Day 2 - Solapur to Hampi

DAY 2 - SOLAPUR TO HAMPI

YES the alarm went off at 5:30, YES I got up from bed with the only agenda of hitting the road ASAP, YES I said Chuck it.... and YES I went back to sleep. The idea of this journey/ride was to ease out the stress of the clock, do my own thing on my whim & fancy. Alas, I could only sleep 30mins extra as my pre-ordered-breakfast-at-a-pre-defined-time was standing outside my room banging the door like a emergency fire evacuation drill.... Travesty!!!

The view of a sleeping Tier 2B city (Solapur for the tourists on my post) is as laid-back as one can imagine. From the highest point in the city (5th floor of my hotel room - showing off subtly) the whole town looked calm & restive. I was imagining Mumbai people at this very moment clamouring to go to work swearing niceties on the late start. Solapur has the aura of importance.... spend your time doing absolutely nothing (jack shit) and yet feel like an achiever. Its the apt city where one can catch up on sleep & rest.

A look around the room showed me the mess I had slept in. Due to the rains wet gear was laid out to dry in the night (by me of-course). Eventually packing & loading my stuff on the bike took till 8:30am. Once I was out of the city & on the highway the sense of calm returned... I did cast off...Phew!!!

The southern part of Maharashtra & north Karnataka (I was headed to) was the drought affected area. Latur is the media face for drought but its not restricted to just one district. The drought has afflicted the southern part of Maharashtra, Northern Karnataka, Districts of Telangana has witnessed rain paucity last year & so has some districts of western Andhra Pradesh. Solapur did receive a good amount of rain but 60% less compared to 5yrs back. As I moved further from Solapur towards Karnataka it was visible that bare minimum rain had taken place in those parts. The drought has yet not cleared the area from red. Pray they have a deluge... Good enough for the farmers to get back into a vibrant form.

This is where I saw the positives in my resurgent India. Whatever the rainfall may have been the farmers have not been idle nor have they given up. (When the going gets tough, the tough gets going) They went back to their back-up plans and have planted their 2nd crop (assuming this is the amount of rainfall for this year). My positivity has been infused by the many farmers & locals I spoke to during my multiple filter-coffee stops. They said a bountiful rain or compensation packet from government is an elusive miracle that happens only in movies or in their local leaders speeches during elections. They said the rain this year was much better than the last 2 years thou when compared to the normal rains half a decade back - they received only 40% in the current year. So why sit idle, farmers planted their 2nd crop & that has made many a villagers smile. If (by miracle) they receive more rain then they will plant the same crop again only after the first lot is harvested. (Remember India is a 2 crop nation - thank god for schools & inane farming trivia - I finally managed to use that bit of education for the first time post school)

The moment you enter Karnataka the road conditions take a plunge for the worst. This stretch has an average speed pre determined for your vehicle to maintain and thats 35 to 40 kms/hr. If you want your hard earned vehicle to stay in one-piece stay within the mentioned speed limits. After 50 odd kilometres the deplorable road gave way to a miraculous state-of-the-art expressway which extended right until Hospet. As I went off the toll road towards Hampi (a UNESCO heritage site) from Hospet the road went back to its deplorable state for the next 30kms. No wonder the international tourists think of us as a crazy lot. We have good roads that is only between certain key cities & the pathetic roads are relegated for the cities ruled by errant politicians or opposition party controlled area. How does one explain this to anybody who is not from the sub-continent?

Tomorrow is the day I explore Hampi, the capital of four dynasties who ruled from 1300AD to mid 1500AD. It was also known as Vijaynagar in its hey days which is now given to the city previously called Bijapur. The Deccan empires (assorted gang of various kingdoms) ganged up to loot & destroy this once wealthy capital. Post that it stayed in the ruins till British archeologists took interest. Remember the English economy was flourishing thanks to us & so many english people could indulge in chasing past histories while our fore-fathers were slogging their bony backside to pay their taxes. Today its a UNESCO heritage site, thankfully. Else all those stones would either have ended in many a bathroom or kitchen. I have booked a guide for the day & I am looking forward to the treasure chest of knowledge that will unfold tomorrow.

Since I started at 8:30am, I did many small stops for coffee & water. One needs to hydrate as much as possible while biking in humid conditions while wearing the whole protective rig. My lunch stop at noon was at this amazing Haryana Dhaba which was located after Bijapur (renamed Vijaynagar). It had those cots with planks in the center on which one can plonk or recline & eat. Guess what I had... Tandoori Roti & MUTTON... Yes the mutton thats not mutton but mutton yet amazing for its rarity maybe non-availability. (if you do not get the drift... Superb. If NOT - forget it & move on) I must say it was mind blowing... Piping hot, amazing taste (not spicy... but had this deep red hue to it - maybe the cook took fresh bloody-red-meat to the cooking pot) the MUTTON (you know what I mean) just melted in my mouth.... I can go on for hours describing my lunch but let me not make you feel...you know what. Moving on.... I reclined for 30 mins on the cot had a couple of coffee & asked for the bill. It was a meagre 100 Rs.... All inclusive. Lunch like that at Bade Miyan in Bombay would be around 700 Rs minimum. I will never forget the taste of happiness ever...

This is where I leave you tonight & will share the history & trivia of Hampi tomorrow.

Today distance covered - 326.2kms Total distance from Bombay - 813.6kms Tomorrow - Exploring Hampi, Karnataka.