Blogs from Hampi, Karnataka, India, Asia - page 21

With Sandie and BJ I took the longest bus-ride in local buses so far - destination Hampi. With 6 different buses and about 3 hours waitingtime at a bus-station we arrived at 4 am in the morning in Hosped. There we slept at the bus station for about 3 hours to take the first connection in the morning to Hampi. Hampi is actually a tiny village in a huge and amazing landscape of strange rock-formations with old Hindu-temples spread all over this huge area. It used to be the heart of a big Hindu-empire - it's enchanting buildings and temples are simply amazing. Due to the e-mail contact I knew that Adrian and Melanie, two of the hometown-friends I met in Pushkar, are currently here too. I found them at probably one of the nicest situated ... read more

greetings from a special place... since i posted last i sat a 10-day vipassana work-camp (a great way to spend xmas and new years ;-)... from there i met an amazing group of people from around the world and we took an incredible journey together... this journey was one of hope, change, conciousness, morality, serenity, wisdom... brothers and sisters in the ultimate perfection that is... isness... it was a journey of love, laughter, insight, enlightenment, peanut butter breakfast, 2 for the price of 15, remembering to chew and forgeting to swallow... learning ;-)... these brothers and sisters that took this journey speant many lifetimes observing reality, things as they truly are, and realizing the truth... these many lifetimes on a linear scale were only 2 1/2 weeks but in reality it was every moment... and every ... read more

As per usual our transport was late (1 1/2 hours) but when it finally turned up we were relieved to have a top bunk. This was apparently luxury with air conditioning, which turned out to be an opened window. The bed had one vertical bar to prevent individuals from falling out! We assumed we would have a bed each but it transpired that this slightly larger than a single bed was actually for the both of us. We could see a long and bumpy, nail biting ride ahead (9 1/2 hours). So after popping a sleeping tablet and adopting the spoons position for safety we drifted off into sleep. Near the present day village of Hampi is Vijayanagar, the former capital of one of the greatest Hindu empires and one of the most fascinating historical sites ... read more

Hello (again) from Hampi- Jason finally caved to the headache pressure of a mouthfull of dental work, so we decided to stay here for a week or so more so that he can get all of the poking and prodding and pain medicine done and over with and we can continue our trip in relative sanity. Three fillings, a cleaning and an extraction for LESS than $30. Amazing. The place is even clean and the dentist actually has a degree. What more could you ask for? (this was intended to be funny, which it is, not offensive. It has come to my attention that some people can't take a joke, so I thought I'd leave a disclaimer). Meanwhile, the Indian police just busted a Kashmiri guy from Hampi on his way to blow some things up ... read more

" If dreams were made out of stone, it would be Hampi" - not my line but I liked it and it sums it up nicely. So, we left Goa on New Year's Eve and headed to the famous boulder city of Hampi - the captital of the largest empire in India back in the 14th century and famed for its beautiful palaces and temples which now lie abandoned amidst a landscape of basically giant boulders. I have never seen anything like it in my life. The buidings are all still in good order but they are deserted and there are just bolders everywhere, as far as the eye can see, and no-one really knows how they got there - we assumed probably the ice age?? It is quite incredibible. It looks like some giant has ... read more