Across the river

When we arrive late in the afternoon in Hampi, the hotel has given away our reserved room. On top of that they simply tell us, there are no rooms available for tonight in all of Hampi. There should be still vacancies across the river. So we make a run for the last boat across. Luckily we find a good basic room at the third guest house we ask. The attached restaurant is overlooking bright green rice paddies. Not our room, but our bathroom has a spectacular view on the river. It's nice and green on this side of the river. Not very quiet, though. At the dirt road you have to be careful not to be run over by Israeli's on Enfield motorbikes or Honda hero's.
Most of the sights are in and around Hampi, so we cross the river many times in the fun little ferry. The little guy who collects the money even remembers us after a couple of times. The landscape with the river flowing through boulder strewn hills and green patches of rice fields and banana plantations never seizes to inspire. We walk a lot around the many ruins of temples and palaces between the boulders. Sometimes the strangely balancing boulders look like they have been left there by playful giants. We see several climbers trying to concur these giants toys.

Sublime Hoysala style

In Belur we visit the magnificent Chennakeshava temple. The thousands of carvings on this 32 cornered star shaped structure are amazingly detailed. Each sculpture intricately carved out of one stone, it's hard to imagine how the artists have accomplished this with very simple tools. Many of the carvings are missing, being stolen and sold in obscure art trade. But there is still so much to see, getting some explanation by a knowledgeable guide is definitely worthwhile. The front part is decorated with secular carvings, fluid dancers and musicians seem to be alive. The back part is populated by different gods and their many appearances. All the different Hindu gods are already very confusing, but on top of that they all appear also in different forms. It helps to be able to recognise some of the many stories of the Hindu religion.
At the temple complex we meet a very interesting Swiss traveller. He's worked over 30 years in several African countries for the Red Cross and the UN. Over a very bad tasting Indian wine we discuss global issues during a shared dinner.

In the wild

It's so good to spend some time in nature again. When we get off the bus in Mudumalai National Park, there's nothing there. Just a crossing, the park office and some basic guesthouses. At the other side of the river are some houses, but no shops, chai stalls, hotels. There is no noise in our guest house room, except that of the monkeys chasing each other on our roof. Just outside our place the elephants are being groomed and dressed for the elephant rides in the park. But we didn't come to ride a tame elephant, but see them in the wild. We get up early next morning to be picked up by Vishnu and our guide. After a chai at sunrise in the next village we are dropped in the bush. Walking around the bush is mesmerizing in the changing morning light. The guide is just beautiful to watch, walking silently on his little flip-flops, going slower sometimes, bending to listen, and signaling us to stop, it all adds to the excitement. We stumble behind him in our big boots, making a lot of noise crackling twigs and dried leaves. Every time the guide spots an animal he makes a happily wide gesture to us, as if offering it to us. In a way he's doing just that. Without him we wouldn't see half as many animals. That morning we don't see the elephants, but we give it another try at the end of the day in some other, more foresty part. Again the walk alone is wonderful in the late afternoon light. And we're very lucky as we not only get to see a lone male elephant but a little later a female group as well. You feel very humble walking so close to these magnificent animals.

Indian sweets

In Mysore we finally give up the idea of losing some weight in India. The food is just too delicious in India. In the morning we start with idly's (steamed rice cakes) or masala dosa (filled pancakes) and fruit lassi (yoghurt drink) or fresh fruit juice. During the day lots of (sweetened) chai and coffee. For lunch and dinner there's too much to choose from of all the tasty veg and non-veg Indian dishes. Fruit and vegetables have so much more flavour here, too. And Mysore is famous for its sweets. It's very difficult to pass by the beautiful sweets-shops without getting at least something. Rich creamy, brightly coloured bites with nuts, dried fruit or exotic spice mixes. And it even tastes better putting the food in your mouth with your fingers (of your right hand only!) as is custom here.

Hare hare, Rama rama

The part of Bangalore we stay in is very westernised. Even autorikshaws are not allowed in the street of our hotel. In between fashion stores with familiar brand names are many coffee places, good book stores and bars with pleasant terraces. The people here are evidently used to westerners, and we don't get so many uncomfortable stares. But of course we do look for a more Indian feel and decide to visit the modern Hare Krishna temple a bit outside the centre. The bus we take here is not really passing by the temple, but a friendly family walks with us in the right direction. We arrive at the moment the gate opens for the evening celebration. After a hefty security check and storing of shoes and day packs we are allowed to enter the long line to visit the temple. Before you enter the holy parts there are 54 lifted tiles you have to step up and sing/say out loud on each one of them 'Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare'. The repetitive chanting works very calming, but as soon as you get inside you are pushed and whistled to get on. Even at the stalls where they share a little free meal you are not allowed to linger. Within no time we are standing outside the gates again with a very mixed feeling. So much for spirituality...

