Striking out, Then Striking Gold in the South

Greetings from Varkala, Kerala. Once again, I find myself at a tourist beach and while it's nice it's really not where I wanted to be right now. The past few days have been the first real bit of disappointment of the trip, but as seems to happen, a 'local' came to my rescue and I ended up having a wonderful and truly unique experience!

(also, this is blog post number 30 for this trip, does that count for anything?? haha)

So after doing a bunch of research and getting my ticket for the Himsagar Express all the way up India, (which I mentioned in the last blog) I found a restaurant and sat down to eat. They didn't speak any English, but they had an English menu and pointed to what was available at that hour, pretty much just dosas. A dosa is a thin pancake-type thing, which you tear apart with your fingers (as most Indian food) and dip in the various sauces. After eating, I returned to my room and spent a bunch of time writing the previous blog post, then headed out into the town of Alleppey.

My mission for the day was to find a bicycle to rent for the day, explore the town and surrounding area, and continue my search for a houseboat partner, but this proved to be far more difficult than I'd expected. I literally walked for hours in search of a bike to rent, talking to travel booking agents, taxi drivers, shop owners and more. I even came upon probably three or four bike shops, some selling new bikes and some repairing (usually by banging on them with a hammer) old bikes, but I couldn't find a bike anywhere! It was hot out, I was hungry and discouraged, but I guess it was an interesting way to see the town and it's people. This was a corner store selling nothing but bananas, which for some reason I found very amusing.

Also on the lookout for other backpackers, or anyone, to share a houseboat with my eyes were always open, but I had no luck at this either, I hardly saw any other tourists besides newly married Indian couples, and I didn't think they would be interested in sharing a boat with me!

I did have some luck in my search for other travelers because I met two Canadian girls, Tiffany and Whitney. Of course I asked them about sharing a boat, but they had just finished doing the boat thing so I missed my chance by a day joining them. We met up for dinner that night and after dinner went to a local bar. The bar was pretty funny, it was a total local joint, and while it might get a foreigner once in a while, I wouldn't be surprised if this was about the first ever females to ever enter the bar, haha. Nightlife is pretty minimal here in India, and the bars close at 10:30pm, so once that rolled around we called it a night.

Having totally given up on finding someone to share a houseboat with, I opted to just do a short day tour. I woke up at 7am and wandered the waterway in search of the best deal for a boat. What I ended up with was a three hour tour for 600 rupees. I came out here for this, I was going to see the backwaters dang it even if it wasn't how I wanted to!

Leaving the spot where the boat was tied up and getting out to the lake was a shining example of just how full of trash India is. In the space of what was probably three city blocks, the propeller of the boat became entangled in plastic bags and other garbage FIVE times, each time having to be pulled out of the water and untangled to resume our journey. 

 

Once we got out into the bigger water the trash was no longer an issue, and I began to see what I was missing by not renting a houseboat. Apparently there are 1000 of these kind of boats here in the state of Kerala, and hundreds of them are based right here in Alleppey. This is one of the two-bedroom boats with AC, but they come in many different sizes and styles. Seeing how big and nice they looked (and they come with a chef who cooks all your meals!) I was seriously bummed that I didn't rent one, but it was too much money to do solo, plus I think it'd be rather boring to do alone.

Life for the locals here seems pretty interesting. People live right on the water, often with boat being their only means of transportation and their means of work. My guide told me about half the people are rice farmers, but the others make their money fishing, guiding (during the tourist season), boat building, cutting shore grass to sell for feed, collecting shellfish and other things related to the waterways. I got to see all this and more from my boat, if only for a brief moment.... This photo is a woman with a fishing pole. 

Oh, I also saw something amazing! For literally the first time on my trip I saw two people cutting brush with weedwackers, and they were actually wearing SAFETY GLASSES! Wow!

We made a brief stop for breakfast and continued cruising around looking at this water-based way of life. I was rather surprised, while it was only a three hour boat ride (a boat I had to myself) I really did get to see a lot of this way of life, if only for a few seconds at a time. People were everywhere doing all sorts of tasks. In addition to the jobs I mentioned above, I watched people tapping coconut trees to make beer, washing themselves, doing laundry, taking the public ferries and more. We passed the high school which people take the boat to, saw the 'floating hospital' boat that goes around providing medical care and saw one of the chundan vallam (snake boats), a traditional race where the 30+ meter long boat is paddled by 100 people! This is picture is of a man gathering mangoes. His partner was climbing the tree with a stick, knocking the fruit lose and letting it fall into the water, while he would swim out and collect them as they fell. As we passed, he threw one to me to eat. We made our way back into town, getting stopped by garbage just as many times on the way in and I disembarked from the boat. I still wish I'd been able to share a houseboat with someone, but even the short day tour was quite enjoyable.

