[satishchugh]

Well the title is a little misnomer but what else you say to a road trip that included savouring the archaeological goldmines that are Halebeedu, Badami, Hampi and Bijapur; staying at a 70 acre coffee plantation in Chikmagalur & the great beaches of Gokarna.

We did the trip in December 2019 and due to various reasons couldn’t pen this down earlier. S
The back story:
My wife couldn’t believe that she has almost spent 10 years with me and so she wanted to do a pinch to ensure it’s for real. Well for a long time it pinched my pocket and to some extent my muscles as well, however we are happy that we celebrated it the way we did.
o while this is a long post, the focus is not to document the history or be informative, rather I have tried to document the experience we had. I hope you will love reading it as much as we loved going through the journey. Enough of context let’s start…

It wasn’t an easy choice, but once we ruled out going abroad a long road trip was the only option left. We discussed the road trip to Vadodara – Ahmedabad – Udaipur – Indore – Ajanta/Ellora but in the end settled for the North Karnataka. We thought being in Pune, Ajanta Ellora can be visited anytime. Then Hampi was on our list for a long time. It also helped that the the places we wanted to cover in North Karnataka were near to each other, this was important since my son was 2.5 yrs old at that time and thus we wanted to cap our drive to 5-6 hrs every day. Here is the route we finally took –

The Route:


Day 1 & 2 - Bijapur & Badami (Just read on)
Day 3 - Patadakal & Aihole
Day 4 - The Glory of Vijayanagara Empire - Hampi
Day 5 - Some more Hampi
Day 6 - Chitradurga - A fort that justify its name
Day 7 - Finesse defined - Halebeedu & Belur
Day 8 & 9 - Drinking & Driving - Coffee Plantation at Chikmangalur & Drive through western cost
Day 10 & 11 - Sun(set) & Sand - Gokarna
Day 12 & 13 - A waterfall and some wild animals - Drive back home


Day 1 | Pune to Bijapur | 320 KMs

We left Pune at around 8:00 AM and reached Bijapur at 3:30 PM including a 45 min break. We took the Google suggestion of going through Pandarpur to save 10 mins. The roads on this stretch (esp. Pandarpur to Vijayapura) are narrow and goes through village and so should have been avoided. After a quick lunch at the hotel, we went to Gol Gumbaz and it was a great sight to end the day. See for yourself –


Check out the intricate work and also the view of the entry quarters. These were formed in a way so that to fully hide the tomb from a little distance. Good safety Feature


View of the sky and the mosque after climbing 7 floors -



Day 2 | Bijapur & Badami | 130 KMs (Total 450 KMs)

Visited Ibrahim Rouza in the morning which is also called Taj Mahal of the South India. This may be an exaggeration, but the Tomb and the Mosque are a great example of Adilshahi architecture. The first view -



The Mosque


Intricate work on the door and walls of the Tomb -


The Tomb in all its glory! If only ASI has funds and can maintain these jewels, we will be a rich country just from tourism.


The stead which took us here


We then left for Badami and the road from Bijapur to Badami is simply great and has relatively less traffic. So, it was a relaxed drive. In the afternoon we visited famous Badami Caves. Badami caves are carved out of a hill on the corner of a man-made lake - Agastya Lake. The lake is surrounded by hills on three sides and on eastern side sits a beautiful temple (more about it later). This given the whole area an aura of magnificence, which can’t be captured in a picture.

The western end of the lake


and the eastern end


the fort temple on north-western side -


There are lot of Monkeys around the caves and my son was quite happy to see them.


The cave temples themselves are very intricate. I couldn’t take many pictures because of lack of light and also because of crowd. There was a school group visiting the caves and that made it quite crowded. I am sure on a normal day, it would be a serene place to sit and reflect.



We couldn’t go to the top of the other hill to see the fort temple, but we did go to the Bhootnath temple and as you would see, its a marvelous temple. This picture was taken in low light when sun had almost set, still I find it magnetic.


