptures are a live example for Chalukya’s caliber. All together there are Four Cave temples. Between the second & the third cave, there is an entry to Badami Fort but it was closed for viewers :-(. As I moved on to fourth temple, I could see a panoramic view of entire Badami town & other small caves at a distance. There is a lake at one side of the town crossing which we can visit two Chalukya temples & some trekking spot too :-). But since I had to reach Hubli for the night, I decided not to visit them all. I took 30 Mins break in the Cave temples. Cool breeze took away all the strain I had since morning :-). I left for Hubli by 4:30 PM & reached highway bypass in 30 Mins. It was 80 Kms to Hubli from there. But the road was both good and bad :-(. I made it to Hubli by 7:15 PM & checked into a lodge. I also visited my cousin’s place. It was a surprise for her. That marked the end of the day for me.
Thursday (27th Nov 2008)
I was quite upset that my tour had almost come to an end. Time goes by very fast when your are having fun :-(. Well I had a full day to cover “Dandeli”– my childhood home :-). It was around 80 Kms from Hubli. After having a nice breakfast, I left to Dandeli to recollect my childhood memories. But the bad road tired me out very quickly :-(. I reached Dandeli by 11:30 AM & the town had fully changed over time. It was hard for me to recollect anything there. I continued further to Ambika Nagar. It was around 15 Kms from Dandeli. The road was completely between dense forests. I loved my ride there :-). But in the entry gate to Ambika Nagar the security guy dint allow me to get in coz, as expected, viewers were not allowed. I had a plan of visiting Sky Point which was a nice scenic view point. But I guess I was not lucky enough to watch them :-(. So from there all the way back to Hubli & reached by 2:30 PM. Had a lunch 7 took an hour break in lodge. After getting relaxed for some time, I left to Davanagere where I had planned to stay. The route was NH-4 & it was good for some stretches & bad at other stretches. It was around 160 Kms from Hubli to reach Davanagere. Cool ride took around three & half hours to reach Davanagere. Nothing special after checking into the lodge. Dinner & sound sleep.
I opened my eyes when the room boy knocked on the door shouting “Hot water ready!” I looked at my mobile & it was 7 AM. Got ready in a jiffy & got my bike’s petrol tank filled to its brim. Having done that, I rode towards “Tungabhadra Dam” which was just 4 Kms away from city. Captured the amazing view of the dam & had my breakfast in the dam canteen. After having my fill of the dam, came back to the lodge & checked out. It was 9:30 AM by then.
I then started the journey of Day-2. I had a long ride this day, per plan. I headed for Raichur. I had to take the same Hampi route. On the way, I was just recollecting my experiences of the previous day. I reached Gangavati which was at a distance of 40 Kms by 10:45 AM. Bad roads put breaks to my speed & killed my time :-(. It was all village roads. After Gangavati, I could see a signboard which said ‘Raichur – 135 Kms’. Since I was in short of time & the road had gotten better, I increased my speed. And the next thing I knew, I had fallen down!!! :-( But luckily my speed was then just15-20 Kms/hr. Nothing happened to me but my cute pal( my bike, in case you got any ideas!!) got injured. Yes! Bike dome had a scratch!! It was all my mistake. I tried to overtake a tractor from the wrong side & slipped. I was totally under control & at the wrong time, my shoe slipped too. It was my first fall in my entire riding history :-(. Immediately I called up Ravi (from whom I borrowed the bike) & informed him about the incident. He was a cool guy & told “nothing to worry about the bike & just enjoy your tour!” but I was not convinced. I had never imagined that I would ever fall off a bike :-(
That incident put a damper on my speed too. Finally reached Raichur by 1:30 PM after a journey of 175 Kms from Hospet. I couldn’t see anything in Raichur since I was short of time. I finished my lunch in an Andhra mess and left for Bidar. On the way I could see a beautiful view of the “Thermal Power Plants”. Those huge pillars were eye catching. I had seen those pictures in my dad’s office magazine. But I had never dreamed that one day, I would be clicking photos of them :-)
According my plan, I had to reach Mehaboob Nagar and then take a deviation towards Bidar. But I was sure that it would consume a lot of time. So decided to take a short cut & headed towards Narayanpet – a deviation from Makthal. The road was very narrow but of a good quality. From Narayanpet, I managed to reach Gomatkal by 5 PM. Yes! It was late. But goats, cows & buffalos on the road & zigzag curves slowed down my speed. I realized that I had to ride another 150 Kms & it was already getting dark. From Gomatkal, the road was superb until Kodangal. All these places were part of Andhra Pradesh & language was an issue to figure out the route. Reached Kodangal by 6 PM hoping that the roads still be good going ahead. But it was absolutely opposite to my wish. The road was very bad from Kodangal :-(. It had already turned dark. Narrow, bad roads & villagers who looked just like film villains! All these put the fear of god inside me :-( and I wondered if I could make it to Bidar or not. It was very scary ride.