Realizing there was really nothing else to do in town, I began another search, this time for the motorcycle or scooter I was hoping to rent and ride around for a week or so before catching the train on the 11^th. Just like the bike, this was a totally hopeless search. I had no idea it would be so difficult to find one out here since it's a pretty well established spot on the tourist trail, but in hindsight I guess people come here just to rent a boat and leave.

As I was walking around, I checked out a snack stand, and noticed the apples they had sitting out. They were a little piece of home, Washington state apples all the way in India! Despite not really liking red delicious apples, I was going to buy one of them until I heard they were 25 rupees each... pass! I wandered aimlessly around town a bit more, sat by the garbage filled canal to read and stopped by a book store to pick up a few books for 20 rupees each. For some reason, nearly all the books were fiction, with most of them being cheap thrillers and a surprising number of Star Trek fan novels.

As I continued my aimless wandering through town, I noticed some locals fishing in the dirty canal. Now I'd never eat fish that came from these waters, but people have different standards out here, haha. I sat down watching a man with a simple pole, just a piece of bamboo with a three foot piece of line and a hook on it, dipping the bait in the water between the lillypads and other marine plants. We got to talking and he introduced himself as Rajesh, and said that fishing was just his hobby. He had a plastic bag with half a dozen fish already, and caught another small one while I as there.

He was from the town, and asked me if I had any plans for the evening. I said no, and he offered to take me on his scooter. It wasn't exactly clear what he was offering, but I had nothing to do for the evening and I hopped on the back of his bike. He ended up giving me a tour of the town, telling me about different buildings and a little about the town. He also took me past the beach which I wasn't really aware existed, and in hindsight I wish I had known because it would have been much better hunting grounds to find other travelers to share a boat with... With the tour he dropped me back at my hotel, and that was that.

The next morning I was ready to get out of town. Since I couldn't find a motorbike to rent here, I decided that since I already had my train ticket out of Kanyakumari, I'd just head there. That way, when I'd finished riding it after a few days I would be at the right spot to catch my train, rather than being in some other town and having to worry about more travel. I caught a public bus just after 8am and it was packed, leaving me to stand. Eventually I found a spot behind the rail, next to the driver and above the engine cover to sit which was OK, and later on an actual seat opened up. The ride was 5 hours long, and passed through a seemingly unending line of small towns and billboard covered shops which to my untrained eye all looked the same.

The 5 hour ride still didn't get me to my destination, it only got me to the town of Travandrum. After asking a few questions at the bus stand, I found out that I had nearly two and a half hours to kill before the bus that would actually take me to Kanyakumari would leave, so once again I set myself to aimless wandering, this time in even more heat and will my full backpack. There really wasn't much to see in the center of town and other than getting some food at a local shop I did nothing while waiting.

Finally the bus came, and after a 3 hour ride, I had reached Kanyakumari (also known as Cape Comorin), the very southern tip of India! Located at the tip is this building, a memorial to Gandhi. Also in the area on a small island off the tip is another memorial, this one to Kwami Vivekananda, and a 133 foot tall statue of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar (both are partly visible in the upper left of the next photo).

The popular thing to do here is be on the tip at either sunrise or sunset, as both are visible from standing in the same spot. Luckily the bus dropped me off right as the sun was setting, and I saw it that night. The place was packed with tourists, but nearly all Indian tourists. After picking my way past the booths selling total junk (it seems the shops that target Indian tourists sell things that are even more worthless than those targeting western tourists), the ones selling shells, and the ones selling snacks, the energy on the beach itself felt electric. It was mostly young men, but Indians of all walks were playing in the water, laughing splashing and smiling, it was exciting to witness, but since I still had my bag, I was unable to jump in myself.

I'd met two french guys while getting off the bus, and we agreed to meet up for dinner. After finding myself a room, I went to the agreed meeting point, but was never able to find them so once again began my aimless wandering, getting a dosa for 25 rupees somewhere off the main drag and going back to my room to watch a movie on my computer. I really did look for something to do, but as far as I can tell this town has nothing.

The room I found was at Jothi Lodge, as cheap as I figured I could find (150 rupees), and it was one of the nastier rooms I've stayed in so far. When showing me the room, the guy showed me that the bed had *gasp!* five mattresses, the ultimate in comfort! All I could think to myself was “good, 5 times the places for bugs to hid....” The worst thing about the room though was the noise, the grime didn't bother me that much. Sure it had a door, but here in India many rooms have openings in the walls to allow airflow, and this room had a few. Beginning at 5am, tremendous racket of people outside began, and I wasn't really able to fall back asleep.

I checked out of the room, and went off in search of a motorbike to rent. From what I'd seen yesterday I figured it was hopeless and that I'd screwed up again, finding myself in a town with nothing to do and no way to leave under my own control. Of course I was right, and there wasn't a bike to rent in the whole town I was told by everyone I asked. Go back to Travandrum, they said, I'd find one there. Ugh, I was just there yesterday!!