Goa

Goa is the most popular destination in India and not so Indian in many ways. It is very busy with tourists and everything is highly overpriced unless your haggle for half an hour first. Lots of people haven't seen any other part of India and that will give you some twisted idea of this intriguing country.
We'll spend at least two weeks here so we make an effort to find a good place to stay and of course that works out fine: a very nice cottage, 2 minutes from the beach with an ocean-view veranda to work on. We find a favourite restaurant with lots of fresh fish where the guys running it have also escaped winter, in their case from Sikkim in the far north-east Himalayan area of India.
As Lena is learning the Ayur Yogic massage every morning for 12 days in a row, I have my project for the bank to attend to and make good progress in this wonderful, undisturbed setting. On the weekend I take the bus, again through the wonderful Ghats, to Belgaum and see Sheetal, who is my colleague in Holland and meet his family and see his newly built Indian home. It's cool to see each other half a world away and he treats me to the best Bhel Puri you can eat in India!
After a while Goa really grows on us, we rent the obligatory scooter and zoom around exploring the place. All of a sudden our two weeks here are over and it is time to move on but it is easy to see why so many people are constantly postponing their departure and end up staying in this place for years, or at least till the rains come.

Hampi

In all these places we visit we see very few other tourist. Not so in Hampi, the place is crawling with tourists and travellers and the atmosphere is very different from what we've experienced so far. There is a lot of choice in food, Italian, Israeli, real coffee, muesli and bakeries with assorted breads, cakes and croissants.
Very hard to find your morning idly's with sanbar around here...
Hampi is very nice with boulder strewn hills all around with hundreds of (remains of) temples. To cross the river dividing Hampi in two there is only a single ferry or otherwise just coracles. When we can't walk along the river any further a girl of only about eleven paddles us across in such a plastic covered basket. This isn't so much child labour as it is the girl helping her family with all the tasks facing them in their daily existence. But it does feel a bit funny and the fine line between the two isn't always so easy to distinguish in India.
The days pass with lots of hiking and a swim in the lake (no bathing allowed on account of the crocodiles, it reads on the sign).
In Hospet we have to get to the station at 6 in the morning but the train to take us to Goa is a little late and eventually pulls in at 11.00. You can feel a bit how the Indians build their acceptance of situations and events, they don't get mad or start making demands as people would at home when the train in a little behind schedule.
Luckily we pass the great mountains of the Western Ghats still in daylight and we see the waterfalls of Dudhsagar as the train is slowly pulled and pushed by two extra locomotives up and over the top. We've arrived in Goa.

Belur

After spending a week in Mysore it is time to move on, even though it is a very nice town and hosts our favourite Indian breakfast place. We take a bus to Belur and visit a beautiful temple. It is from the Hoysala period, 12th and 13th century and special for its 32 corner star shape and all the fine details in the sculptures. The nicest temple I've seen and made more vivid by a guide explaining the meaning of scenes and the background of its construction.
There is another one of these temples close by in Halebid but we don't see it as Lena is ill for a day. Instead we go to Jog Falls which is a long and tiring journey by bus but we're glad we went there.
The waterfalls at Jog are the highest in India at 260 meters. We hike down to the pool at the bottom of the falls and feel a fine spray on our faces. We are so lucky that there are absolutely no other tourists around, a very rare event in crowded India, and enjoy the peace and quiet for an hour. Hiking up the cliff is a lot more strenuous than walking down but half way up the refreshments are waiting by a bench cut in the rocks with a great view of the falls.
The local photographer at Jog gives us a picture of the falls during monsoon: a huge wall of water coming down and making the hike down to the pool impossible.

Amongst pelgrims

The tempel on top of Tirumala hill is an important pelgrimage place. The pelgrims walk the path up the hill, 3000 steps in total. And if they're very devout, they bent down on every step to make a little print of sandlewood paste and red powder. Some even lit a little candle on every step. We have to admit, we took the bus to he top. There we looked at the gigantic line waiting to go into the temple and hesitated. We heard that there was a way to cut the waiting short by buying a special ticket, but after asking at several places and being send from one end of the hill to the other side we gave up on paying a visit to the Gods.
To experience some of the pelgrimage we took the steps down. That was beautiful. Because of the powder the steps were intensely colored. On the way there were many small temples to many different gods, each with their statues and rich carvings. Many pelgrims stopped to have a little conversation with us, which gave them a bit of a rest on their heavy way up. They all wanted to know how the God was doing. The first time we admitted honestly that we didn't see him at all. They were so devastated by that answer, that the next time people asked us this question, we told them he was looking great. And we got a happy smile from them and they continued their steps with new encouragement.

To the market

In Hyderabad we visit the famous bazar. Here many people come shop for their marital preparations. Hyderabad is very well known for their pearl jewelry and gorgeous fabrics, most of them with a lot of golden embroidery. You can imagine how shiny an Indian bride and groom will look, like a fairy tale.
We realise we came to the right place. I brought my multi-usage pareo, but Harry needs a cloth to use as a blanket when we take the night train. So we pick one of the many stores, take off our slippers en sit on the white cushioned floor. Within no time there is a spread of many colored and decorated sarees in front of us and the shop keepers are still taking out more varieties out of all the piles along the walls. It's too much to choose from. But a beautifully madras woven dark blue and yellow saree becomes our favorite. And because it is a little shorter than the usual 6 meters we get it for a very good price. They still try to show and sell us some elaborately embroidered silk sarees, but they are not much to our taste.
I guess there is no Indian flavoured marriage coming up...