Badami where children play with tyres while cows eat cardboard

Badami is small and manageable compared to many of India’s large cities, but despite this it is still filled with frenetic energy and exhausting.

We had come to see the hillside caves, topped by a fort which was closed at this time.

On our short walk through a labyrinth of narrow lanes behind the market, lined with stalls, shops and houses, we heard the muezzin call the men to prayer, surprisingly out of place in a land of Hinduism.

Children played with tyres and sticks while cows ate cardboard and pigs and dogs scratched through garbage.

The entrance to the caves is surprisingly neat with immaculate gardens and a sign warning of monkey menace. There were noisy school groups everywhere spoiling the atmosphere.

Apparently October to February is a good time to visit the area, excluding December when there are many school groups.

As we climbed the steps to visit the four caves we heard the rhythmic thumps of women washing clothes on the steps of the tank below. Monkeys squealed playfully as they fought and chased each other, and the children.

The rock is exquisite, striped and swirled with black, pink, brown, grey and ivory. Craig couldn’t resist and attempted to climb a boulder, watched by a group of young men.

A humorous time was when a large school squealed in fright as a monkey attempted to steal. He then sat on a rock and bounced up and down on all fours entertaining the delighted crowd.

Later, we made our way around the tank to where a temple sits on the water’s edge, now under renovation.

As the sun set I swam in the greenish water surrounded by hills, rocks and gardens. An artist captured the scene while women continued to wash clothes on the ghats (steps).

That night we found a very good restaurant, although you wouldn’t believe this if you saw the lou.

The food was good and not too spicy. Craig had Aloo Ghobi Masala – potato and cauliflower, while I tried Paneer Masala – tofu in sauce.

The following day we made our way to Pattadakal (red town) and Aihole (ay-ho-leh). The journey was short, passing fields of sunflowers growing in red soil and sheltered by tall palms.

Arriving at the site in Pattadakal, once again school groups ruled the area, noisy and overwhelming. The grounds were immaculate, probably because of available water from the nearby river.

But the place lacked atmosphere and the buildings are already falling apart, despite having been recently renovated.

The area is filled with temples varying in size and was an experiment in different styles of carving and art.

Virupaksha Temple is the most magnificent and the place where the Chalukya emperors had their coronation. It was built in 740AD in commemoration of Virupaksha’s victory over the Pallaves.

The temple is highly embellished with sculptures of Narasimha, Ravana lifting Kailasa, Gajendramoksh, Natarajah etc.

The hall is supported by 18 massive rectangular pillars in four rows embellished with small letters and floral designs. Some of the women in the carvings wear jewellery and have elaborate hairstyles.

Mallikarjuna Temple is slightly smaller than Virupaksha, built in 740AD. It portrays scenes from the Kama Sutra.

After the past few days of temples and caves we were worn out and wondered through the small village. Even here there are ruins in people’s gardens, where cows ate and children played.

We decided not to go to Aihole for two reasons; we’d had enough of temples and we’d heard that Aihole wasn’t so good.

While waiting for a bus back to Badami we were mobbed by schoolchildren who wanted us to take their pictures.

That night we had another memorable meal as well as intelligent conversation from a man who lives in Pune.

We tried the Navaratha Kurma, at only R7, a mix of sultanas, potato, peas, cheese and cauliflower, the Egg DK was R6, a mix of chilli, garlic and eggs.

To go with this we ordered Parati, thicker than chapatti and very tasty. For desert we tried Noodleskeer, a mix of cashews, raisins, vermicelli, milk, bodham and sugar.