March 19, 2015 
 
HAMPI to HIRIYUR 203 Km
Green Land Deluxe Lodge 600Rs ($9.67) AC, no wifi, no breakfast 

Lost in Hosapete
 
We skipped coffee and breakfast, opting instead to get a bigger head start to the scorcher. So 8 am, just as four packed buses pulled into the small bus station across from Virupaksha Temple, we looked back over our shoulders for a last glimpse of our favorite temple setting.
 

We had decided to take the shortest route which meant backtracking to Hospete and get on Hw 13. We managed to get lost in a maze of dirt roads in Hospete trying to find the right cutoff. In the end of course, we always find our way and we were delighted when we entered the brand new six lane divided highway cloverleaf. Our joy was short lived, not 3 km later we found ourselves on patched and potholed two lane road with heavy truck traffic. 
 
 
Flat in Kudligi
 
We got our first flat of the entire trip in Kudligi, not 100 meters from a series of tire wallahs. The guy gave us the super-duper fire in the pot treatment on the patch. I had never seen that before. 30 minutes later we were back on the road again.

  

The terrain undulated through low arid hilly terrain before flattening out. Every village had its pesky speed bumps. 
 
We arrived at Chitradurga at 12:30 am, the destination we had picked for the day. The city has a noteworthy fort on nearby rocky hilltop. We were advised that it is worth the hike to it but it should be done in the early morning or late afternoon due to the heat. We will skip that.

The first hotel we checked out disgusted us. Hotel Ravi Mayur International looked relatively new from the outside but the rooms were too depressing and dirty. And when the the rooms cleanliness at the grand looking Aishwarya Fort hotel disappointed, and left a lot to be desired, it had no wifi, and was overpriced, we decided to push on. We hoped to find a place along our route before nightfall. The hotel had a restaurant where we had a bite before hitting the road again.



 
$10 Room by Hariyur

We were still 225 km from Bangalore. A smooth 4-lane highway started and we soon were flying along. Less than an hour later, we passed through the town of Hiriyur and at the far end of town we stumbled across the purple but pretty decent Green Land Deluxe Lodge. We had to prompt them to change the sheet for us but the place was reasonably clean and the price was right at 600 Rs ($9.67) for the AC room. Attached to the place was a restaurant where buses would stop and feed their hungry. They had a small shop selling drinks, road snacks and cigarettes. We bought a papaya which totally hit the spot.