Having spent 8 hours on buses the previous day, I opted for the more comfortable train, and was told of a train at 10:30 that would take me right where I needed to go. I went to the train station, and when I walked up to the counter was informed that train is canceled today! Argh!! One thing after another was just not working out for me and I was getting pretty frustrated for the first time on my entire trip.

I went to the bus stand, waited for an hour or so, and got on a bus to some random town to switch buses and eventually get back to Travandrum. As I was walking to the bus, a voice called out and said hello. His name is Jayanth and it turned out he was also headed to Travandrum. Not speaking the local language (Tamil) he was just as confused as I was, so we joined forces and headed off together. We chatted the whole ride, and he told me about his home (Bangalore), work (IT, duh!) and that he was headed to Travandrum because he was working as a sound guy for an underground metal concert called 'Sounds of Ungerground 2011' happening that night. Now I'm not a metalhead, but it all sounded like a ton of fun and I decided to tag along.

The show took place at the Purple Lounge, part of the Hotel Safari and was very close to the train and bus station. Having met Jayanth on the bus an hour or two before, I was sort of 'with the band' (haha) and joined them to hang out in the hotel in true rock and roll style, drinking, smoking and... watching cricket! Everyone was certainly interested to say hello to me, and the hospitality was first rate.

This was the first “big” metal show to happen in the state of Kerala, and included 8 bands: Gorified,
Warhorse Chained, Gutslit, Atmosfear, Anorectal Ulceration, Spiked Crib, Culminant, and Decaying Humanity, bands from Bangalore, Cochin, Mumbai and Travandrum. The show sold 170 tickets, which while not very big is a good start for such a new scene in India.

Now I've never actually been to a real metal show back home in the States or anywhere else, but it seems that out here in India they have certainly seen all the videos! The crowd moshed, head-banged and threw up the devil horns the same as any other metal show anywhere else in the world I'm sure. Naturally, I joined right in with them, having a blast. Two other westerners (both German actually) found their way to the show, and we talked a bit. One worked in town, and the other was a traveler like me.

A little taste of the show.

Because the metal scene in India and in Kerala is so new and so small, the pent up energy of the crowd was tremendous, finally having a show like this in town. The bands and audience alike seemed just thrilled to have the show and it was truly exciting that I got to be a part of it all.

Once the show ended at 11pm (I explained how in the states, most concerts don't even begin until at least 9pm!) I was invited to join the bands at Kovalam Beach where they had booked a bunch of rooms in a hotel. Of course I said yes, and we drove about 15km south to the beach. I took a much needed shower, and went to bed in what was probably the nicest room I've had on this whole trip, a room I somehow had all to myself.

I pretty much had no idea where I was or what the plan was, and in the morning as I stepped out of the room to this view of the area, wow! I joined a bunch of the guys in the rooftop restrant for breakfast, hung out with the guys a bit, and tried to figure out exactly what was going on and what I was doing here.

After a while, I followed Jayanth and a few other guys down to the beach and examined my surroundings. The beach was quite nice, and very built up for tourism. A nice surprise, it is probably the cleanest beach I've seen in India. The brown and black sand made some awesome patterns as the water moved it around, and we spent a while playing and body-surfing in the waves.

In the afternoon all the guys started to peel off heading home. Some had to catch the train, others a plane, and I spent a while chatting with the some band members and their friends before we took a taxi back to Travandrum, the guys heading to the airport to return to Bangalore, and me heading to the bus stand.

After a long string of disappointments over the past few days, running into Jayanth, meeting all his friends, going to the show and all the wonderful hospitality everyone extended to me was just want I needed. This is the kind of thing that happens on the road, assuming you are open and flexible to new experiences. I had a wonderful time and it's something that will certainly remain a highlight of my trip, once again, thanks Jayanth and everyone else who I met out there!

Because at this point I only had a few short days before I'd need to return to Kanyakumari and catch the train and because I was quite exhausted, I gave up on my idea of a motorcycle trip. Looking at the map and doing a bit of research, I decided to just go to Varkala Beach where I knew they would have scooters to rent, allowing me to have a nice place to relax and the ability to do day trips from the town. It wasn't where I'd wanted to be, but going to the beach is never bad and it looked like my best option.

I hopped on a bus from the bus stand, and like the room I'd just been, it was the nicest public bus I've seen on my trip! It was new, clean, had music, AC, lowered itself for easy entry/exit and all that jazz. It was even nicer than any of the buses in Seattle. I asked the ticket guy about it and he said it was a special bus only on this route. We talked for a while, and after an hour or two ride, I got off and he pointed me to the right bus to transfer to. On that bus I ended up talking development and economics here in India with a guy the whole ride. By about 9:30 I finally got to Varkala, found a room, ate dinner and got some much needed rest.

So that's where things stand. Next is two full days in Varkala, doing some relaxing, some reading, writing, planning and exploring. After that comes the long train ride. Well, balance has been restored as I knew it would and things look good.

