I'm gonna try something - work with me OK? By the way thanks for reading Wanderin' Womyn's Wawa Wewe!
The whole idea ... and goal is to offer you some of my memories, impressions, and real happenings from the last 7 - 10 days... probably NOT in chronological order or in any meaningful sequence. I...am so not wanting to forget. Here goes....
* important note: Our Bed and Breakfast in Goa: we just got back here 3 hours ago and Alfred just served up his special 'feni' a Goa speciality moonshine liquor made from coconuts! Be... Warned drinking and writing :)
* major issue (not so fun) with my right hip... my Massage Therapist buddy Belle worked on me for 2 hours in Hampi and managed to stabilize it. Could not walk for more than 30 minutes or so depending on the surface. She thinks it's a pinched nerve (spine)... so far so good I'm doing great now! Love that woman!
*Wild and crazy, fun and frightening trip across 2 states with final destination of Hampi - a National Heritage Site.. and rightfully so PLEASE do a quick google... you just gotta look at the photos if nothing else. then you will understand my temporary insanity about this place. Hint: I am in love with rocks, clear blue skies, mixed with miles of monuments, hiking and gawking, photo taking, bird hunting...
* Our Hampi room - hysterical and very expensive but right beside the temples and boulders... beds like plywood, bright blue walls, curtains that don't quite close.... hey it was great with the 3 of us in there. good thing we are all pretty easy going (don't choke laughing please) then the monkey's all over the place they will steal everything. They would be right out on our walkway but we kept the clothes!
* pilgrims - colorfully dressed, bare footed, wandering on a spiritual pilgrimage for 1 - 3 months. We met about 50 of them bathing in the beautiful river running through Hampi, among the huge grey boulders, colorful sarongs spread out to dry and everyone freely bathing in the river. They have something to teach us about being in the present. I'm LISTENING!!! Hey, over here! I can learn too!
* took a basket boat ride down the river in Hampi! Jeez talk about fun...
* up for an early morning hike through the boulders and thrilling to the sun rising in the sky, my heart sings.
* watched Lukihi (something like this spelling...) the 20 year old Temple Elephant have her morning bath in (the same as mentioned above) river. First she lays on one side, then, as directed by her handler she rolls to the other. Her handler and his assistant seriously scrubs her with a stiff bristled brush and she lays there gently spraying water over her face or just up in the air (for the hell of it!) Her morning toilet ritual takes about 45 - 60 minutes, then she is paraded back to the temple where she is decorated (painted) for the day!
* Gypsy's outside of Hampi, wagons and all! Had built straw houses (no kidding) looks like a big round pile of straw, only can see lights on inside!
* Pan stores: sell betel nut and betel nut ground and mixed with tobacco
* 'Highways' are really really interesting... zooming down various width roadways mixed with tons wildly decorated semis, all of us going no more than 80 kms/hour (thank God), then frequent populations of cows (from 4 - 10) goats (10 - 150) covering the entire road surface... oops then there are the tractors... decorated even more wildly than the trucks... with the addition of Indi Music booming from said vehicle and the Indian driver, and crew (in a wagon bumping along behind him) happily bumping along at 20 kms maximum. Then of course there are the bikes, motorbikes, walking women with wood piled on their head... men...just walking!
* Monkey's - grabbing at Ellen's purse with hands grasping the zipper. She grabs and moves away. Monster Monkey stretches out to grab MY backpack... ughhh.
* Internet was down for nearly 24 hours because monkeys chewed up the power/phone lines
*have successfully achieved some status over breakfast of outma, sira and masala doce, and heavily sweetened chi tea. apparently I am adjusting.. little do my travel companions know what I would give for a bowl of fresh fruit, yogurt and decaf americano!
* fields of Sunflowers (you know, the guys that are neverending cheerful and without fail turn their heads to follow the sun - isn't that some kind of a miracle?), cotton (yep they grow COTTON), millet, mangos, bananas, chilies ( I see.. chilies spread out on tarps over a 1/2 acre, with men and women tending to them dressed in all colors of sarongs...)
* saw a MONGOOSE run across the road today :)
* sightings of: Wild Peacocks!!!
* Yesterday morning, bouncing down the 'highway' - a bus load of soldiers on the edge of the road spaced between 8 - 12 feet ... looking out across the field ignoring the rest of the 59 men... peeing in unison! you can just imagine the laughing and our comments, 'oh they must be trained to pee at exactly 9 am!!!'
* Woke up this morning in Hubli - a tourist-boring city with the best hotel in town being 'Executive /Business Accommodation' our room was $10 CND/each - I must add, nice new sheets, clean air-con, room service (beer and peanuts please) - to sirens alerting the devote to muslim prayers.
