After 17 blissfully laid-back days in Kerala we head into Karnataka, the land of coffee plantations, Tipu Sultan, and the seat of many an empire. We start up in the hills of Coorg, where we will spend a few days in a beautiful plantation homestay in the village of Ammathi, away from the crowds of Madikeri . From there we take a bus ride up to Belur and Halebidu, the seat of the Hoysala Empire and home to intricately carved star shaped temples. From there we head into the majestic splendour of Mysore and get our first taste of a city in many many days. Next we make our way to what should be the pièce de résistance of Karnataka, the World Heritage ruins of the Vijaywada Empire in Hampi. After a few days of what will be intense palace/ruin/empire hopping we will spend Christmas winding down, drinking wine and eating cake in Bangalore. 🙂 It will then be back to the dynasties, battlefields and ruins, we then head northwards to Bijapur the land of the Gol Gumbaz, the Chalukyas and the Adil Shah dynasty, and finally on to Bidar, almost at the confluence of Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra. Having walked the path of history, we travel a ridiculous 1000 kms back southwards to Ooty in the Nilgiris, where we plan to bring in 2016 with friends we have not seen since we started this journey almost two months ago.