Ah, also, I talked with my boss John back in Seattle and got the OK to be out another month, so once my visa expires on March 30^th, I should be headed to Nepal for about a month, so long as that works for my dad who is the one taking care of my place while I'm away. I hope so, because the mountains are calling!

Back on the Road and heading South

Greetings! I am currently in Alappuzha/Alleppy, after a few final days of climbing and a long train journey. I'm a bit tired and experiencing my first mild case of 'Delhi-belly' but still in good spirits and looking forward to everything I still have ahead of me.

I ended up breaking from the usual climbing schedule and sat down to do some planning. I try to do a minimum of planning, but every once in a while you have to sit down with a calender and see what exactly is going on. I had a lazy morning writing for the blog, planning a bit and relaxing with some good food.

In the early afternoon, the heat of the day really, I headed out with three other folks to do some temple explorin', so we headed across the river and went for a walk. I'd already seen everything we were going to visit, but I didn't mind going for another look.

Due to the 250 rupee price and the fact I didn't find it all that impressive last time we skipped the one temple you have to pay for and instead went on the free walking tour. We wandered the ruins for about two hours before heading back to 'our side' of the river, haha.

In the afternoon, I resumed the normal climbing schedule, and went out for the evening climb. This time we headed to Little Cave, a spot with a number of excellent routes and one I particularly like because it has a number at my level. As usual, the group was large and we all had a great time climbing in the setting sun.

I'm no yoga master (I wish I had time for two weeks in an ashram here in India, but I don't...) but here I am doing the 'tree pose' after climbing one of the boulders at Little Cave. Most of the group stayed here until it was dark, then we moved on.

Rather than turning in for the day, we returned to TV Boulder to continue climbing by headlamp. Most of us were fairly tired by this point so it was more hanging out than climbing (plus these routes are all above my abilities) but even when you are not climbing, just laying out under the stairs between the boulders is wonderful.

The next morning a number of us were excited for 'The Big Event'. Two of the best climbers in Hampi at the moment, Luis and ….oh shoot, I'm blanking on his name right now... oops, anyways, they were going to doing make their major attempts at one of the very difficult routes here, a 7c. They had been planning, practicing and thinking about it for days and were both very serious about making the climb this morning. A small crowd gathered to watch, spot and photograph and cheer them on. With all of us watching, both climbers blasted up the short but extremely difficult route, making it look easy. Let me just say it is a lot of fun watching good climbers and seeing these two climb was a treat. Pumped from his success, Luis went on to another boulder near Cosmic Cave (I think I called it 'Crystal Cave' in another post, oops) and totally flashed another overhanging 7c route which I photographed for him, again making it look easy.

Once I was done ogling other climbers, I rejoined the main group at a different spot to climb some routes more at my level. These groups are really fun, because random people just drop in saying how they had just gotten into town, and right away others toss shoes their way and send them up routes. It's a great way to meet new people, the community is really open and supportive and every day you get to test yourself, have new successes and enjoy watching the success of other climbers.

During the previous night at the boulder, I had looked for my headlamp only to find the 'gadget bag' was not in my backpack. I'd thought maybe it was back at my room, but when I returned to my room I realized it was not there either and it was probably lost for good. I thought about it for a bit, and remembered where I'd likely left it. Yesterday, we had sat down to have a break in the shade of a cactus, and I dug into my bag to pull out some bananas. They had gotten smashed, and I'd pulled things out of my bag to clean it up, turns out I forgot to put that little bag back in my backpack.

I gave my bag to someone at the ferry and swam across the river (because it was hot out and to save 15 rupees! Swimming across the river has become my normal method of crossing, and a lot of fun!) and returned to that same spot. I found the 'gadget bag' alright, but it was totally empty. What I ended up losing was my nice Petzel headlamp, the Swiss Army knife I've had since I was a kid, my malaria medicine, my camera battery charger, my eye mask, ear plugs, spare batteries, whistle, hand sanitizer, chapstick and probably one or two more things I've forgotten. It was my first real loss of the trip (I left a towel behind in the Philippines) and I was pretty bummed. It will cost me more than $150 to replace I all....

Returning to the hangout spot (the Tibetan Kitchen) I met up with some friends, told them of my misfortune and we were about to set off on a mission to get some ice cream, but that got called off because of the setting sun. Oh well. I had a relaxed evening watching a movie (The Black Swan) on my laptop and laying about my room. Nothing special.

I slept in a little 'late', 7am and set off for the morning climbing session, but either everyone was taking a day off or had headed to an area I was unable to find. Despite this and the fact I had no chalk or crash mats, I made the best of it. I climbed atop the 'Eye Boulder' and spent about 45 minute stretching during sunrise, which let me tell you, is a nice way to wake up. After a few runs on that boulder including a new route for me, I headed off to another boulder, where I managed two more firsts for me before heading back in during the heat of the day.

