India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (214 page)
K.M. Rd., opposite Pavitravana Jyothinagar Post, Chikmagalur 577 102.
08262/22-0202
or -0404. Fax 08262/22-0222.
www.tajhotels.com
. 29 units. Rs 5,700 standard garden view double; Rs 5,900 superior pool-view double; Rs 6,600 cottage mountain view. Rs 900 extra bed. AE, DC, MC, V.
Amenities:
Restaurant; bar; currency exchange; cycling; doctor-on-call; Internet (Rs 150/half hr.); pool; pool table; room service; table tennis. In room: A/C, TV, minibar, Wi-Fi (Rs 200/hr./ Rs 600/day).
Hoysala Village
With clusters of cottages spread over 2 hectares (5 acres) and surrounded by ample greenery, Hoysala Village is ideal for a 1-night stopover if you don’t necessarily want to travel all the way to Chikmagalur. It’s not exactly posh and the unimaginative interiors leave much to be desired, but it does have a pool, a bar and decent cuisine—ask for a room or suite in the fourth cluster closer to the pool area, which has a nice patch of garden with hammocks. Given the limited options in hand and the large tourist inflow, it’s a blessing, but if you care about your accommodation surroundings, try The Gateway in Chikmagalur.
Belur Rd., Hassan.08172/256-764,
-793 or 080/25325302.
www.trailsindia.com
. [email protected]. 33 units. Rs 4,000 standard rooms; Rs 4,500 suites. Rates include all meals. AE, DC, MC, V.
Amenities:
Restaurant; bar; airport transfer (Rs 3,500); carom, chess; pool; room service. In room: A/C, TV.
Traveling Via Mangalore
Once a seaport of some significance, Mangalore is an important center for the processing and export of Karnataka’s spices, coffee, and cashews, and known as the bidi cigarette capital of the world. (The bidi, effectively a roll of dried tobacco leaf, is also known as the “pauper’s puff.” Apparently 90 people die every hour in India from tobacco-related cancer.) Its greatest significance for travelers is that it makes a convenient pit stop on the section of the Konkan Railway that runs between Goa and Kerala, and provides road access to Belur, Halebid, and Sravanabelgola, as well as Mysore.
The Gateway Hotel
(Old Port Rd.
www.tajhotels.com
; doubles from Rs 4,000) is the best hotel in Mangalore. Accommodations are comfortable, if not particularly luxurious. If you’re feeling flush, book a suite with a river-cum-ocean facing view (Rs 8,000). Staff will arrange trips to the beach and local temples, as well as tours of a cashew-nut factory or tours to see how Mangalore’s famous red-clay roof tiles are made.
4 Hampi & the Ruined City of Vijayanagar
Hampi is 460km (285 miles) NW of Bengaluru and 13km (8 miles) E of Hospet
The surreal, boulder-strewn landscape of Karnataka’s hinterland is the backdrop to the largest complex of ruins in India. Hampi, capital of one of India’s most formidable empires, the powerful Vijayanagara—whose rule stretched from the Arabian Sea to the Indian Ocean—was home to a population of half a million, and protected by more than a million soldiers. Set in a vast valley sprawling from the banks of the Tungabhadra River, the splendid “City of Victory”—where even the king’s horses were adorned in jewels—is now a ghost city with numerous temples, fortification ramparts, stables, royal apartments, and palaces, popular with determined sightseers and trance and rave party disciples. Long popular with Bollywood as a shooting location, Hampi is also where scenes from the 2005 Jackie Chan thriller
The Myth
were shot. Hampi may be a little difficult to get to, but this remoteness is to a large extent its charm. You can easily enjoy 2 or 3 days in this serene atmosphere, particularly if you’ve booked at
Hampi’s Boulders
(see “Where to Stay,” below), a comfortable resort within striking distance of the ruins.
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE
The overnight
Hampi Express
leaves Bengaluru daily at 10:20pm, arriving in unremarkable Hospet, the nearest town, at 7:40am. From Hyderabad, the Rayalseema Express departs at 5:25pm and arrives early the following morning, at 5:10am. Hampi is 15km (9 1⁄3 miles) away. Taxis charge around Rs 600 for the one-way trip; be sure to negotiate. Hampi is also connected to Goa by an overnight bus service.
Kingfisher Airlines
operates flights from Goa and Bengaluru to Vidyanagar airport at Toranagallu (38km/24 miles from Hospet)—check the website (
www.flykingfisher.com
) for details.
VISITOR INFORMATION
If you reserve lodging at
Hampi’s Boulders
(see “Where to Stay,” below), you’ll have no better source of information than your host, Bobby. In Hampi Bazaar, the unusually helpful staff at the government-run
tourist office
(08394/241-339;
Apr–May daily 8am–1:30pm, June–Mar daily 10am–1:30pm and 2:15–5:30pm) can provide information and organize coach bookings (not recommended) and English-speaking guides. At Hotel Malligi (see “Where to Stay,” below), you can hire an
audioguide
for around Rs 50. In Hampi, you can pick up information and guides (Rs 500 from the
information office;08394/241-339
) on Bazaar Street. If you’re a stickler for detail and thorough research, pick up
New Light on Hampi
(Marg Publications) by John M. Fritz and George Michell.
GETTING AROUND
By Taxi & Auto-Rickshaw
Hampi’s ruins cover 39 sq. km (15 sq. miles), and should be explored on wheels. Bicycles (for rent in Hampi Bazaar) are fine for the energetic, but only in winter. Taxis (Indicas around Rs 1,000 for a full day, without air-conditioning, or Qualis at Rs 1,800) or even auto-rickshaws (count on Rs 400–Rs 500) are better if you’d rather not deal with maps, heat, and dirt tracks. Do, however, get out on foot whenever you can to soak up the atmosphere.
EXPLORING THE RUINED CITY OF VIJAYANAGARA
For anyone with dreams of Indiana Jones–style adventuring, the Hampi ruins provide the perfect setting—an ancient city with isolated ruins scattered among impossibly balanced wind-smoothed boulders and immense stretches of verdant landscape. Listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site, various excavations have uncovered evidence to suggest that Vijayanagara was occupied as long ago as the 3rd-century-
B.C.
Mauryan era. During early medieval times, armies were regularly dispatched to the Deccan by the Delhi Sultanate as part of its campaign to establish an empire that would encompass the whole of India. During one such campaign in the early 14th century, the invading forces captured Harihara and Bukka, two princes of Warangal, and took them to Delhi, where they fell in with the Sultanate. This allegiance eventually saw Harihara being crowned king of the region that is today known as Hampi. In celebration, Harihara lay the foundations of Vijayanagara, his new capital, on the southern banks of the Tungabhadra. His brother, Bukka, succeeded him 20 years later and ensured widespread support by issuing an edict that granted all religions equal protection. The monarchs who followed extended patronage to all manner of artists, poets, philosophers, and academics, effectively making Vijayanagara a center of learning that, in its grandeur, captivated visitors from as far away as Arabia, Portugal, and Italy.