Badami - Exploring the ruins

Bhoothnatha temple
This time, my travel list took me to the North of Karnataka, to this place called Badami. I started from Mumbai on Friday, in a VRL bus at midnight, delayed by an hour. But with the rains around, and the traffic, I'd say they did well to keep the delay down to just an hour. Nothing worth writing about the bus journey, not even a chai break. The bus reached Hubli at 930 AM on Saturday. After making to and fro trips between the new and old bus stands, I was informed that buses to Badami will be available at the old bus stand, but due to Eid prayers, the bus service was stopped for a couple of hours. I hogged onto my breakfast during this time, and tasted the famous Dharwad pedha.
The jump shot
I got my bus at 11 AM, and the 100 odd kms journey to Badami began. The roads were single-laned, but surprisingly in greatcondition. I reached Badami at 230 PM. I checked into hotel Rajsangam International, which is exactly opposite to the main bus stand. I got a room for Rs. 650/night after giving him the travel blogger story. I rested for a while before leaving to explore the place. I visited a temple on the nearby hill, and then to the lake which was around a kilometre away from the hotel. The lake is surrounded by caves and temples, and a museum. There were a lot of monkeys around, but they seemed used to the human presence. I walked around the lake for a while before sitting down on the stairs there and left soon after the sunset. I was dissapointed to find no non-vegetarian food being served in most of the nearby restaurants. Had a masala dosa and chai before retiring for the day. 
Ashok anna
I travelled to Aihole, Pattadkal, Banashankari temple and Mahakoot. Aihole and Pattadkal were excellent, but in hindsight, I guess I could've skipped Banashankari temple and Mahakoot. I took an auto at 9 AM from Badami bus stand. The driver's name was Ashok and he knew a great deal about the history of the place. So he was now my guide too. Fortunately, none of the places were crowded, and I was the only visitor at most of the places in Aihole. So I had the entire monuments to myself. Ashokanna, as I addressed him, told me that there were around 125 temples in Aihole! But most of them had been destroyed or couldn't stand the test of time. Very few remained. The road from Badami to Aihole was smooth for around 20 kms, after which, there was no road for around 10 kms! The weather was great for travelling, cloudy and not very hot. It hadn't rained much this year, and the rivers were already running dry.  he architecture of each monument was mesmerising and it must have been a great sight to view them at their best. The sightseeing was done by 3 PM, and I was back at my hotel in an hour. I paid Rs. 800 for the journey, completely worth it. 


Meguti Temple
I took my guitar down to the lake to enjoy the sunset and met a few interesting people there. There was one guy, probably in his mid 40s, who was from Vijaywada, but was working at a bank in Badami for more than 10 years now. He offered me a lift on his bike till the lake. He heard me speaking Kannada, and expressed dissapointment at the fact that he hadn't been able to learn Kannada after staying around for so many years. We had a small conversation about work and the place in general, after which I settled down on the stairs and got my guitar out. 
Huchhimalli Temple
As I was playing, a small group of kids gathered, and sat around me, listening. And another guy, probably in his mid 20s came over and joined me. His name was Manjunath. He said he played the tabla, and we had a great conversation about music, travelling and life. He dropped me to my hotel on his bike. 

 The joy of travelling solo lies not only in visiting a place, but also in the fact that such candid conversations can happen when you least expect them to. You seem a lot more approachable to people, and they talk their hearts out.
Ravanphadi Cave
Then came Monday, it was time for me to leave. I took a short walk to the lake again, this time without the guitar or the camera. Grabbed a quick bite, and a tea before returning to the hotel. Packing was quick, and I took a nap till 1200 noon. The bus to Hubbali started at 1230 PM, I took the front seat, next to the driver. It was cloudy, and cool due to a constant breeze. The landscape was beautiful, with mountains and windmills on the way. I reach Hubbali at 330 PM, with around 6 hours to go for my bus to Mumbai. I got back to eating - lunch, tea, snacks and sweets. Even then, it was just 5 PM and my bus left at 915 PM. I went to this mall called Oasis, took a seat at its food court and got my copy of 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' out. I wasn't able to finish it, as it was time to leave soon. The return journey was smooth, again without breaks.

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