Real Life: Northern Karnataka Edition

The delay in my blogging was due to a recent 9 day trip to the northern part of Karantaka. Well, I am back: a bit sunburned, a bit poorer, (I just could not stop buying and eating food - so much for losing weight in India...) and significantly more in love with India.

I will begin with: this could become a long post; I will not be offended if you just look at the pictures.  That being said, this past week, I saw some of the most beautiful landscapes and buildings and monuments I have ever seen in my life, therefore the pictures will speak for themselves.  If nothing else - after all, it was intended to be a learning experience for our Culture and Civilization Course - the mini-vacation we got to go on opened my eyes to some of the true Indian beauty.  In that, I feel very fortunate to have been able to travel to some remarkable places.

On September 24th, I experienced my first-ever train ride! (unless you count the metro/Boston T/rail to get to the grand canyon...)  Best of all, I got to experience the "Sleeper Train," which basically is a cabin of bunk-cots that you sleep on during an over night train ride.  We left Mysore around 10 pm and arrived in Hubli around 7:30 am.  Aside from the horrific smell of poop/whatever those smells were (my cot happened to be closest to the on-board "bathrooms") the train was very pleasant.  You didn't get a ton of room, but honestly you didn't need it.  They give you sheets and a blanket and you set up camp.  I practiced sleeping (aka spooning) with my backpack so that I feel more confident traveling during my independent travels coming up in (eeep) two weeks.  The nice sway of the train actually made sleeping comfortable.  That was until a baby started to cry..

 

Hope you're not claustrophobic... 

Then we met up with Suresh (our awesome driver) and were on route to Badami...

...where after two hours of driving we pulled up to this; home sweet home (and sweet it was) for two days. Two to a cabin, we each got a comfortable bed/shower/amazing amenities. 

Right across the street there were beautiful rocks and canyons, so after a quick lunch a few of us decided to explore.  We hiked up pretty far and man, was it beautiful?  The best part: climbing over-head to two young women collecting brush at the bottom of the canyon.  After brief greetings, one of the women asked, "How's my India?" It was just such a wonderful moment and it was even more incredible to shout back down, "It's beautiful, I love it!"

 

Northern Karnataka is definitely more arid/desert-like than Mysore, so getting used to the heat was something all of us struggled with at one point or another.  Climbing on these rocks in jeans definitely left me a bit dehydrated and sunburned.  After afternoon exploration we headed to the Badami Caves.  I'll allow these pictures to speak for themselves...

 Yeah.. I know 

 The caves; the color of the stone is incredible

 No big deal..

 Kat and Joseph; the city of Badami behind them

 View of the temple from the caves

 Kat, Laura and Sherry at the temple

 And here is where the head-scarf-wearing began... to "avoid" sunburns

Also, it was just unbearably hot

Side note: going on day 2 1/2 of being in those clothes. Yum. I can't wait to travel for 3 weeks.

 And they mean it

"Menace" is NOT an understatement

 Grumpy-old-George Bush-monkey

The next morning we got up really early for our hike across the Sandstone Hills to reach a prehistoric cave in a place called Shidaphadi.  I was on a 'no-camera' spree during the hike, in which I simply trudged ahead of the chatty group to peacefully enjoy such a beautiful morning.  The sights were gorgeous and by the time I got to the top of the hills, I could not resist from snapping a few shots.  

There was just so much green

From there we traveled to a very religious place called Mahakuta; it is an important place of worship for Hindus and the location of a well-known Shiva monastery.  Before going to swim (yes, I said swim) in the sacred pool, we ate some delicious breakfast (Umpa, Idlies and Sambar) under a Bandar tree full of monkeys. Then we were able to cool off in the sacred pool, which was the coolest thing ever.  Basically, we were swimming in an old  bath where temples surrounded us. Aside from the consistent stares I received from the young Indian men (especially being a florescent white girl in a bathing suit...) it was an incredible break from the Indian heat and the morning hike.

mhm, real life

The last stop of day 3 was a trip to the temple complex at Pattadakal.  There, we were able to wander about 10 different Hindu temples.  Although the architecture was relatively the same among all of them, each was slightly different which made exploring the grounds fun.  Additionally, there were groups of Indian students visiting the temples with their respective schools too, and they were eager to come interact with us.  I even gave them my "autograph" a few times: Sarah from the USA.  The most memorable person I met though was a woman named Pushpavathi; she was sitting in one of the temples just enjoying the purpose of the place and the shade.  I sat with her and a few of the other girls in my group while she taught us some basic Kannada (people here are always interested in teaching you more language once you initiate a conversation in Kannada and they realize your knowledge only takes the conversation so far).  At the end of our meet and greet, she gave us (Brie, Kate, and I) bangles to keep. She obviously didn't have to, and I felt badly for having nothing to give to her in return, but she did it graciously and I will never forget being under the shade of that temple with her. Plus, I kept my beautiful ನೀಲಿ (nili/blue) bangle.