Finally reached Chincholi by 7:15 PM & called up my aunt. She told me that after a few Kms from Chincholi, the roads are good and I could ride faster. I took heart from that and continued. At this point I was 60 Kms away from Bidar. I remembered my aunt telling me of robberies taking place at nights on moving vehicles. So there was no chance for me to take a small break & finally with lot of ups & downs I made it to Bidar by 9 PM. Reached my aunts place & she was eagerly looking out for me. She was quite worried since I had taken a bad route. My bike, jacket & helmet were full of mud :-(. I freshened up & as expected my aunt had prepared “Jola Roti” & my all time favorite “Jamun” yummy! :-). Got my stomach filled up & then directly to bed. Off! It was long ,long journey. An unforgettable one!!
Monday (24th Nov 2008)
Got up leisurely by 6:30 AM. I knew in advance that today’s journey was not very long. All I had to cover was to ride around 150 Kms. So I made plans to visit places in Bidar with my aunt’s help. I had enough time to wash my clothes, clean my bike which was covered in the mud of my previous day’s journey. After grabbing a bite, we left to the Bidar Fort. My aunt was my guide and company through out since she had taken leave from school (she is in the teaching profession). So sweet! :-). And even my cousin was enthusiastic to give me company. So he joined us in his bicycle. The fort was really fabulous. It’s huge!!. They have maintained it well, its neat & clean. After enjoying it for an hour & capturing some snaps in my camera, we headed towards other places of interest (Chaubara, Gajina Kamba – Glass Pole). Then we visited the Narasimha Zhara, a temple for which we had to walk in water that came up to our shoulders for about 10 Min inside caves. My cousin and I went went & had a good time :-). After that, came back home & had a nice lunch. Post lunch I took a small nap & then went to the Sikh Temple. It was very calm & I loved it. At 5 PM after tea, I left for Gulbarga. I knew I would get there by 7:30 PM. So was riding at a constant speed & reached on time.
While entering the city, traffic police flagged me down & checked my documents. He asked me for license. I gave it to him, but in that license, my photo was completely out of shape. It was a chance for him to get money & he asked the same. I didn’t have any change other than 100 Rs. I gave him that & started negotiating with him just hoping that he will return some money. Finally he gave me 40 Rs back :-). I never had guessed he would return some money!!! I really enjoyed getting some money back from him. Filling petrol in my bike, I reached my aunt’s home in Gulbarga & yummy dinner as expected & sound sleep :-).
Tuesday (25th Nov 2008)
Opened my eyes to the sounds of trains!!!. Yes! My aunt’s house was quite close to the railway track. It was 7 by then. Got up & freshened up in no time. My uncle had taken leave from office just to give me company in visiting places around the city.
I informed them well in advance that I have to leave city by 11 AM at least. Then my uncle and I went to the Gulbarga Fort. It was nothing special but was worth a visit. We reached home by 10:30 AM covering few more places around the city. By that time aunt had already prepared lunch. It was too early for lunch but she wanted me to have lunch in their home. So had early lunch & meanwhile my uncle called up his friend to enquire the route for Bijapur & stay arrangement over there. He told me that the route I had planned to take was a bad one & gave me a better route to reach Bijapur. He booked a room for me too. Big thanks to him :-)
It was almost 12 NOON when I left my aunt’s place. As my uncle had suggested, I took the new route & it turned out to be good one :-). I enjoyed my ride throughout & reached Bijapur by 2:45 PM. It was around 100 Kms from Gulbarga. On the entry into the city, a huge tomb caught my eye & surprisingly it was the world famous “Gol Gumbaz”. I was really excited. Luckily my lodge was just a Km away from Gol Gumbaz. Checked into the lodge, dumped all my baggage & straight away went to the Gol Gumbaz! Hurray! They have maintained this very well too, and the garden surrounding the monument was superb too. It was exactly as I had seen in pictures :-). When I went inside, I could see that the tomb was really huge. Its nearly as tall as a 6-storey building. Lots of kids were making noise, probably they were busy finding out the science behind its echo system. Yup! The sound in the tomb echos. I too yelled “Hello” loudly & captured a video in my camera. But couldn’t get the echo clearly since the sound disturbance was high. There was an old man who was clapping his hands & seriously looking at the tomb. I guess he too wanted to know the miracle behind the echoing beauty :-). Well having said that, when you come out of the terrace, one could see the beautiful view of the entire district. After that my next visit was to the Jumma Masjid. There was nothing so special in it. But had heard a lot on the internet about it. So gave that a visit too. Next was “Ibrahim Roza” in the row. It was a really calm place with two mosque like structures adjacent to each other. It was very good. My exploration had ended for a day by then. Reached the lodge by 5 PM. Then it was just dinner & sleep to end my day.