Some nuggets from Bhootnath Temple -






The view of the Agastya Lake from the Bhootnath temple, esp. at sunset is a view to behold.



The road from main road to the Bhootnath Temple goes through the village and is quite narrow. Going by the curious (but by no means uncomforting) stares from the locals, it appears not many visit it. Or maybe it was because my car had Delhi number. This place is awesome, and I feel sad that authorities are not making it easy for people to visit it.

[satishchugh]

Day 3 | Pattadakal & Aihole | 150 KMs (600 KMs)

The next day we started for Pattadakal, and a farmer decided to accompany us for some distance. Here is my son enjoying the Baa baa black sheep


Soon we reached Pattadakal and we were awe stuck. The complex is magnificent and serene. First view -


A bit inside -


There is one temple which is operational, with a big and very beautiful Nandi outside. There was a marriage going on in this complex, and so we couldn’t take pictures. But this temple had some energy and we felt so good. I think the whole complex including the the river flowing next to the complex has great positive vibes. the river looks beautiful.

Few pics from the temple complex -




My son also had great fun here. He tried many rides – Elephants, Bulls etc.



Then it was time to move to Aihole, where it all started

Aihole is supposed to be the place, where all the innovations in architecture happened. It was a major learning center where architects & their tribes perfected their arts fusing ideas from northern and southern India. These were tried & perfected here, before being implemented in Pattadakal and Badami. We enjoyed the place. The famous Durga Temple (nothing to do with Goddess Durga) has an uncanny resemblance to our Parliament house -




I say resemblance because it can't be the sole inspiration when I have myself seen the temple in Mitawali (Gems of Chambal Valley & Orchha - BEATen on a Chevy!), which also claims to be the inspiration for our Parliament House.

Then there was this rather special temple of Sun God where the idol remains naturally illuminated during the day even with closed walls. Such a great piece of architecture, this tells us their measurements were so precise and their science was much evolved.

Notice the roof of following temple, that has stones carved as wooden logs, as you would see in some wood temples of northern India.


However, for us the highlight of the Aihole was this cave. It was very cool even on a hot day and we felt rather happy in this desolate place.


Magnetic Shiva on one of the walls inside the cave.


We left the place deliberating how on earth Pattadakkal and Aihole are not much known. In my personal opinion there is much more to learn & enjoy at these 2 location than Badami and Hampi – which are much more popular and promoted. If only someone can promote them and make these accessible. Counter thought - it’s good this way as these are not mobbed like Hampi and we can still enjoy the place.

From Aihole we went to Aminagad and bought some Khardant from famous Vijaya Khardant as it was highly recommended by our guide at Aihole. To be fair, I bought it because he was with us and was recommending very heavily, but after eating I was pleasantly surprized by it. I would suggest giving it a try next time you are in in Aminagad or in Bangalore (I hear now they have a shop in Bangalore)

The road from Aminagad to Hampi is good but has lot of speed breakers and goes through populated areas, so we couldn’t drive very fast. As sun was setting, we entered the city of Hospete and were quickly stopped by the traffic police. I stopped the car on the side and both of us came out. The guy told me that my wife wasn’t wearing the seatbelt. I told him even my son was wearing a seatbelt (car seat) and we take safety seriously. The confidence did it and they let us go. Later my wife told me she wasn’t sure that she was wearing seatbelt as we had just filled the fuel about a KM ago and she might not have put back her seat belt. We had a good laugh, a good one to end the day.

[satishchugh]

Day 4 | Hampi | 38 KMs (638 KMs)

We started the day early as we were eager to see the Vijayanagara Empire. Here we are just outside the gate of the capital.


