Days 13 - 15: Over the mountains to Hampi and Bangalore

Day 13 was the day we had to leave Goa again, heading east towards Bangalore. After having a rich breakfast (including omlettes) – which like usually took ages since apparently most waiters in India were unable to serve anything in a reasonable amount of time – we packed our rickshaw and made some final photos and videos in front of our hotel. We were both sad that we had to leave this awesome place and happy that we were now on our way again to see and explore new sides and places of India.

Shortly after starting in Goa we had to cross some mountains again. These mountains were covered with a lush forest that was part of a environmentally protected area of the Indian government. Driving through the forest in the morning with very few other people on the road was a real pleasure. When we arrived at the top of one mountain we could enjoy a breathtaking view on the area. The rainy clouds just hanging over the dense forest and a calm lake deep below offered one of the best sceneries for photos and videos on our whole tour. Naturally we used the spot – and one of the rare moments in which it stopped raining for a few minutes – to also make some shoots with Rob’s drone.

Somewhere in the forest we left Goa and entered the state Karnataka. Most of this state is covered with agriculturally used fields on wide plains. That kind of environment followed for the rest of the time for this day after we left the mountains. With the mountains of India’s western coast behind us we also left the core monsoon area. From now on to Bangalore the rain should be much less present and much less intense. For the night we stayed in a hotel called „The Travel Inn“ in the city Hubli-Dharwad. Since we didn’t want to eat in the hotel’s restaurant  we decided to look in the surrounding area for reasonable alternatives. Max spotted a tiny place with a lot of local Indian customers and he told us that it would be always a sign for a good restaurant. And indeed we got some tasty food there, Garlic Naan included.

Our goal for the next day was reaching Hampi, a place that is part of the UNESCO world heritage. It was a little distraction on our way to Bangalore but we glady went for it since it was a place that was both recommended by Rob and the Adventurists. The rest of the day was mostly just riding through fields of crops and other agricultural products. In the middle of nowhere we met three guys from New Zealand with their rickshaw who repaired their ride on the spot. We stopped to say hello and after they fixed their shaw we decided to make some cool driving videos from each other. Shorty after splitting up again we mentioned that something was wrong with the rack on our roof. It turned out that one of the four columns was broken. So we drove very carefully from now on and looked out for a mechanic who could fix it for us. In the next bigger town called Koppal we found a guy in a small workshop who was able to weld the rack together again. It was a pretty quick and pretty poor job – but it should hold until the end of the run. So we finally had our first kind of breakdown. I don’t know whether it really counts as a real breakdown because we were still able to drive. But in the end, it was an interesting experience and that should count even more.

In the late afternoon we finally reached Hampi and we were delighted to find out that our guest house – that we had booked on the internet before – was located right in the middle of the ruins, with direct sight on the main temple from our room. The evening sky with both a yellow and red sun and clouds in all variations of grey offered a marvelous view. On our daily tour we had already set up a meeting with other Rickshaw Run teams in a restaurant called „The Mango Tree“ for dinner. But first we explored some of the ruins with the three Rickshaw Run guys from New Zealand whom we met right there on the spot again. Inside the temple we not only saw a lot of interesting historic things but also an elephant who took money from tourists with his trunk.

At the time we entered the restaurant there were already about 15 people waiting for us at a long table. The Mango Tree turned out to be a very cozy space with tasty food – and the speed with which our orders were served was kind of unreal for India. Instead of waiting like 30 or even more minutes for just a drink everything was delivered in less than 10 minutes – quite a pleasant experience. The lassis (a kind of drinkable fruit joghurt) was especially tasty and so all of us consumed more than one. To round up the evening we visited the three guys from New Zealand in their guest house and together we drank beers and whiskey on their rooftop, enjoying the atmosphere, nice conversations and the sight of the old temples and ruins.

The next day we stood up early. To be precise, we stood up at 5.15 am because we had been told that experiencing the sunrise in Hampi would be something we shouldn’t miss. We were all still pretty tired but we managed to climb up a small mountain on which there should be the best spot. It took us about 30 minutes to get there but we were right on time for the sunrise. And boy, it was really worth the hassle. Seeing all the temples and ruins and the surrounding stony mountains, the river and lush forests in between was simply breathtaking. For me, it was easily the best experience on our whole tour. We stayed on top of the mountain for about half an hour, just trying to soak in the atmosphere with all our senses.

After that we split up. Max and Rob went back to the hotel, taking a nap until breakfast. I wanted to use the time to see some more of the ruins. On my way to one of the temples I met one of the guys from New Zealand who had the same idea. So we joined and took a walk together through the ruins and temples. In the early morning there was almost nobody around so we had most of the sites just for ourselves. It was hard to believe that scientiests suppose that once more than 200.000 or even 500.000 people lived in Hampi in the 15th century – until the whole city got destroyed by Muslims. It was the capital of the last big Hindu empire and only the temples and stone structures remained. But they gave a good impression of its former glory. Anyway, we had a damn good time visiting this place.

We guys met again at breakfast and we had our usual omlettes. Before leaving Hampi and heading towards Bangalore we wanted to make some cool photos with the rickshaw in front of the temples. So we drove the shaw through the narrow streets of the local town until we managed to place our ride right in front of the main temple. Of course we also had to make some selfies with Indian people there. Everywhere we went we grabbed the attention of the surrounding people in no time and going right into the tourist spots usually amplified the effect.

Since we wouldn’t make it to Bangalore this day we decided to make another stop for some drone shoots on our way south. In the evening we arrived at a city called Chitradurga and just stayed in the first hotel we came across in town. It was a pretty mediocre spot right beside the highway but it was good enough for just one night. Before going to eat something we had to look for an ATM because all three of us had run out of money. In India, finding an ATM that works and actually gives out bills can be a bit frustrating because that’s far from being the norm. In the end, only the fourth ATM we came across worked and fueled up our cash reserves again. Sadly, the burger spot we wanted to eat at was closed so we went to a small local fast-food spot instead. We initially wondered about the very low prices – but only until we mentioned how small the portions were. So we all had pizza, burger, fries and chicken nuggets (which didn’t taste like chicken at all).

The next day was the last day of our tour, the last day on the road. In the evening we would arrive in Bangalore, our final destination where the finish line awaited us. For most of the time we drove on the highway between Chitradurga and Bangalore, probably the best road we came across in India so far. Since we didn’t want to spend the last day only on the highway we then took some smaller roads through local villages. It was quite a nice ride since the roads were pretty empty, the weather was good and the environment was interesting.

In the afternoon we entered the suburbs of the pulsating megacity Bangalore. Since we were all hungry we made a stop at a local KFC store, ordering way more stuff than we were actually able to eat. Then we continued our ride, looking for our hotel, driving the last few kilometers of our run. After arriving at the hotel we first took a break and tried to chill a bit. Then we decided to try out a local bar that was well reviewed on the internet. While drinking a few beers and getting into conversations with Indian people on the spot we also finally managed to write all the postcards we had promised our donors. So the last day on the road came to an relaxing end in Bangalore – and we all couldn’t await to finally cross the finish line the next day.