At this point I was looking at the calender and realizing I needed to get moving. I'd talked about spending a few more days in Hampi, then heading to Badami (sp?) with the crew for more rock climbing, sport climbing (ropes) rather than bouldering, but I realized this wasn't realistic with my schedule. I went to the booking agents, and bought two train tickets heading south the next day.

After the evening climbing session, a few of us were excited to see a movie called 'Pilgrimage,' which is the rock climbing movie that put Hampi on the map as a top bouldering spot in the world. However, earlier in the day one of our fellow climbers, Palou, had taken a fall at Barry's Boulder which resulted in torn ligaments in her knee, putting her in a poorly constructed cast at the local insurance scam hospital, and a lot of pain. I didn't go to the hospital, but it was at the level where they had blood-stained gloves hanging to dry and be reused in the window... Because of this, we held off watching the movie until it could be done at a place that would require the minimum of movement for her, and watched a different movie on Trevor’s laptop.

In the morning I had another solo climb for my last bit here at Hampi, and thanks to borrowing a pair of shoes that actually had intact toes (instead of my 'free rental' shoes where both toes were visible) from Trevor I was able to have a few more firsts, which allowed me to leave Hampi with some feeling of accomplishment.

This photo is just of an insect with the tallest boulder hill in the background. These bugs are pretty interesting, I don't know the name, but they are large, fly very loudly, and chew holes and make homes in dead bamboo.

I had a goodbye lunch with Trevor and Larissa, took the boat across the river (I was going to be a few days till I was able to shower again and I wanted to stay clean and fresh for the train rides ahead so I didn't swim) and took the public bus to Hospet, the transportation hub in the area.

I had a few hours to kill in Hospet before my train arrived and the first thing I did was try to find a new charger for my camera to ensure I'd be able to keep taking pictures on the trip. The shop I found didn't have it in ('tomorrow') so I kept going, searching out a shave. I asked the price of a shave, and he said 40 rupees. I know this is already about twice what Indians pay (15-20 rupees), but it's still less than $1 so I said OK. Once he had shaved me, he tried to get even more money out of me for the normally included aftershave moisturizers and whatnot. Knowing better, I told him that I knew he was trying to rip me of and that I was unhappy about it. He of course pretended he didn't understand and I ended up leaving in a bit of a bad mood.

I know it's not a lot of money, but I'm really starting to get sick of nearly EVERYONE trying to rip me off because I am a western tourist. From my own research talking to Indians, when prices are not written down and the same for everyone, us tourists can usually expect to pay at least double for services, and sometimes 4-10 times more. It's the same buying goods in the markets, sigh... In most cases the Indian people have been very friendly and welcoming, but so many venders seem to make it their mission to rip off tourists off as much as possible, and it's getting on my nerves...

After reading my book for a while and talking to a crowd of locals who came up to me with all the usual questions (Name, country, married?) I got on the overnight train ride to Bangalore. This time I rode in the Sleeper Class, which I understand is how most locals travel. This is the non-AC car, where you get a fold-out bed without blankets or a pillow and no services such as food. To me it is a perfectly fine way to travel, and everyone was friendly.

The car was all locals except for an older French couple, and I took my seat next to this group of men. Having not rode Sleeper class before, I inquired about food sales, and right away one of the men offered to share their dinner with me. This is the kind of hospitality that India is known for, and has been almost the norm. Right after the barber rips you off, something like this happens and makes it all better again, haha. After eating, I talked to a group of Indian students for a while and went to sleep in my cloths using my bag as a pillow. It wasn't very comfortable, but it worked just fine.

At 6am, well before sunrise I arrived in Bangalore, which was just a transit hub for me. My next train left at 9:40pm, giving me a day to kill in Indians technology centered city. Looking at a map, I walked towards Cubbon Park, thinking it would be a nice place to relax and read for a bit. On my way I passed “Freedom Park” where ironically you are not allowed to eat, drink, smoke, bike, walk on the lawn or 'play' haha... I found Cubbon Park which was quite large but not all that nice, and passed through to the other side.

What I ended up finding on the other side after a bit more walking was a large soccer stadium, and something that really caught my eye, a large climbing wall! I stood and watched the locals climbing (none were very good to be honest, and only two even had actual rock climbing shoes) for a few minutes, when the leader of the group approached me. He told me about the wall and the program, and I inquired about a good place for breakfast. Before I knew it I was on the back of a scooter flying through Bangalore traffic to some local restaurant, where I had a tasty dosa and went on my way wandering.

Just like every city in America seems to have a road named after Martin Luther King (usually in the ghetto), every city in India has one named after Mahatma Gandhi. Rather ironically, this area is also the center of the Indian Army in Bangalore from what I could tell. Recruitment centers, officer quarters, parade grounds and posters littered the area, giving me a good chuckle. I've had a few brief talks with locals about the Indian Army and issues around it, and while all espouse a 'live and let live' attitude, some of the venom I've heard towards Pakistan (and I guess I expected it) has been pretty harsh. I think I've heard that 'Pakistan is all terrorists' more than once.