One has to walk quite a bit from the parking area to the Vittal Rukmini temple. There are golf carts available, but the service is not so frequent, so walking isn’t that bad an option. We took the golf cart to the temple but decided to walk back, just to see all the treasure that’s hidden behind those rocks and bushes ��





This is the most popular pic of the temple, just see the back of new 50 rupee note! Well they say in its original avatar it didn’t had elephants but horses pulling this stone chariot but that was lost when the empire lost its battle against the alliance of the Deccan Sultanates. We have heard the story of its magnificence and its destruction, but until you see it you wouldn’t believe that there was an empire richer than our imagination and (certainly) better planned than our current cities.


I don’t have the pic of the marketplace but the shopping area and wide road leading to market and the temple tells a story of its riches.

Well after the temple visit, it was time to see the palace. The first stop was the Lotus Mahal, architected to have space for water circulation to cool the place in summer. The remains are quite impressive -


However what took our breadth away was Gajshala the elephant stable. What strikes you is the odd domes, which some say is an ode to the various religions – Hinduism, Islam and Jainism that the rulers were influenced by. Guess the old men were more secular than the current crop of rulers.


A few more noticeable pics from the day are of Kadlekalu Ganesh Temple from the Hemakuta Hill Temple Complex -


And Virupaksha Temple



The temple itself is quite big and seems to enjoy great patronage. It also has a hippie market nearby where you can find some great pizza and fusion food.

[satishchugh]

Day 5 | Hampi | 84 KMs (722 KMs)

The first half was spent in vising the other ruins in Hampi and the boys decided to do it alone. The first stop was the underground Siva temple – Prasanna Virupaksha. It was small and filled with water, but I somehow felt great being there.



Hazara Rama Temple has some great carving and somehow the outer wall is in pretty good shape.



My son also thought of having a moment of glory with some great figures



The famous pushkarini (temple tank) and the mechanism to fetch water is an awesome sight


My son insisted on an elephant ride...


and after the ride, it is time to see Mahanavami (Dasara) Dibba. As you would notice in the first image it’s quite huge with lots of steps. I can imagine the crowd that would gather there on a Dasara day.


A bit of cattle spotting


And its time to reclaim the throne at the Krishna Temple.



Well that’s all the fun boys had in the morning. After the lunch and some rest the better half drove us to the Sanapur Lake. It was a great drive with great views of Tungabadhra and the green carpet on the other side of the river.



Sanapur Lake is a bit deserted and is mostly visited by couples or hippie junta, which didn’t gave us a safe feeling. But the views are great and also the large rocks are perfect for a little fun with camera.





We moved out quickly to reach Malyavanta Raghunatha Temple in time for sunset, and what a view it was. A great way to end the day! Also we loved the serenity of the temple as well – no fanfare, no sellers outside the temple, just go and pray – this is how it should be I think.

This is where we were waiting for the sun to set


The wait is over.

[satishchugh]

Day 6 | Chitradurga | 302 KMs (1024 KMs)

After a quick breakfast we left Hampi for Chikmagalur via Chitradurga. The idea was to take a break at Chitradurga fort if time permits. As it turned out the roads were great despite construction at many places. So we reached Chitradurga in less than 3 hrs but then ended up wasting 15-20 minutes in finding the entry to the Fort and appropriate parking. Let's have a quick look inside the fort -




When we coming back, a school group just came running in. It was fun seeing 100s of children running around with their teachers trying to manage.


The most interesting thing about the fort is ... well my son spotted an elephant, dog and crocodile? Can you see it here?


Do you see a snake hiding behind the crocodile

This is not a big Fort or a very stunning one, but somehow something attracted us towards it. May be it was nice weather, its relative calmness or may be the fact that it’s a gentle hike where you reach the top before breaking a sweat or may be that it has many stones which can be imagined as animal, bird or any other shape you like. We didn’t spent much time as we wanted to reach Chikmagalur before sunset, but thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent there.

If you are interested in this fort, read this awesome thread by nandita_bayan21 - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...tone-fort.html (The Chitradurga Fort: Exploring & experiencing this impregnable stone fort!)

