Vijayawada, AP to Hampi, Karnataka

Day 1: Vijayawada to Kurnool, 29th September 2012

I had promised Deepika, a girl that is so close and so dear to my heart months ago to pen down my experiences in Karnataka where I travelled to reach Hampi archaeological site by road. Now, I hope I have delivered my promise to her, by recording the first and second day of my journey. Phani Kumar, my driver was sick that day but I strongly believed that he was just given me an excuse as he is not familiar with Karnataka road. Hence, Raju, a Section 2 driver took Phani's place. 

A unique rock formation attracted and captured by my Nikon

2 lane state road leading to a small windy lane inside Thummalabailu deep forest, Day 1

I was lucky as Satya and his family has agreed to tag along with me in the Innova Car. It was quite comfy for all of us. We started the journey right after lunch on Saturday, 29th September 2012. There are 6 of us, Satya, the wife and their 2 children's, a girl and a boy beside me and Raju. A drive on the State Highway, 50 (SH50), was not so smooth as the road was very poorly maintained. There's many areas where the whole DBM layer was ripped off. We had to made a couple of stop for Satya's wife to release her bloated air (vomiting) by the road side. Lucky that she was fine the next day and during the rest of the journey. God bless.

Satya and his family

Onion farm along the state road, the farmer decided to get the onions before it was damage due to monsoon

The distance from Vijayawada to Kurnool is about 347km , where we decided to stay overnight. By the time we stopped for diner and checked in to the hotel, it was already close to bed time. We travelled almost 7 hours on the first day. The routes covered in the first day was passing through the following town in Andhra Pradesh states:-

Vijayawada - Guntur - Chilakaluripet - Narasaraopet - Vinukonda - Thummalabailu - Nandikotkur - Kurnool.

Flower lady nearby the small town we stopped for breakfast on Day 2

Daily life in a local town, free from modern world

For the record, Kurnool, the 7th most populous city of Andhra Pradesh is a gateway to a region of Rayalaseema and the largest city in the area. It served as the capital of Andhra Pradesh for 3 years in 1953. The present capital city of Andhra Pradesh is Hyderabad, written in my previous entry "Hyderabad, City of Pearls". We did not explore Kurnool city as there's not much attraction beside a bastion, Konda Reddy Fort, constructed as a strategic watch tower by the rulers of the Vijayanagara Empire. It was said that underneath the bastion lies a passage (tunnel) which connects the fort to Gadwal which is located 52 km away. Hampi is a more important place fall within my search list to witness the greatest archaeological sites of the world.

The shop offering variety of breakfast including a nice Indian Coffee

Means of transportation, not horns no traffic jam

Day 2 - 30th September 2012

We checked out from the hotel in very early morning so that we can reach Hampi right for lunch. The journey of 4 and a half hours, of 212km were through the following towns from Kurnool :-

Kurnool - Kodumur - Yemmiganur - Adoni - Siruguppa - Tekkalakote - Ganggawati - Hampi.

The transporter supplying sand to the nearby state road upgrading

Ladies washing day by the road side

Various rare scenes along the quite state roads are shared in this entry. It was my most valuable experience  in India to enjoy such beautiful journey and the ability to witness a rural life of Southern India. I do not see much poverty life rather than a happy and healthy faces, busied with their daily life activities.

The road condition worsened due to monsoon and poor road base formation

Enjoying a slow life in rural area, no rush, no tension - Bliss

Mostly in southern India, the heavy populated peoples have a nourish land so fertile for them to work on. Life is great and peaceful in here without modernization. Who need 1 anyway?

Paddy field in a misty morning weather, SH50

A random picture of me and the kids

To be continued...