A gentle day today, probably just as well as we were both exhausted after two days of route marching in the midday sun around Hampi. A 9am start proved to be just as well after it took 45 minutes for breakfast to arrive. Who’d think scrambled egg and toast was such a complicated order? Belur and Halebid are about an hour’s drive away (no hotels recommended anywhere nearer). Both have 11th and 12th century temples, amongst the greatest in India, built by the Hoysala kings, with an extraordinary quantity of exquisite sculpture. Bangles on a dancer’s wrist that move, despite all being carved out of a single piece of stone, 64 elephants marching in a ground level frieze, every one different to the next, dancing girls, gods, demons, mythical beasts, pillars covered with carvings – the ... read more

It is difficult to convey the scale of Hampi. A city of 500,000 people, one of the great trading centres of the world in the 15 and 16th centuries, visited by merchants from England, Europe, the middle East and China. Devastated, pillaged and destroyed by vengeful Muslims from the Deccani sultanates after Talikota in 1565 (as the guide kept telling us ad nauseam), and then abandoned and overgrown by the jungle until discovered by an intrepid Englishman on his horse in the 19th century. And now a World Heritage Site, little known outside India. Massively long and wide colonnaded market avenues lead up to temple complexes of the 14th to 16th centuries. The temples were also social centres, so you find a dining and dormitory building, a consultation hall, a music and dancing hall and an ... read more

Strange things happen.... as we sit in the lobby/dining room of our hotel (only place with wi-fi) under the cooling breeze of a fan, a small white rabbit has just ambled past. And left, presumably not wishing to be spotted by the cooks. Badami is famous for its rock temples, hewn and carved out of massive sandstone cliffs. For once, we don’t need the sensible hats that cause so much derision, as the temples are in shade first thing in the morning. Today we have a guide, recommended to us by our guide at Hyderabad and charging a modest £9 for three hours. There’s no doubt you see and appreciate a lot more with guide, even though yesterday we were so hot we just wanted to keep going and would not have paid attention to explanations ... read more

Saturday morning. With eager anticipation we descend to the food bizarre for breakfast. “I say my good man, where is the buffet spread?” “Very sorry mister sir, for you bread toast jam tea coffee you want sugar milk?” Possibly the dullest breakfast ever appears, but at least they managed to serve tea without a tablespoon of sugar in it. Off to see Bijapur town, the medieval remains are truly impressive, but if one more youth comes up to me and says “hello meester what is your country?” I may punch him. I know they are only being curious seeing the two whities in town but it can become a bit much. By now we have already posed at least half a dozen times for photos with locals who wnat a souvenir shot with the foreigners and ... read more

Hyderabad was the capital of the largest princely state in India under the Raj, ruled by the Nizams of Hyderabad, the last two Nizams being the wealthiest men in the world in the mid 20th century. The old town is dominated by the Char Minar, a four towered structure built in 1591. There are also numerous mausoleums around town, together with palaces and museums showing the wealth of the Nizams who ruled Hyderabad from 1724 until 1948 when the princely state was absorbed into the newly formed Republic of India. Next to the Char Minar is the mosque. Hindu women were allowed in wearing saris with bare heads, arms and midriffs, but Sara was pulled to one side and had her headscarf (already wrapped round her head) rewrapped on the grounds she was not decently covered. ... read more