We wasted another 30 mins searching for an appropriate place to have lunch but couldn’t find anything that clicked. The google also didn’t help. Ultimately, we ate at Sree Thirumala Dhaba just after hitting NH369. Though we had high hopes seeing the lines of cars, the food was actually pretty average. Later we found out that there are some eateries in Chikmagalur that are so good that some fellow BHPians just drive from Bangalore to have a weekend brunch.

We reached Chikmagalur at about sunset and just hit the bed after an early dinner.
 

[satishchugh]

Day 7 | Halebeedu & Belur | 103 KMs (1127 KMs)

The next day was planned for Temple hoping and though we had read about them, we were not expecting much. Oh boy we were in for a surprize. The Halebeedu temple is a gem. It’s much finer example of the stone craft than what we see at Hampi. I find it odd that there is so much information available on internet on Hampi while there is (comparatively) hardly any material on Halebeedu. May be its quality vs quantity - Hampi is a whole city of monuments. May be its the narrative - all enemies coming together to destroy the big boss of their times is a great story to tell.






See the fineness that matches the precision of jewellry making these days. Even the new temples that we see today can’t match this fineness and attention to detail.


Some more great examples – See the Trinity of Gods along with Vishnu and Bhoodevi.


Narsimha Avatar -


As I said, the finesse of work is awe-inspiring. Open the pictures and zoom in
to see the level of details that exist today. You can imagine how it would be in its hey days.


Belur is again a great example of Hoysala architecture and is relatively serene for an in use temple –



The roof is breathtaking


This statue of Garuda is surprisingly well preserved


This temple in temple & balcony concept was a unique sight for me -


Finding a place to eat was again a challenge, but fortunately we found a street food vendor at SBG Bridge (Samrudhi Dosa Corner) and had some awesome local food.

[satishchugh]

Day 8 | Chikmagalur | No Driving so 0 KMs (1127 KMs)

We had planned for a do-nothing day and it was today. We were staying at The Serai, which is owned by the CCD group and is actually in the midst of their coffee plantation. So we used the day to explore the property. Here is my little one exploring the coffee plant -




Few random pics of the property -

The big tree with the lights. They offer dinner here - quite an experience.


Hide and seek outside the cottage















We loved the property for its plantation & cottage. We loved the food even more - good variety, lip smacking and complemented with great service. They took us for a kitchen tour when my son requested them, even though kitchen is a no-entry zone for guests.


Day 9 | Agumbe & Westerns Coast| 314 KMs ( 1441 KMs)

This was the day we expected a long drive so after a nice breakfast and packed snacks we moved towards Agumbe. We loved the drive to Agumbe, esp. a stretch where we had tea gardens on one side and coffee plantation on the other.

An old bridge that forced us to stop and click this pic -


Somewhere on the route to Agumbe


We had high expectations from Agumbe, and though it's great it wasn't the wow feeling we had expected. May be that happens only during rains or may be we were too worried about the long drive to Gokarna. But yes, we loved the steep descent from Agumbe and the simian population that was there on this stretch.

Somewhere after the steep descent


Somewhere before Maravanthe Beach


The whole stretch today was very beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery as my wife drove through most of the stretch.

[satishchugh]

Day 10 | Gokarna| 7 KMs ( 1448 KMs)

We stayed at Kudle Beach View Resort and here is the view of beach from the hotel -


their pool is a great place to be at the sunset. Just see the sky -


And we preferred this staircase over their lift -



Up close at Kudle Beach - its fairly clean and quite a shallow beach, perfect for a family with toddlers.






In the afternoon we went to Om Beach. The first view -







Sunset point - There is a great sunset point near Kudle Beach and we rushed there just in time for the sunset. My son enjoying the view -


and then its a small hike to get to this point -


Here is my son enjoying a good laugh for being "up in the air".


All this while the sky was filled with colors, and it was magical.

