A long drive today after a few days of short driving - 420 km to the edge of Hyderabad. We reverted to our old routine of leaving by 7.00 am after a cuppa. The early morning chill was very welcome and it suddenly reminded us that winter was almost upon us.
Temples at Aihole (8.00 am)
We were driving out past Aihole once again, and since we missed out on a couple of temples during yesterday's visit, we decided to stop by and complete our coverage. Such dedication, no?
The Ravana Phadi was once again a rock-cut temple like the Badami ones, though the cave was much smaller in size, and not...er...cavernous. There were some beautiful carvings of the forms of Shiva and Parvati inside the temple. In fact this is the oldest of the Aihole temples, being 6th century Chalukya. No idea how Ravana came into the picture, though.
Shri Hucchimalli temple was another Shiva temple, like in the complex we saw yesterday. There was a walled pond in front, which made it look quite sophisticated.
Breakfast on the way (9.00 am)
It could have been because it was a Sunday or because it was Karnataka, food outlets just about started to up their shutters at 9.00 am. I don't know about others, but I get pretty tense if I see a possibility of breakfast being skipped. We finally collared a young lady Nazmeen running a small breakfast shanty, and the upma she was dishing out wasn't half bad.
Lunch at Raichur (1.00 pm)
Raichur was roughly midway, and ideally suited to fill our midriff. But where was the Raichur Fort that the internet had touted as the top of the 25 places to be seen at Raichur (the next two were library and park, and the rest etceteras)? After a lot of rubbernecking, we could spot a smallish fort at the top of a hill. A local gent on a cycle assured us very proudly that there was absolutely nothing to be seen there, and we had to climb a lot anyway. In fact, he said with patriotic fervour, that Raichur has no claim to fame at all. That put the lid firmly on our enthusiasm.
We located a decent restaurant and ordered biriyanis. Panna ordered "half mutton", while I was forced to upgrade to "full egg" because, for some inexplicable reason, egg biriyani couldn't be half, as if the two eggs being served were joined at the hip! Panna couldn't finish HER serving, so you can imagine how minor was the dent in MY portion. The kitchen staff would all have skipped dinner today.
Hyderabad entry (7.00 pm)
While the road upto Raichur was not particularly smooth, after that the NH167/44 to Hyderabad was like butter. Dusk descended as we entered Hyderabad, and the drive at 120 kmph along the Outer Ring Road was like a video game, as usual.
Right after passing Raichur, we started seeing fluffy white stuff blowing about the tarmac, and realised that it was cotton! Soon cotton fields appeared, some lying quiet and green, and some others with pods that had popped open and the fields looked like the crop was sprouting white flowers. We saw people plucking cotton in the fields and lines of trucks standing by the roadside where the bales of cotton were being loaded. Amazing sight!
We are staying three nights at Hyderabad, with family and friends. My next travel post well be on 27th Nov, when we leave for Kaleshwaram. Why there? Wait and find out.
