(written on 3.25.11)
Hospet is a typical dusty, thriving, jostling, HOT town in south India. There were as many small water buffalo herds and ox carts as rickshaws as we drove into town from Hampi. In Hospet we await our crack o'dawn train to Goa in a hotel just walking distance from the train station. Out my hotel window beyond the pervasive rubble/debris, is a series of rice paddies in which herons busily stalk whatever is living in the paddie water. Beyond the paddies is a large industrial complex spewing black smoke.
Hampi is the place we have been visiting. It is in a bowl shaped river valley surrounded by enormous boulders. The river runs serenely through town and this morning the highlight of our day was witnessing the temple elephant, Lakshmi, having her joyous bath in the river. She was on the far side splashing herself with trunk loads of water.Then her trainers rode her across the river and much to my surprise she headed up the ghats that I was standing on so I was able to get some really nice photos (please note that she has red paint, like a large bindi on her forehead - she isn't injured). The rest of the day she will spend in the temple, picking rupees out of people's palms, handing them to her trainer and then "blessing" folks by bopping them on the head gently with her trunk, like the elephant (also named Lakshmi) in the Madurai temple .
Yesterday was our big day to visit the vast ruins of Hampi. We rented a scooter instead of hiring a rickshaw or walking (7 km). The roads were narrow, but what traffic there was consisted of men with large bundles of banana leaves, goat herds, and rickshaws with tourists. Our first stop was to the Vittala temple which has a chariot made out of stone! The wheels turn, but the chariot was once a boulder, so it is stationary. Inside one of the outstandingly carved temples, we finally greeted a Canadian couple. We first saw them two stops ago. They were at the same hotel,restaurant, etc. wherever we went. We politely gave each other wide berth until yesterday when we rounded the corner and came face to face. They are biologists and this is their third trip to India. We keep running into them because they are the only other couple of a certain age traveling by rail and peon bus.
At the Queen's bath, the Lotus Majal and the Elephant Stables, there was a distinct and recognizable "indo-sarasenic" style of architecture. No more human figures dancing in jewelry (only) and no terrorizing demons. Just elegant arches, domes, and floral decoration. Very soothing after all the overstimulation of the Hindu temples with more figures crammed in than the eye can absorb.
We had pushed on in the hottest part of the day because neither one of us was hungry and the breeze while on the scooter gave us the illusion that it wasn't hot as hell. When we finally emerged from the structures mentioned above, we discovered our scooter had a flat! We were far from anything but ruins in the very hottest part of the day. We were exhausted and hungry and thirsty. However, God is good! There were two young men, one from England, the other from Germany, who willingly gave us rides on their scooters into Hampi. The story was over for me - I went and took a shower. But Philip and scooter owner,Raju, went on another scooter back to the ruins to pick up ours. They had to pump up the tire 3 times just to make it back to Hampi (@2 km).Although the energy expenditure was great, the entire outlay for the all day rental, gas and flat came to $10.
What stays with me is how grateful we were to get a ride back to Hampi in the afternoon heat. For the young men, it was no big deal for us to jump on the backs of their bikes.They did not feel like heroes, but to us they were!!
Hospet is a typical dusty, thriving, jostling, HOT town in south India. There were as many small water buffalo herds and ox carts as rickshaws as we drove into town from Hampi. In Hospet we await our crack o'dawn train to Goa in a hotel just walking distance from the train station. Out my hotel window beyond the pervasive rubble/debris, is a series of rice paddies in which herons busily stalk whatever is living in the paddie water. Beyond the paddies is a large industrial complex spewing black smoke.
Hampi is the place we have been visiting. It is in a bowl shaped river valley surrounded by enormous boulders. The river runs serenely through town and this morning the highlight of our day was witnessing the temple elephant, Lakshmi, having her joyous bath in the river. She was on the far side splashing herself with trunk loads of water.Then her trainers rode her across the river and much to my surprise she headed up the ghats that I was standing on so I was able to get some really nice photos (please note that she has red paint, like a large bindi on her forehead - she isn't injured). The rest of the day she will spend in the temple, picking rupees out of people's palms, handing them to her trainer and then "blessing" folks by bopping them on the head gently with her trunk, like the elephant (also named Lakshmi) in the Madurai temple .
Yesterday was our big day to visit the vast ruins of Hampi. We rented a scooter instead of hiring a rickshaw or walking (7 km). The roads were narrow, but what traffic there was consisted of men with large bundles of banana leaves, goat herds, and rickshaws with tourists. Our first stop was to the Vittala temple which has a chariot made out of stone! The wheels turn, but the chariot was once a boulder, so it is stationary. Inside one of the outstandingly carved temples, we finally greeted a Canadian couple. We first saw them two stops ago. They were at the same hotel,restaurant, etc. wherever we went. We politely gave each other wide berth until yesterday when we rounded the corner and came face to face. They are biologists and this is their third trip to India. We keep running into them because they are the only other couple of a certain age traveling by rail and peon bus.
At the Queen's bath, the Lotus Majal and the Elephant Stables, there was a distinct and recognizable "indo-sarasenic" style of architecture. No more human figures dancing in jewelry (only) and no terrorizing demons. Just elegant arches, domes, and floral decoration. Very soothing after all the overstimulation of the Hindu temples with more figures crammed in than the eye can absorb.
We had pushed on in the hottest part of the day because neither one of us was hungry and the breeze while on the scooter gave us the illusion that it wasn't hot as hell. When we finally emerged from the structures mentioned above, we discovered our scooter had a flat! We were far from anything but ruins in the very hottest part of the day. We were exhausted and hungry and thirsty. However, God is good! There were two young men, one from England, the other from Germany, who willingly gave us rides on their scooters into Hampi. The story was over for me - I went and took a shower. But Philip and scooter owner,Raju, went on another scooter back to the ruins to pick up ours. They had to pump up the tire 3 times just to make it back to Hampi (@2 km).Although the energy expenditure was great, the entire outlay for the all day rental, gas and flat came to $10.
What stays with me is how grateful we were to get a ride back to Hampi in the afternoon heat. For the young men, it was no big deal for us to jump on the backs of their bikes.They did not feel like heroes, but to us they were!!
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