Going


Going


Gone



Day 11 | Gokarna| 10 KMs ( 1458 KMs)

As this was our last day before driving back we took it easy. Just a walk to the beach in the morning and a boat ride from Om beach to Paradise Beach & back in the evening. Here are some clicks form the boat. We did see dolphins but couldn't get a clear picture.







In the evening we indulged in the Spa treatment at the hotel and I must say we were pleasantly surprized, it was great, in fact better than The Serai.

[satishchugh]

Day 12 | Gokarna to Karad | 461 KMs ( 1919 KMs)

We left early and the thought was we will cover one of the waterfalls. Vibhuthi seemed to have easier access so chose it.

The drive from main highway to Vibhuthi Falls is awesome – single lane but newly laid tar.


The last 1-2 KMs are to be covered on foot and its quite a gentle slope. Even our little one enjoyed the small hike. The pity is we couldn't get into the water as my wife was not comfortable with the flow and the depth. With the little one needing constant attention, we couldn't help each other get into the water by holding hands. Anyway, something for the next time. Here is the fall(s) in all its glory.


We wanted to go to Yana as well, but missed the cut and when we realized we had moved ahead about 10 KMs, so didn’t go back.

Overall the roads from Gokarna to Pune are good and esp. NH48 is in great shape. See the road somewhere between Hubli & Belgaum


However this doesn't mean you can drive fast, here is a picture of my biggest complain on road - Trucks occupying all possible lanes including the right most even when they are not overtaking. Again on NH 48 somewhere between Belgaum & Kolahpur -


Our plan was to stay at Belgaum or in best case Kolhapur. Even after our breaks we reached Kolhapur sooner than expected. So we did a quick search and found a highly rated hotel on the outskirts (Yelur) and decided to carry on. We reached there around 7:30 - 8 PM, and surprize surprize, the hotel was .. well lets say it was way over rated. So we spent a good half an hour discussing and re-searching (more on this later). Finally we closed on The Fern Residency in Karad which appeared a safe bet. It was about 40 mins drive and we reached there around 9:15 PM. It's a pretty new property with decent rooms, decent food and fair pricing. We loved the value proposition and since then have tried staying at The Fern whenever possible.

Well coming back to why it took so much time to decide. Karad is about 3 hrs from Pune. So one thought was to carry on and reach Pune around 1:00 -1:30 AM. Despite the enthusiasm, we decided against driving so much in the night, esp. with a tired body even if we were not feeling as much tired at that point. Well it was a good decision. And the other lesson learnt for me was not to trust Google ratings for hotels and finally not to stay in a non-descript place when I am with family except if its a known place/property.


Day 13 | Karad to Pune | 166 KMs (Total 2085 KMs)

After a decent breakfast at The Fern we left for Pune. Expectedly we were at outskirts of Pune in no time. So thought of closing the trip with a visit to Zoo at Katraj. We had planned to go many times but it never happened, so in a way it was a good end to a great trip! Signing off with a few pics from Zoo.







Bye for now and thanks for reading in.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[WhiteKnight]

Beautiful travelogue. As you rightly said, there are still lot of hidden treasures around us. I recently came to know about Yana, and that place looks surreal.

[Mafia]

Beautiful travelouge!

Brings back such good memories!

I have spent weeks wandeting about Hampi Badami Pattadakal with friends!

Thank you for sharing!

[ashishy]

Very well thought out itinerary. I'd replicate this soon. Would you please share the hotels where you stayed as well

[satishchugh]

Originally Posted by ashishy

Very well thought out itinerary. I'd replicate this soon. Would you please share the hotels where you stayed as well

Thanks Ashish! This thread helped me finalize the itinerary - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post4663407 (Karnataka road-trip in the summer?)

I have sent you all hotel details on PM.

[jithin23]

Wow! that's one crazy travelogue and you have managed to cover entire Karnataka in 12 days. Truly upto the tagline of KA tourism's "One state, many worlds". Badami and Bijapur caught my fancy.