..Back in time to the 'Ancient temple town'- Hampi

A beautiful pot pourri of history, culture, food and people, Hampi is indeed a backpacker’s paradise. Period.

Last year around this time I visited Hampi with the Blueberry trails. From Mumbai, a 15 hour bus ride to Hospet, followed by a quick auto rickshaw ride, you reach this ever-so-laid-back destination.

For me it was love at first sight. <3

The lazy river, the women on the ghats, the colourful boats bobbling up and down, big boulders and rocks scattered carelessly, I could feel a lazy smile steadily creep over my face.

Hampi is divided by the Tungabadhra river, and to reach the other side, Virupapur Gadde, you need to take a boat. 

We stayed at Shanti cafe, which was one of my highlight of the trip! Really, how many times have you woken up on a swing, with swaying green paddy field across and a flowing river beyond? Me, never! If chilling is your agenda, this place it is. Just walk down to the open cafe, order a continental breakfast and plonk your bottom on the gadda for as long as you want! *sigh

But chilling apart, I had to see Hampi. So all geared up, we pass through the Hampi bazaar to see the symbol of Karnataka tourism that resides in the Vitthala temple. The most important temple in Hampi, it encloses the iconic stone chariot right in the middle surrounded by other stone shrines. Ancient stone temples are a ubiquitous part of Hampi, so talking about each of them is impossible. 

Stone Chariot  at Vitthala temple

Image of a creature with parts from '10 animals'; the shared 'Bull- Elephant head'; Ravana  in stone

Vittala temple premises

Coracle boat ride on Tungabhadra

Entrance to the Underground Shiva temple

The beautiful symmetrical architecture of the Queen's bath

Lotus Mahal

Elephant stable

Monolithic statue of Nandi

Uphill hike to explore more temples...*gulp

Hidden temple ruins enclosed by plantations 

Taking the last boat back to Anegundi side at sunset

But apart from temples, one thing you cannot miss here is a Coracle boat ride back to the main bazaar. Swishing around in the cool water, with beautiful rock structures (man-made and natural passing you by), the ride is unbelievably calming.

Around the Hampi bazaar you can hire mopeds and then ride around wherever you want. And believe me, this is the fun part! 

After some more temple visits (Lotus Mahal, Elephant’ stable, underground Shiva temple, Queen’s bath etc.) and we reached the gigantic Monolithic Nandi. But more gigantic than that was the number of stairs that led to our next temple complex. It was a long trek uphill but once you reach the top comes into view the complete temple complex hidden amidst the banana and coconut plantations. *phew ...I felt like an explorer, straight out of a tomb raider movie, except I was still catching my breath! This walk and the heat literally took my breath away. (*Caution- Carry water all the time)

 On the other side of the Tungabadhra is Anegundi, the original capital that was said to be the erstwhile Kishkinda, the monkey kingdom from the epic Ramayana. Nearby is Anjanadri hill, the birthplace of the Monkey god, Hanuman. (*Thought- Trivia like these always confused me because I thought Ramayan was ‘mythology’ and hence didn’t really happen).

Anegundi, unlike Hampi, is less commercialised and hardly untouched. Huge boulder and open paddy fields comprise the landscape and provide a perfect opportunity for bouldering or climbing boulders without any equipment (*Caution- you need to be seriously flexible, fearless and crazy to do this!).

Well after my fellow travellers did some climbing, we sped off towards the water canal to cool off.

And Whoaaa....what a sight that was!

Blue water, blue sky with huge grey boulders...the perfect composition to the end of a perfect sojourn....

*SPLASH!!!

Where the river meets the sea & the sand meets the bank- Poovar, a hidden paradise

Shadowed by the bigger touristy names in Kerala like Alleppey, Munnar, etc, Poovar is a small fishing town, untouched & unexplored.  

60 kms north of the southernmost tip of the Indian sub continent, in Malayalam it literally translates into, Flower River (Poo-Var). Like any other beach town this hidden hamlet has its own share of swaying coconut trees, clear blue sea and sandy brown sand. But what sets this place apart from other beachy places is the fact that it is located at the mouth of an estuary. Pristine backwater on one side and the gentle sea on the other, it has all the Kerala elements one looks forward to.

Poovar beach in all it's beauty

View of Estuary Island resort deck

The path to ...absolute beauty, with Poovar beach beyond

Resort with it's traditional look and feel

The backwater cruise through small green tunnels

Brilliant reflection on the still backwater

Some of the  birds I managed to capture 

...With wild flowers and wild fruits all around, how could I not be smiling?

