Hampi, December 16 2008

Wow the more I see things in Hampi I'm more impressed. This place is just amazing. And I'm meeting such interesting places.
Yesterday I decided to go to the royal enclave. It is about 3 KM walk from the Hampy Bazaar where I'm staying. On my way over there, in a place where very few tourists are seen I meet this young danish woman Julii walking in the same direction. I start small talking with her, whether she is going to the royal enclave, and she says that she is just walking to next village where she wants to take a bus to the Hospet where she is staying. Also that she is just killing time, as her bus leaves at 10:30 PM (It was 3:30 PM or so). So we start talking, and she comes with me sight-seeing in the royal enclave, then we go back to Hampi for dinner and eventually we spend 5 hours talking and going around. This is the amazing thing about being in India, from nowhere, unplanned you meet such amazing people which makes your travel much more enjoyable, specially in my case as I'm travelling alone.
This morning I decided to go to other side of the river. You take a little boat which crosses the river in about 3 minutes. The objective was to get to a temple which people call the monkey's temple. On this side of the river, there are many guest houses, it is a bit cheaper, quieter and where most of the Israelis like to stay. Effectively you see many more signs in hebrew everywhere. On the way I met Vera from Germany. Vera was in the same guest house I was, but she moved to the other side of the river. She says that she is going for the 2nd time to the Monkey temple. So we go together on an 1.5 hour walk. Vera is such an interesting person and she actually worked with Monkeys in the Netherlands before. I was fortunate to meet her, as actually guided me around (Thanks Vera). Wow this is the most amazing place in Hampi.
Full of monkeys, which you can almost touch (as long as you give them a banana or water).
After you see the monkeys there is a 600 steps stair that brings you to a temple very high in the mountains. The view is just breath-taking. There are no words to describe the whole experience but WOW. It was a pleasure walk and a wonderful visit to this temple.Later I also met Vera's friend Lisa, they are travelling together.
They are also going to Mysore and we may meet there, possibly go to Kerala together.
As I've been saying, everyday is a new day. New places, new people, new experiences all that with this magic indian atmosphere in the background.
I'm so happy as I'm doing Yoga for about an hour in the mornings, and long walks during the day, therefore I'm keeping my shape. I'm also eating less which helps.
Tonight I'm going to Mysore on a 12 hour bus trip.
On attaching/detaching: One reflection I've been thinking about. You meet so many nice and interesting people, for a few hours, a days, a few days. With some you really become good friends or more. As people are always coming and going, there is always the separation part which is a bit sad on me. But then in the next day you meet someone else. All this forces to really think on enjoying today, this is a great learning experience which teaches you to accept things as they are, the happiness of meeting some nice people, but also the sadness of having to say good bye.