I guess this is the downtown area of Bangalore? I was a little confused to be honest. Judging by my maps I was in the heart of the downtown, but looking up at just a small handful of large modern buildings confused me. This city is the center of the technology industry in India, I believe it is the most educated state in the country, and the city of 5.7 million people. With all this, I expected the core of the city to be much larger and more modern. The downtown area seemed smaller than Seattle, which only has half a million people! Given my experience in Delhi and Mumbai, I expected Bangalore to look and feel MUCH larger than it did. I can report it wasn't as dirty or noisy as the previously mentioned cities which was nice, and the green space was a nice touch. Oh, and despite the cities technology reputation, my Tata 'wireless broadband' was still crawling. I'm wondering if something is wrong with it?

Another thing I noticed about Bangalore is that it seemed to have more of a preoccupation with America and the West. It seemed to have even more western shops than other cities, as well as stores called “USA Piazza”, “Stars & Stripes”, “American Corner” a fake 'Radio Shack' and a 'Jimi Hendrix' bar.

I spent the next few hours trying to replace the items I'd lost in Hampi, starting with the camera charger. After visiting a few shops and getting a 'no', I found a cellphone shop that could get it for me in 'one hour'. That's the way things work out here, often times they don't stock a lot, but when you ask for it, they can call their buddies and have one brought out if you are able to wait. I ended up paying 1400 rupees for the charger, the best I could due after shopping around. Next was a headlamp, and after a few hours I've decided no such thing exists in the state of Karnataka. I mentioned I was looking for one in Hampi to someone, and they said they had looked for hours with no luck and I did the same.

I ended up going into the 'City Market' area, which is a pretty interesting system of commerce. Rather than something like a mall or superstore like we have in the states, the City Market is more like a neighborhood of shops. Each shop is usually a tiny room with one side open to the street, and goods are piled high in unorganized looking shelves. I knew it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I went to the electrical/lighting streets, and began my hunt. I passed probably 60 different shops next door to each other, that sold nothing but light switches, light sockets, light fixtures and light bulbs. Each shop seems nearly identical, and some are down back alleys just a few feet wide. In a situation like this, how does anyone stand out? How do you pick one shop from another? How do they all stay in business? It was all very strange to me.

After a long time looking, I began to find some flashlights, but no headlamps. I finally found the kind of light I was looking for (a small AAA flashlight, since headlamps were out of the question at this point) but the shop owner wanted 320 rupees for it! It was the kind of junk light you can buy for $2 in the states, so I said no and left. Having almost given up, I kept walking and got a pineapple juice. Looking across the street, I saw one more place to check, and he had the same kind of lights as the previous guy who'd tried to rip me off. He Wanted just 120 rupees for what the last guy wanted 320 for, and had a slightly larger one for 250. I ended up getting the larger one for 220 rupees, and while it was no true replacement for my lost Petzel headlamp, I was reasonably satisfied.

As I was leaving the Market, I noticed this man sitting in the street drawing Hanuman in chalk. I had plenty of time to kill, so I sat down and watched for a while. Naturally as I arrived he pulled up his pants to show how crippled he was, missing a foot above the ankle and missing all his toes on the other. His hands were stiff, with mangled and missing fingers making it difficult to hold his pipe or the chalk. I don't know if the guy was mentally ill or just on drugs, but he was frequently giving crazy eyes, and rolling around the street laughing, As I sat there, a small crowd of locals began to gather, and the artists friend and I chatted. He left for a minute to get tea, which he offered to me as well as the marijuana pipe that was being smoked openly on the street. I assume he was just to butter me up in hopes of getting more of money out of me and while I passed on the pipe I took the tea. Maybe that's why I'm sick now, haha... I stayed a bit longer watching him draw, handed over a few rupees (which lead to another fit of laughing and rolling on the ground) and headed off to the train station.

I killed more time reading my book at the station and boarded the overnight to Ernakulam, Sleeper class again. It was late, I was tired, and luckily I had the top bunk so I was able to climb right up, lay down and try to sleep. The ride was quite uneventful, as I was uncomfortably asleep for most of it.

I arrived in Ernakulam in the morning, which wasn't exactly where I'd wanted to get. Due to my desire to leave Hampi as soon as possible (just because I needed to keep moving, not because I wanted to leave!) I found myself here, and after talking to the ticket counter bought a ticket for 24 rupees for the 60km ride that would take me to Alleppy, where I was actually trying to get to. Riding in the day is nice, because you can actually see the country you are passing through, and this is a particularly green part of India.

On the ride I met a few other Indian students and we talked for a little while about what I was doing. They were very friendly and helped me get off at the right place and also got me on the right bus into town.

