Check out these six lovely homestays we discovered on our travels across India!
Category: Karnataka
Falling in love with cities again
Vishakapatnam and Mysore at opposite ends of South India are two places which rekindled our love affair with cities.
The Old Guard
Lined and wrinkled, Jehangir Ahmed squats by the entrance to the famous Jumma Masjid in Bijapur, quietly pulling at his ‘biddi’. As we look up at him from the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the Mosque doors, he gestures to us from his perch, indicating that we should not hesitate, but enter…
Sultans of the South; The Deccan Sultanates of Bidar & Bijapur
Beautiful old monuments and ruins inhabit street corners and stand forlornly in the middle of overgrown fields, many forgotten in the bustle of everyday life. Questions as to their origins elicit vague responses and disinterested shrugs, the locals having lived besides these relics all their lives, simply consider them to be part of the topography of their little town. This however, only serves to enhance their wonder and mystery, and we can’t help but feel that we are exploring lost history, off the beaten path.
Hampi: The 5(ish) Minute Guide
Planning a Hampi trip? We tell you how to get there, where to stay & the top places to visit in Hampi in our comprehensive guide to this ancient city.
In the Lair of the Tiger
Almost as soon as you leave the crowd of the market and the bus stand behind, Srirangapatam starts working its charm on you. For liberally sprinkled in every direction are remnants of a bygone era, waiting to be uncovered.
Ismail
Smaller towns that have ruins and monuments spread around usually have a plethora of auto drivers willing to take you around for a small fee. Settling on this fee involves typical Indian style of negotiation, with you and the auto driver smiling and laughing, with some small talk thrown around, till a price is decided….
Storytelling in Stone
Whatever your religious leaning, if any at all even, a visit to these two towns is not the run of the mill ‘temple’ visit. It is journey to time long past and the chance to experience and appreciate what some would consider to be amongst the greatest artistic achievement in South India.
The Old Man and the Dungeon
15 kms from Mysore lies the town of Srirangapatna, the old capital of the legendary warrior king, Tipu Sultan. Despite its past as one of the great capitals of South India, Srirangapatna is today a town in anywhere India. The old fort walls stand cheek to jowl with concrete boxes of the new India, with…
38 days into our Southern Sojourn
We are 38 days into our travels around South India, and in Coorg, Karnataka. Staying at the lovely Berry Lane homestay, with a cook we’d love to steal and take back home, we are spending time walking the spice and coffee estates and wandering in the forests. We have learnt many things about travelling in…
Karnataka, here we come!
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…