At Hampi I was staying in a hut with bamboo mat walls.  Right next to a wet paddi field.  I was a little concerned about mosquitoes but strangely there were none. Instead there was a rat. I first heard his scratching at around 11pm.  To get rid of him I put the lights on and opened the door but every time I thought he had gone he would reappear 15 minutes later. Eventually I found him in a corner and tried to chase him to the door but he ran up the wall and exited through a hole in the roof. Obviously he could come and go as he pleased but if he came back again I did not hear him.

So a short night’s sleep and I was on the road by 7am in a golden dawn.  I went a slightly different way back to Kopal, heading West and it was good to have the sun behind me.  The wind was also behind me for the first time and the bike rolled easily along, only slowing for Car Breakers (vicious speed humps) and potholes, of which there were many of both.

I got to Kopal by 11am and it was tempting to carry on but the heat was building and Gadag is 50 miles away with only small villages en-route.  My RWGPS route to Gadag  avoids the Hiway and takes me along ‘tracks’ for the first time so they may be slow.  Some of the small ‘roads’ I have been on have only been suitable for 2 wheelers so tracks may not be rideable on and I may have to re-route back to the hiway.

Along this section of my journey I am best aiming to stay in towns rather than villages which may not have a hotel.  Once on the coast there will be more options but at the moment I am very much riding through rural India.

So at Kopal - I mended a ripped pannier seam then walked up the Fort which is built into and onto a rock hill about 500ft high.  Followed by a group of kids and I get the impression that Westerners do not stay here ofen.

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