My plan for Alleppy was to meet some other travelers and join them in renting a houseboat for a night or two, cursing the famous Kerala backwaters. I arrived and while I saw the boats, the water and the agency’s to book tours, I was having a hell of a time finding other travelers. I saw two my age and said hi, but they didn't offer much in return so I kept looking. I walked around until I found a room for just 150 rupees, then wandered the streets in search of new traveler friends. It was much harder than I expected. All night, I saw just a handful, and even fewer that were under 40. I was starting to feel like maybe my 'go somewhere and figure it out' thing wasn't working so well this time, it's usually perfect! I ate lunch in a little local shop with no menu and no English skills, they just brought me what they had which was good, and after dinner I retired to my room to spend some time on the computer writing and planning.

That is where it stands now. I'm still looking for people to share a boat with since I don't really want to do it alone, and I'm thinking about renting a motorbike and riding around for a few days maybe visiting a wildlife sanctuary. Today I bought a train ticket on the Himsagar Express on the 11^th, the longest train ride in India. It goes from the very southern tip of the country at Kanyakumari, 3700km, 68 stops, and 75 hours north, to Jammu Tawi at the base of the Himalayan mountain range! It's going to be one heck of a train ride! That is, assuming they place I bought it from gets me the right ticket, they were a little confused... one again, cross your fingers!

Hampi, One of the Best Yet

Ok, a little more reflection first. After passing the three month mark, I have one or two months left. I'm hoping I can stretch it and get that second month, but it's not a sure thing yet. My Indian visa expires in just over a month and I have so much I still want to see! I'm starting to see the finish line of this trip and it's a sobering feeling. Everything has been so wonderful out here that it's easy to never want to stop, 5 months will never feel like enough. I am looking forward to returning to Seattle however, because it is the city I love and I think I will return with a renewed energy and focus. So beginning to see the end of this trip isn't such a bad thing after all ;)

In the morning, I awoke from my shack, and I do mean shack. It was made of bamboo and corrugated sheet metal, without a real door and no light. At least it was cheap! A better room opened up, I took that and have been there for the last few nights. I decided to have a lazy day, so I loaded up my day bag with water, a book and my towel and headed down to the river.

I walked along the bank and went for a quick swim, circling some of the water-carved boulders and admiring their incredible shapes. It was about noon by this time, and I needed to find a spot in the shade to read. After some wandering, I finally found a good spot behind a boulder, and hid from the sun to read. I had picked up The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo from the guesthouse, simply out of name recognition and gave it a try. Maybe it was over-hyped, but I was not all that impressed. I've read a few thrillers on this trip and it didn't seem all that special to me. That said, I still read the 500 pages in two days. Sitting out for that long was really wonderful. As I read, I just sat and listened to the sounds around me. From my spot behind the boulder, I could listen to many different birds, the sound of the woman washing cloths on the other bank, the outboard from the ferry, men bathing in the river (they giggle a lot), drums and chanting from the temples beyond, a wedding procession with a marching band and the sound of cows and goats walking through the brush. A nice way to experience a new place.

The next morning I got up at 7am, took the ferry across the river (15 rupees), got breakfast (75 rupees) and rented a bicycle for the day (40 rupees). My first stop was the Virupaksha Temple, the tallest structure in the center of town. I went in through a side entrance, which I was to later understand meant I skipped the entry free of a few rupees and the 50 rupee fee for taking pictures. As I was there, Lakshmi the temple elephant arrived through the same entrance I came in from, and I watched the trainer give it commands to stand on its hind legs, and touch Indians on the head for a blessing.

Hapmi, much like the Angkor Wat area in Cambodia, is just littered with amazing ruins. You can walk for hours among the boulders and temples, never seeing the same thing twice. Because I had already seen some of the area with my Swedish friends earlier, I had a list of what was left and set off.

I walked along the river on the trail to the Vittala Temple, and this partly split boulder was on the way. Seeing how much stone is used on some of these structures is pretty amazing, and to see how the boulders were cut was pretty interesting.

This is the main entrance to the Vittala Temple, and unlike most of the ruins around here it costs a bit of money. If you are Indian, it is only 10 rupees, but if you are a non-Indian tourist it is 250 rupees! On the 2k walk to the temple, you pass countless amazing ruins, and the walk along the river is very pleasant.

This is one of the main attractions of this particular temple, a stone chariot. It's neat, and the wheels once turned (not that it could actually move) but to me the temple wasn't that much more amazing than the free ruins. So travel tip, if you are poor feel free to skip it.

Walking through the rocks you see a lot of lizards, I just liked this picture.

After a leisurely walk back through dozens more ruins, I hopped back on my bike and took off for another complex of temples and royal buildings. This particular building is the Royal Elephant Stables, and this is part of the 250 rupee ticket from the previous temple. The buildings here are in a little better shape, and the grass is green, but to me it felt a bit like just another temple. I was getting a little burned out on ruins to be honest, and the heat was getting to me.