Small fishing boats docked on the beach  with view of the resort behind

Fish auction in progress

While the fishermen wait for the verdict, the crows wait for some fishes to come their way

bringing the catch together before distribution

natural rock  formation of an 'Elephant in the sea'

• Best time to visit is after the monsoon and during winters
• The nearest airport is Trivandrum which is 25kms away
• It is best for couples who are looking for some privacy
• Not for all the party animals(*go to Goa instead)
• Ensure you eat the fabulous sea food here

I stayed at this place called Estuary Island. It is an island because it is surrounded by the backwater on three sides and by the ocean on the fourth. A relatively new property, the view from the deck is spectacular. It makes you want to kick your shoes, put up your feet and wriggle your toes while basking in all the serene beauty around. The villas have the traditional Kerala roofs, sloped and tiled with an interior that is very classy yet traditional!

One must-do here is to take a short backwater cruise around the island.  It can transport one to a sort of mini Amazonian forest (minus the snakes and mosquitoes). The still green river water enveloped with a canopy of low lying green vegetation carries one beyond the present realm of reality. The vibrant bird life with its water crows, woodpecker, cranes, the white headed kites etc.  this place is definitely a birdwatcher’s paradise. Their occasional calls are the only things you can hear apart from the paddling of the oars.

In Poovar an early morning visit to the Fishermen village is essential so that you can witness the life of the fishermen and also chose what you want for lunch! You can easily spot a fishing cove by the number of crows in the area and the amount of jelly fishes on the beach.

 I spotted both and was excited to witness a fish auction, where the men would throw in their catch together and sell it the men/woman who bid the highest.

The beach here is everything you can imagine, virgin soft and private. And the gentle sea breeze seemed to pull away all my city rattle and left me smiling. As I sat on the beach looking at the ‘Elephant-in-the- Sea’ stone structure, I wondered whether I should keep this place a secret. But then beauty is one such thing that can never be hidden. And in Poovar you can not only see & hear beauty but feel it too! And on my part, it would have been such a shame to not share it.

To the 'Happiest' place in the world!!

The first stamp in my passport was to the happiest place in the world- Bhutan!! And it is the happiest place, not because I say so but also because it is the only country in the world which is measured by GNH- Gross National Happiness rather than GDP. 

Like Alice in wonderland, here I was in my happy-land, wandering about the beautiful streets of Paro, with white imposing Dzong in the horizon, the sound of the flowing river, colourful prayer flags fluttering in the wind and warm smiles of the Bhutanese that simply charms your heart!

Amidst the cultural and religious surroundings, only one thing stood out. Ummm...let me re-phrase; only one thing was “standing” out and that was the most ubiquitous lucky charm in the Bhutanese culture, an image of ......wait for it.....an ERECT PHALLUS!! 

Yes....u read that right! Images of these holy phalluses can be seen painted on the walls of the Bhutanese homes in the countryside or wooden ones, just hanging in front of shops and homes. According to Bhutanese folklore, an erratic Buddhist monk would ward away demons by hitting them on their head with his “tool”! Since then it is believed that it keeps away evil. Fascinated and amused by this piece of Bhutanese culture, I wondered, maybe that is why this is known to be the happiest place in the world!

Soon it was time for me to go back from this fascinating country and head home.

My flight was from Paro, Bhutan to Delhi in India. I had heard from many that Paro airport is, if not the most, one of the scariest airports in the world. One night before my flight I met a gentleman at a party, who when heard that I was going to fly Druk airlines (Bhutan’s only Airline) said, “If you google Druk airlines, you might get keywords like DruNk airlines, ha ha!(*evil laugh)”. At this point, I was a bit scared! That night I did google it and this is what it showed, “Taking off or landing at Paro Airport can feel like a flight simulation video game where players must dodge natural hazards in their way.”, “When ascending or descending, aircraft has to avoid hitting the jagged Himalayan Mountains through a complicated series of dips and turns”, “Tucked into a tightly cropped valley and surrounded by 4900-metre-high Himalayan peaks, Bhutan's only airport is forbidding to fly into.” etc...etc..

*Gulp..I was going to need paper bags, loads of them!

Generally, I am not jittery about flying but today I had mentally freaked myself out about the “scary” flight! With no option but to go ahead, I seated myself in the nearly empty aircraft. Scary or not, I have to admit, this airport nested at the lap of magnificent mountains was one of the most beautiful airports I have ever seen. Strapped in and ready, the take off made me break into heavy sweat, as we took some really tight turns around the mountains. But a few minutes in the air, I realized, it is not all that scary, just over-rated!

45 minutes in to the flight, all seemed peaceful as I smiled and thanked all my Gods (at times like these I am pretty religious!). Just then the Captain made an announcement, “Ladies and gentlemen, in another 5 minutes, we will be flying past the World’s highest peak, Mount Everest!!”

Are you kidding me????....Seriously?

As I sat for the next 5 minutes, pressing my nose against the aircraft window loomed into view, the Himalayan range with its snow capped peaks. There are so many peaks that, at first you wouldn’t know which one was ‘IT’, but soon comes into view the WORLD‘s TALLEST NATURAL ERECTION, the magnificent Mt. Everest. 

Now I was absolutely HAPPY!