After 2 nights in Hampi it was a pretty easy 3-hour drive North to Badami where we immediately went up to the sandstone caves carved in the 6th Century and dedicated to an array of deities/religions from Shiva and Vishnu to Jain prophets. Each of the 6 main caves is entirely carved out of the parent rock with the pillars left connected on both ends. Very cool.
The area between Hampi and Badami is very dry and agriculture is, necessarily, limited. Most of what was grown seemed to be either ragi (millet) or sunflower. The fields of sunflower were exquisite, when they were turned towards the car it was the most amazing expanse of yellow. When I finally convinced the driver to stop for a field tho, the flowers were starting to bend their heads....
The ragi was really interesting too. They were harvesting while we were driving through and they would pile the seed heads on the road, letting cars run it over. After a few cars they swept up the grains knocked out by the weight of the vehicles, collected them and set the seed heads back out for another go. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures before we'd moved to a landscape that no longer supported ragi growing.
The ragi was really interesting too. They were harvesting while we were driving through and they would pile the seed heads on the road, letting cars run it over. After a few cars they swept up the grains knocked out by the weight of the vehicles, collected them and set the seed heads back out for another go. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures before we'd moved to a landscape that no longer supported ragi growing.
In Badami we took a horse carriage from our hotel to the caves:
After the caves we went on a sunset walk around the tank
There were more caves and temples on the far side of the tank:
The last day in Badami we walked around town, went to the museum, then drove to the coast....