As a result, I returned my bike and headed for the river. Wearing just my swim shorts and flip-flops, I walked a ways up the river. When I had found a suitable spot, I walked into the river, sat down and went for a float. I'd been in the river already, but I got to see and feel it in a whole new way. The bottom is amazingly easy to walk on, with all the rocks being nice and round, no sharp edges or sticks. At some places, the current was pushing me across huge smooth slabs of rock, in others I was walking through rounded gravel, in yet others I was being pushed through boulders 20 feet high on each side. At one point, I swam to a cluster of boulders that had a group of mud sparrow nests, and watched the birds enter and exit their cliff homes from the water. I kept floating down, and once I got to my guest house a ways down the river I went to shore, saying hello to a group of Indian men bathing as I went past.

The previous night I'd gotten connected with some climbers staying next door to me, and we woke up early to meet at the Goan Corner, at 7am one of the key climber spots here in Hampi. There I picked up a pair of shoes with holes in the toes (for free), one of the few places for people without gear to get it out here. Once the group had assembled, we took the short walk through the paddies and into the boulders a few minutes away.

We had left Goan Corner with just four of us, but as happens every time, we picked up a few new people on the way. We spent a short while in the Crystal Cavern, and then moved to another boulder with some easier problems on it.

I did a few routes, but most of the climbing here is at a level far above me. I have done quite a few of the easier problems, which has been great fun but most of the time I just watch other climbers who are much better than I am.

I just had to post this because it was interesting. This was a group of quite new, identical rooms for rent at one of the guesthouses. I asked why 6 of them had been destroyed, and I was told the government said those few were on government land and were not allowed, so they just knocked them down.

After a late lunch (as per the usual schedule out here) a few of us went out for an evening session, after the heat of the day has died down a bit. As it grew darker and darker, everyone else headed back in but Kim (from Spain) and I stayed out because he had a few problems he wanted to work on more. Once it got too dark, I held my headlamp to light the rock for Kim to work at, and I just stared out at the landscape and the stars. Not a bad way to spend an evening huh? Then, late dinner and off to bed.

The next morning we awoke at around 6:30am and met at Goan Corner at 7am to climb, and this has become the typical day. You get up early, get to the boulders around 7am, climb until 11am or noon, go eat breakfast/lunch, lay around for a few hours during the heat of the day, go on an evening climbing session until dark, hang out under the stars, then go back to the restaurant to eat and chat until late into the night. I have become part of this regular group of climbers, and every day we are hanging out, climbing and eating together. It really is a nice way to live, haha.

Despite the reputation of Hampi as one of the top boulder spots in the world, there still isn't much infrastructure to support it. Since I didn't have my own climbing shoes, I dug through the 'free box' to find a pair. Some are in pretty sorry shape. On the plus side, after leaving a smallish deposit, the shoes are free. I really wish I had better shoes and will try to find some better ones, but the price is right.

This is Luis. From France, he is one of the best climbers out here, and it's been great fun to see the strength and grace of his climbing. I forget the name of this rock, “that rock with the eyes painted on it”, but it has a few beginner routes, and this monster problem. A good place to play.

Katie (England) and Danni (Mexico) working on a different problem on the same rock.

And as the schedule goes, off to eat during middle of the day. We have all adopted the Tibetan Kitchen restaurant next to Bobby Guesthouse as our official hangout. It's a great place to just relax in the shade, and the food is all fantastic. I pretty much eat three meals a day here and am never disappointed. Around the table here is Alex, Kim, Paolu, Jenny, Katie and Will.

Due to the heat, we deviated from the usual schedule a bit and went for a dip in the reservoir. Rather than spending money on renting a scooter to get there, Kim and I decided to rent bikes for 25 rupees and ride. The ride was only 20 minutes or so, but it was very hot and the bike was the worst I've had yet! At water, a few of us did the big cliff jump again (this time being told it was 18 meters rather than 25, which sounds much more realistic to me) and cooled off in the water.

We then decided to 'float the rapids' which is just a minute away from the jumping rocks. This is an outflow of the reservoir and the current is very fast. What you do, is jump (or dive) off the bridge right into the middle of it (the sides could suck you in!) and the water carries you very quickly down a the channel. On the sides are nearly vertical cliffs, and fighting the current is hopeless. That said, all you do is tread water and let the current take you. It's a blast to go flying through the little channel for a minute or two like a little twig, and then a ways down it flattens out and you can swim to shore. We set up a shuttle system with the scooters, giving everyone a chance to ride the river and not have to walk all the way back. It was a ton of fun, and a perfect thing to do on a hot day.

In the evening, we went back to the boulders, climbed until dark, ate late into the night, and another wonderful day in Hampi had passed by, everyone satisfied, no one wanting to leave.

My plans are up in the air now. I've got so much of India to see yet, with the mountains being the big draw, but I'm thinking about spending more time south, climbing and renting a motorcycle, taking a long train trip back north, and seeing far less of northern India than I was hoping. Instead, maybe I can get to see one or two of the highlights, then go to Nepal and feed my mountain fix out there.... not sure if it will work, but that's the plan so wish me luck!