Hampi

Trip was going as per plan until Deepu saw that Hospete board, after the last minute change in plan we reached Hospete with out any prior preparations in terms of accommodation, somehow managed to get rooms to stay, but in the morning next question in front of us was what’s next…!!! To be frank 15 days also not enough to explore Hampi, we were there to explore Hampi in one day. From Hospete Hampi is at 13 Kms distance, which won’t take more than 20 – 30 mins.

We started with Vittalla Temple which is famous for ‘Kallina Rata’ (Stone Chariot) and musical pillars.  Always I will think, if these temples were not destroyed by enemies then how beautiful it would be…!!!

‘Kallina Rata’ (Stone Chariot):

As mentioned earlier one day is not enough to explore Hampi, we just visited some of the monuments.

Covered as many places as possible and finally visited to Virupaksha Temple, this is the only temple which is not destroyed in Hampi.

Next plan was to visit Tunga Bhadra (TB Dam) Dam, best time to visit this Dam is evening time, we can witness beautiful sunset and under lights Dam gates looks awesome… J

Because of cloudy day could not witness sunset, but enjoyed the cold breeze, musical fountain and lightings of the Dam.

On Day 3 only we winded up our trip covering Sathodi & Maogd falls on day 1 and Shirley falls on day 2, headed back to Bangalore and reached Bangalore morning around 6.00AM.

Shirley Falls

On second day of our trip, we headed towards Gokarna on the way we planned to visit Shirley Falls. As i mentioned in my previous blog Yellapura is a pradise of Waterfalls, after visiting beautiful Satodi and Magodi falls it was time to visit one more water fall around this place.

Shirley (Shirale/ Shirle) water falls nearly 20kms from Yellapur town. Here you can see the water falls from 100 feet height (approximately). Due to the lack of publicity this beautiful falls is still unknown to lot of people. From Yellapur town need to take Yellapur- Ankola National highway (N.H-63), approximately 18kms you will get Shirley cross on left side of road.

From that cross you have to go 2.5kms in forest (mud-road) downwards. It is better to go by walk only. This water fall is a private property, we need to pay Rs.10/- per person to visit the water fall.

It was a nice place to visit. You will find many more water falls in and around Yellapura especially in rainy season. But our next plan was to visit Gokarna and cover in some more places around Gokarna.

While heading towards Gokarna stopped for quick tea break, we just came 10 Kms away from Shirley falls I guess, while getting back to vehicle Deepu Saw sign board ‘Hospete – 240 Kms’ and asked shall we go to Hospete instead of Gokarna…!!! Most of us already been to Gokarna, but only couple of us been to Hampi so we changed our plan instantly and headed towards Hampi… J

Took U – Turn and started our journey towards Hampi. Seriously we should appreciate cab driver for baring us with instant plans… J

Again came back to Yellapura and stopped in same ‘Sri Krinshna Vibhava” hotel for lunch. After finishing our lunch headed towards Hampi which was approximately 6 hour’s drive from Yellapura (including all breaks).

On the way in Gadag visited ‘Gadugina Veera Narayana’ temple and by the time we reached Hospete it was around 8.00PM. Next challenge was to find hotel for stay, since it was long weekend all the hotels were filled with tourists. We enquired all most all hotels in Hospete but we didn’t find any hotel to stay. Finally around 11.00PM managed to get rooms to stay. More than visiting places we spent most of time in journey and in finding hotel on Day 2…!!! 

Sathodi & Magod Falls

Much awaited Monsoon began, had lot of plans for this monsoon but after coming back from Leh bike ride could not executed any of those plans. Deepu started mail thread regarding plan for August 15^th long weekend, decided to visit Yellapura (paradise of water falls in Karnataka J). Seena arranged for transportation for us. This time it was team of 14 members. All set for one more vacation, keeping huge crowd on long weekend in mind we decided to take one day off and start our journey on 13^th August itself… J

Finally the day arrived and we were all set to start our journey. Yellapur is around 425Kms from Bangalore and it is almost 6 hours journey since we take NH – 4 till haveri easily we can reach in 6 hours. We thought of leaving Bangalore at 10.30 PM (or max by 11.00) but heavy rain started from evening only, because of rain it got delayed to start our journey as per plan.  Finally left Bangalore around 11.30PM..!!!

Day – 1:  Yellapur.

Reached Yellapur around 8.00Am, finished our breakfast in Yellapur town and headed towards Satoddi falls.

Satoddi Falls is one of the most well-known falls in Karnataka. It is at a distance of 25 km from the town of Yellapur on the outskirts of Yellapur, traveling towards Hubli, is the left turn that leads to Satoddi. Part of the road is an all-weather road but a portion, nearly one-third the distance, is not motorable during rains. I heard from my friends that, it is not possible to visit the falls in rainy season. But if we go on rainy season then only we can enjoy the real beauty of waterfalls.

Need to walk around 500mts to reach the waterfalls from parking place. Path is not so tough any one can easily reach the waterfalls in any season. But it’s better not to get into water in rainy season. 

Almost all in this group were very good swimmers, we got into water and spent some time in water. Since we went on weekday there was no crowd at this place. So enjoyed our swimming at this place without any disturbance. Spent more than one hour at Satoddi Falls and headed towards Magod Falls. 

Magod Falls:

Magod Falls is situated 19 km away from Yellapur, in the village of Magodu. Here, the Bedthi River takes two distinct leaps to hurtle from a height of 650 ft. into a rocky ravine. To visit Magod falls we need to come back to Yellapur again and take Karwar road.

If you are vegetarian then you can visit “Sri Krinshna Vibhava” (Bhattara mane) for delicious food (Though you are a hard core non vegetarian once you should taste food from this hotel). In peak hours it’s very difficult to get table at this hotel, always it will be crowded. Finished our lunch and headed towards Magod Falls.

In Magod Falls you can’t get into water. There is no chance of going near to water; from far away you have to enjoy the beauty of the water falls. It was time for photo session... J

 

Jenukallu Gudda is situated 17 km from Yellapur. The Bedthi River from Magod fall cuts across the green hills and bounces all the way to join the Arabian Sea beyond the hills. This place is a viewpoint in the Western Ghat, which offers a panoramic view of the hills packed one behind the other. Jenukallu Gudda is one of the famous sun set viewpoints, but we didn’t get a chance to view the sunset because of clouds.

Our plan for that night was to stay in tent’s finalised couple of perfect place for camping, but last moment we changed our plans due to rain. Came back to Yellapura and managed to find hotel to stay. 

Plan for next day was to visit Gokarna and on the way visit Shirley falls.