That's it for now! We are off tomorrow to fly to Calcutta! Stay tuned...
The whole idea ... and goal is to offer you some of my memories, impressions, and real happenings from the last 7 - 10 days... probably NOT in chronological order or in any meaningful sequence. I...am so not wanting to forget. Here goes....
* important note: Our Bed and Breakfast in Goa: we just got back here 3 hours ago and Alfred just served up his special 'feni' a Goa speciality moonshine liquor made from coconuts! Be... Warned drinking and writing :)
* major issue (not so fun) with my right hip... my Massage Therapist buddy Belle worked on me for 2 hours in Hampi and managed to stabilize it. Could not walk for more than 30 minutes or so depending on the surface. She thinks it's a pinched nerve (spine)... so far so good I'm doing great now! Love that woman!
*Wild and crazy, fun and frightening trip across 2 states with final destination of Hampi - a National Heritage Site.. and rightfully so PLEASE do a quick google... you just gotta look at the photos if nothing else. then you will understand my temporary insanity about this place. Hint: I am in love with rocks, clear blue skies, mixed with miles of monuments, hiking and gawking, photo taking, bird hunting...
* Our Hampi room - hysterical and very expensive but right beside the temples and boulders... beds like plywood, bright blue walls, curtains that don't quite close.... hey it was great with the 3 of us in there. good thing we are all pretty easy going (don't choke laughing please) then the monkey's all over the place they will steal everything. They would be right out on our walkway but we kept the clothes!
* pilgrims - colorfully dressed, bare footed, wandering on a spiritual pilgrimage for 1 - 3 months. We met about 50 of them bathing in the beautiful river running through Hampi, among the huge grey boulders, colorful sarongs spread out to dry and everyone freely bathing in the river. They have something to teach us about being in the present. I'm LISTENING!!! Hey, over here! I can learn too!
* took a basket boat ride down the river in Hampi! Jeez talk about fun...
* up for an early morning hike through the boulders and thrilling to the sun rising in the sky, my heart sings.
* watched Lukihi (something like this spelling...) the 20 year old Temple Elephant have her morning bath in (the same as mentioned above) river. First she lays on one side, then, as directed by her handler she rolls to the other. Her handler and his assistant seriously scrubs her with a stiff bristled brush and she lays there gently spraying water over her face or just up in the air (for the hell of it!) Her morning toilet ritual takes about 45 - 60 minutes, then she is paraded back to the temple where she is decorated (painted) for the day!
* Gypsy's outside of Hampi, wagons and all! Had built straw houses (no kidding) looks like a big round pile of straw, only can see lights on inside!
* Pan stores: sell betel nut and betel nut ground and mixed with tobacco
* 'Highways' are really really interesting... zooming down various width roadways mixed with tons wildly decorated semis, all of us going no more than 80 kms/hour (thank God), then frequent populations of cows (from 4 - 10) goats (10 - 150) covering the entire road surface... oops then there are the tractors... decorated even more wildly than the trucks... with the addition of Indi Music booming from said vehicle and the Indian driver, and crew (in a wagon bumping along behind him) happily bumping along at 20 kms maximum. Then of course there are the bikes, motorbikes, walking women with wood piled on their head... men...just walking!
* Monkey's - grabbing at Ellen's purse with hands grasping the zipper. She grabs and moves away. Monster Monkey stretches out to grab MY backpack... ughhh.
* Internet was down for nearly 24 hours because monkeys chewed up the power/phone lines
*have successfully achieved some status over breakfast of outma, sira and masala doce, and heavily sweetened chi tea. apparently I am adjusting.. little do my travel companions know what I would give for a bowl of fresh fruit, yogurt and decaf americano!
* fields of Sunflowers (you know, the guys that are neverending cheerful and without fail turn their heads to follow the sun - isn't that some kind of a miracle?), cotton (yep they grow COTTON), millet, mangos, bananas, chilies ( I see.. chilies spread out on tarps over a 1/2 acre, with men and women tending to them dressed in all colors of sarongs...)
* saw a MONGOOSE run across the road today :)
* sightings of: Wild Peacocks!!!
* Yesterday morning, bouncing down the 'highway' - a bus load of soldiers on the edge of the road spaced between 8 - 12 feet ... looking out across the field ignoring the rest of the 59 men... peeing in unison! you can just imagine the laughing and our comments, 'oh they must be trained to pee at exactly 9 am!!!'
* Woke up this morning in Hubli - a tourist-boring city with the best hotel in town being 'Executive /Business Accommodation' our room was $10 CND/each - I must add, nice new sheets, clean air-con, room service (beer and peanuts please) - to sirens alerting the devote to muslim prayers.
That's it for now! We are off tomorrow to fly to Calcutta! Stay tuned...
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