Wednesday (26th Nov 2008)
I knew in advance that I have to travel & visit a lot today. So as per plan, got up by 5:30 AM & checked out from lodge by 6:30 AM. Luckily, Kamath Hotel was open by then, & I grabbed my favorite idli vada. After having the early breakfast, the high way with a mild mist was waiting for me. Yes! I headed towards my next destination Almatti Dam & Koodalasangama. It was around 7:15 AM when I left Bijapur. Almatti Dam was around 60 Kms & since the road was of good quality, I took an hour to reach the place. But they dint let me inside the Dam since it was closed for viewers :-(. I had to manage by clicking the snaps of the backwaters.
From Almatti Dam I continued to Koodalasangama at around 30 Kms from Dam. Heavy trucks blocked the road reducing my speed dramatically. I reached the place & found nothing eye catching :-(. Since I knew that in my next destinations I won’t get anything for my stomach, I had a snack in Koodalasangama itself. Kamath Upachar is good one for snacks there. Then again the journey continues. After riding for few Kms, I saw a direction board pointing the way to heritage destinations “Aihole, Pattadakal & Badami”. Yes! These were awaited places of my tour. It was a narrow village road after I took deviation from highway. Though road was good, I purposely slowed down just to enjoy the ride between acres of Sunflower farms & small villages. Nature was at its best here.
Reached Aihole by 1:15 PM & started my expedition again. It’s not as huge as Hampi & hence I could cover everything in 45 Mins. Then left to Pattadakal which is at a distance of 15 Kms from Aihole. Again the small villages & eye catching greens :-). But it was hot; a burning sun & no shadows of trees on road. In Pattadakal I realized that I can cover everything in 30-40 Mins since all the monuments were grouped together. I took a few quick snaps & gave a break for my bike & back for around 20 Mins. I was tired of the heavy bag on my back. My next & last spot for the day was Badami – famous for “Cave Temples”. It was just about 25 Kms from Pattadakal.
When I entered those marvelous huge caves, I felt so small!! I think Badami is the best example for capabilities of Chalukyas. Those breathtaking sculptures are a live example for Chalukya’s caliber. All together there are Four Cave temples. Between the second & the third cave, there is an entry to Badami Fort but it was closed for viewers :-(. As I moved on to fourth temple, I could see a panoramic view of entire Badami town & other small caves at a distance. There is a lake at one side of the town crossing which we can visit two Chalukya temples & some trekking spot too :-). But since I had to reach Hubli for the night, I decided not to visit them all. I took 30 Mins break in the Cave temples. Cool breeze took away all the strain I had since morning :-). I left for Hubli by 4:30 PM & reached highway bypass in 30 Mins. It was 80 Kms to Hubli from there. But the road was both good and bad :-(. I made it to Hubli by 7:15 PM & checked into a lodge. I also visited my cousin’s place. It was a surprise for her. That marked the end of the day for me.
Thursday (27th Nov 2008)
I was quite upset that my tour had almost come to an end. Time goes by very fast when your are having fun :-(. Well I had a full day to cover “Dandeli”– my childhood home :-). It was around 80 Kms from Hubli. After having a nice breakfast, I left to Dandeli to recollect my childhood memories. But the bad road tired me out very quickly :-(. I reached Dandeli by 11:30 AM & the town had fully changed over time. It was hard for me to recollect anything there. I continued further to Ambika Nagar. It was around 15 Kms from Dandeli. The road was completely between dense forests. I loved my ride there :-). But in the entry gate to Ambika Nagar the security guy dint allow me to get in coz, as expected, viewers were not allowed. I had a plan of visiting Sky Point which was a nice scenic view point. But I guess I was not lucky enough to watch them :-(. So from there all the way back to Hubli & reached by 2:30 PM. Had a lunch 7 took an hour break in lodge. After getting relaxed for some time, I left to Davanagere where I had planned to stay. The route was NH-4 & it was good for some stretches & bad at other stretches. It was around 160 Kms from Hubli to reach Davanagere. Cool ride took around three & half hours to reach Davanagere. Nothing special after checking into the lodge. Dinner & sound sleep.
Friday (28th Nov 2008)
It was a dry day :-(. My exciting journey has come to an end. Well I had to reach Bangalore by riding for 270 Kms in a day. Before I left Davanagere I made sure to eat another “Davanagere Benne Dosa” as my breakfast. It was a yummy :-). The road was awesome. I had to take some Chitradurga route in which I had started my journey. After Chitradurga, I had to face continuous rain :-(. I couldn’t speed my bike coz of rain :-(. But I dint want to stop my bike anywhere just coz I dint want to waste my time waiting for rain to stop. I got fully drenched in the rain. I reached same old Bangalore by 1:30 PM. I dint face any traffic problems in the city. Thanks to NICE road which helps me to reach my home in Padmanabha Nagar very easily from outskirts :-). I really dint want to call it an end but there was not way out too :-(. I got fresh at home & looked at my bike. It was full of mud. I just recollected the entire journey at a glance & started thinking about my next ride :-).
So the Journey continues again!!!
Complete album? North Karnataka
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