Of ruins and stones:

Continuing our visit to Vijaya Vitthala, we spent a long time gazing at the river, at a view that has existed for centuries. The river flows strong but quiet, banks scattered with massive boulders, tall green grass drooping in the heat. The water was clean and a cool breeze wafted from it. There were so many birds. Peacocks cried out, invisible to our eyes. I don’t know what they are called but large black birds glided above the water, searching for fish and then sunning themselves on a rock. The heat was bright and our misery went up with the mercury. Still, we forged on, hats and long, cool cottons in place. We drank coconut water sold by a lady who wielded her machete with such aplomb!! Thwack! Thwack! And fresh, sweet water from rather shriveled coconuts.

Back at the base, Giri was waiting for us. We were still skeptical about this deal we had made, but his very presence was reassuring like a mirage in the desert. He proceeded to drive us to the next site included in our day pass. It was really far away, and we breathed a sigh of relief that we hadn’t been foolish in our negotiation! Raja, the Guide,  followed us on his bike and met us there.

 

We reached a large area, the royal palace complex, dotted with various stone buildings. Each one intricate in carving and design, the extensive royal quarters and gardens have their own story to tell. There are pools of water and stone walls, garrisons and temples. There is a zenana for Ladies only, and towers for guards. The prettiest is the Lotus Mahal, and the most exciting is the vast elephant stable for the royal pachyderms, around a large quadrangle. Elephants played a very huge part on the Vijayanagar Empire, and this is evident by the large and magnificent stables for them.

There is a museum next door, which we were very tempted to visit as it’s air conditioned. But honestly, we were absolutely drooping by now. To my delight, I found a cart selling lemon sodas, the soda in traditional glass bottles sealed with glass marbles. I love these old green bottles that have to be popped to open. The glass marble seals the mouth of the bottle and keeps the fizz inside. I last found one of these in Jodhpur and was really excited they were so easily available here. The limbu soda guy was obviously popular and I drank my limbu masala soda with gusto.

We happily clambered back into Giri’s neon accented rickshaw and headed to visit my lovely cousin who works at the very fancy Evolve Back resort.

Originally Orange County resorts, Evolve is very royal and vast with luxury being the main focus. An excellent lunch of simple dahi chawal with a delicious range of their homemade pickles and the real pleasure of a cocoa cola with ice perked us up enough to explore the hotel. The rooms are sumptuously appointed with private gardens, pools and hot tubs. Everything is uber elegant and formal. The hotel has a lovely boutique where we found some absolute treasures, including coffees, saris and clothes, caps, banana fibre handbags, souvenirs and more. What we loved was the hotel’s welcome drink of coconut milk and jaggery. Absolutely refreshing and tasty. The infinity pool beckoned in the simmering heat and we looked at it longingly.

But we already had exciting plans for the evening ahead…….