Slow days in Hampi

I have spent the last couple days trying to learn a bit about yoga (it's actually called yog, not yoga), bicycling in ridiculous heat, climbing rocks, drumming, meeting people, and learning a lot about Hinduism and the history of the empire that was here before.

The Royal Enclosure and Vittala temple are both spectacular, but I have to say the temple in town Virupaskha is nice, but overrun with people trying to scrape an extra couple rupees from you. Try to avoid talking to anyone in the temple unless you want to pay them, even for a shadow on the wall of an inverted image (I couldn't help but think about the Jesus potato chip story, I think it's $30k+ price on ebay.com is enough for y'all to conjure up some memories). I also bicycled from the guest houses across the river to the site of Anegundi. There isn't much to see on the other side, but the 10 km bike ride was a nice trip.

I have practised yoga numerous times over the last 5 days and learned a lot about the postures and rhythms that are essential to enjoying a proper session of yoga. I met Yogi Nanda (across from the Shanti Guesthouse in Hampi Bazaar) and have had a good couple workouts. My body has stiffened a bit from sitting continuously on so many trains and buses over the last 4 months. So the yoga has been very refreshing and has shown me how inflexible I am! I practice with him in the morning and then, in the afternoon, I have been going to a free 10-day yoga camp (mostly for the locals). The yoga camp is mostly in Kaarna (the local language in Karnataka) with a few commands in English. The Yogi of these sessions has to be at least 65 years old with a body of a 20 years old. Talk about motivation!

Hampi has an impressive landscape, unlike anything else I have ever seen in my whole entire life. At a distance, it looks as if someone took granite pebbles and dropped them at random from the sky. The pebbles will balance on much smaller stones at bizarre angles and locations. I could spend a whole day staring at the landscape. I spent a half-day climbing them and trying to make my way up the highest point with a couple other resident travellers (they will be Hampi for two weeks). We endured some cuts and bruises, which were all worth it just to see the vistas. I also had perfect cell phone service in the remotest areas and none while I am in town.

I have met many people that have spent a month (or more) in this town, but my 5 days has sufficed enough for me. I am heading to Gokarna next instead of Goa. Gokarna is about an hour and a half south of Goa and is a pilgrimage town for Hindus with nice beaches on the side. From what I have heard, it is really the sort of place to sunbathe, meaning that a more conservative dress is encouraged. I have been dressing quite conservatively, but that does not stop the staring nor the many attempts of young Indian boys to befriend me. I've learned to say a couple things in the local language here, such as 'illa' (meaning no) to get them to leave me alone a bit faster. The staring doesn't bother me nearly as much as being followed or having pictures snapped of me so that boys can show off 'their' foreign girlfriend to their friends. After travelling in Hyderabad, nothing has even come close to real harassment, and I have enjoyed the more relaxed pace of the locals here. Although, I get the feeling that no one is a local here and they have come merely to start a business to cater to the foreign tourists.

I have met a lot of people here, everyone ranging from Abdul with the drum shop (and no Bittu I did not buy a drum) to my fellow Bollywood extra peers. Our story of Bollywood fame has spread and I imagine many other tourists will heed our warnings (most I am sure are still determined to get into an actual film, who can blame them when it is Bollywood!).

Okay, well I believe this is long enough and I should be heading out to catch my bus to Gokarna. India is definitely a place where it is never boring, and there are ups and downs, but in the end it all balances. Whenever something frustrates me, another thing that elicits some joy just happens to be around the corner.

Random tip: If you have problems getting a train ticket for a day train, book the lowest class and find a spot in the sleeper class cars. The seats are much larger than the space required for the people actually booked on the berths during the day, and you will only have to pay the difference of 100 rs. Or you can try the 30% extra taktal system, but booking online in advance is pretty easy. Too bad China didn't have this system!