Bangalore to Hampi, India

I looooove eating with my hands. That is how they do it in India and it is messy and greasy, but it sure beats having to use a fork and spoon. Utensils are SO overrated! I have all kinds of little observations that I think I will just spew out in no particular order. Indians are obsessed with cricket. If there is a TV on a channel here, it will be on a cricket game 9 times out of 10. This place is the most colorful country I have ever visited. The women wear saris made of every color in the rainbow, fuchsia scarves with a lime green skirt, reds, mustard yellow, turquoise and bright purples. Even the buildings are colorful- just walking down one street I can count 7 different colored guesthouses or food stalls. I just had a massage- not as nice as the Thai massage, but much needed. Ayurveda is the practice of ancient Indian herbal medicine and holistic healing, so there are lots of little clinics and parlours all over the place that offer treatments and classes. And obviously yoga is widely practiced here as well. Yesterday I spent several hours at the train station and just sat outside at the entrance and people watched the whole time. I made friends with a family that fed me some type of sweet donut thing and little rice crackers and then they all took turns taking pictures with me. One old man talked to me for awhile and was the first person so far who mentioned Obama when I said that I was from the US. It was so funny too, he wanted to know if I went to college because I spoke such great English. The bad news is that I have 20 mosquito bites on my legs. The good news is that I found a mosquito repellent that actually seems to work. The bad news is that it smells like Old Spice. The train last night was an hour late, so I didn't board until about 1130pm and I was so tired, I was barely hanging on. The only other sleeper train I have been on was in Vietnam, and that was actually a pretty comfortable cushion with bedding. This sleeper train kind of looked like a prison with open compartments and body-sized "platforms" running along the wall, stacked 3 high. No bedding. Thank GOD I have my sleeping bag with me. I shoved my gear at the head of my cozy board covered in vinyl and actually slept pretty well. in the bed under me was an older German guy- hippie to the max and has lived in India for the past 14 years. He was a little different, but talking with him was an adventure and getting to know so many people from all walks of life is what traveling is all about. We shared a rickshaw from the train station in Hospet to Hampi, about 14 km down the road. He wears Indian clothing and has bright blonde hair that probably hasn't been brushed in years. Really nice guy though- he is the type of person who comes to India seeking a guru and and spends time living in an ashram. He said back in '95, he lived with a bunch of other Germans in a cave for a year here in India. And I can totally picture it. We got some coffee after arriving in Hampi and then parted ways. Hampi is a small village, so it has been an interesting day taking in rural India and realizing that it actually CAN get even poorer the further I get away from the cities. Hampi is a World Heritage site and a major pit-stop for travelers, so I am beginning to see more tourists and they are all a bunch of hippies just like the German guy :) It is definitely a laid back place and I can see myself chilling out here for a few days. The landscape here is pretty surreal- for you Colorado folk, it looks just like the Lost Creek Wilderness area over by Bailey, kind of where the Hayman Fire was. Huge reddish-colored boulders just stacked all over the place, really round and oval-shaped rocks. Except the difference here is that there are cool temples built on and in between all of the rock outcroppings. And there is one temple right in the middle of the village- Virupaksha Temple, 50 meters high and built in 1442. There are monkeys and goats and cows and even one elephant inside of the temple compound. There is just one main road running through Hampi and on each side of the street are food stalls and people selling jewelry and crafts. Beyond the main road is a maze of narrow dirt paths all lined with guest houses and more huts with people selling textiles and snacks. The buildings are all a mishmash of concrete with random staircases leading here and an extra room added on there, dingy rooftop cafes overlooking a small sea of corrugated tin roofs and thatched huts. My guesthouse is painted bright purple and by golly, today I took my very first hot shower since I left Denver. I also took a 4 hour nap, but I think I may have needed it and I am hoping tonight is going to be a normal night of 7 or 8 hours of sleep and I will be back in business. I had thali for dinner which is a plate of rice and several sides like dahl- lentil mush, or paneer. Thali just refers to the plate that the food is served on, which is usually stainless steel with several different compartments, like a TV dinner tray. i did hike around after my nap though and checked out some of the temples that are laid out on the rocks. I had some great views from the top of the hill at sunset, but it was kind of smoky from all the dinner-time cook fires beyond the village. More hiking and temple exploring tomorrow. poyittu varukiren! Hindi for goodbye.