 

 Their Saris just look so beautiful with the temple/blue sky scenery 

The next morning we left for the town of Aihole (pronounced properly as Eye-Hole-Aye - but we still liked to say A-hole, especially when we saw a sign that said "Welcome Aihole" instead of "Welcome To Aihole").  This small town is essentially a town of temples. In Aihole, they built over 125 temples in various styles and for various religions, and it is said to be a 'laboratory of experiments in rock cut architecture.'  The views of the village were beautiful and it is interesting to think that people currently reside in little houses directly next to/behind/or in front of amazing ancient temples.

 Buddhist Temple

 Temples of all kinds were simply scattered throughout the landscape

 A part of the Jain complex

 Jake meeting and eating (...sunflower seeds, not the kids)

Joseph: on top of the world.. or at least the Buddhist Temple

After a tour of another temple complex in Aihole, we packed up our stuff, teared up over leaving our cottages, and traveled toward Bijapur.

Bijapur had beautiful things to see and do, but over all it was a dusty and dirty city.  We were only staying there for one night, and it was basically to see the magnificent Gol Gumbaz.  Before our private morning tour of that (thanks to some special strings that were pulled by our program director - and former Archeological Director of India - Dr. Rao) we visited the Ibrahim Rouza, a beautiful Mosque and Tomb in the heart of Bijapur.  It was here that I fell in love with Muslim Architecture.

 Sight from the entrance; I know...

...not real

 Everything is just so ornate and beautifully designed

 Had to get my corny tourist shot in..

The next morning was what was really special: the Gol Gumbaz.

Because of Dr. Rao, our group got to go inside the tomb before it opened to the public. The structure is 156 ft tall on each side and capped with a dome 144 ft in diameter.  At each of the four corners of the cube is a dome-capped octagonal tower seven stories high with a staircase inside. The upper floor of each opens on to a round gallery which surrounds the dome, in which there is the famous whispering walk.  Basically, the slightest echo transmits a very audible sound all throughout the cap of the dome. Amounting to 18,000 sq ft, the mausoleum has one of the biggest single chamber spaces in the world!  Since we were able to go so early in the morning, it was nice and quiet.  Additionally, I was able to witness one of the most beautiful sunrises of my life.

 There she stands..

 A view of the staircase chamber

 Bijapur from the top

 I'm telling you, beautiful

This is me (1) trying to capture a moment (2) trying to be artsy

Just before we left the Gol Gumbaz, we came across these folks

I am told they were looking at a turtle in the dirt

All I could look at was the Indian-Carrot-Top..

The rest of the afternoon was traveling to Hospet; that is where the rest of our trip would be.

So if the little cottages in Badami were amazing, the place we stayed at in Hospet (the Malligi Hotel) was beyond spectacular. First, there was a pool. Second, there was a pool.. Third, the dining was amazing. Fourth, I had hot showers (3 days in a row!). Fifth, I ate pancakes for breakfast... Sixth, I gained 50 pounds. End of story. Oh.. and there was a pool.

So, below are some photos of Hampi.  Hampi is about 9km from Hospet and was the main attraction of our trip up to northern Karnataka.  Basically, Hampi is a beautiful ancient town that became home to the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565.  It is made up of several temples and courtyards and enclosures (for the royalty of the empire that dominated for over two hundred years).  The whole area was destroyed though by the Muslim confederacy, thus has been excavated and restored over the last 40+ years.  Honestly, the three days we spent there were incredible - everything was so beautiful and remarkable. It was neat to walk through the buildings (or ruins of buildings) that stood home to a significant empire not too long ago.

 Virupaksha Temple

Stood prior to the Vijayanagara Empire

 Hampi Gypsies 

 Corny Meditation Pose

 Joseph looking pensive outward on Hampi landscape

 Sherry soaking everything in

 ...let's just say we held our bladders

 I was blessed by this temple elephant

Basically, that consisted of placing a rupee in his trunk and then having his trunk swing up and rest on the back of my head

No big deal, I guess..

 Along the Tungabhadra river

 Things are just built right into the rocks, which made things beautiful to explore

 The Vitthala Temple and the Stone Chariot

*creeper alert*

Kid Rock decided to join us too....

 Old Bazaar Stands

Bazaar means market

 The Kings Balance 

This was used on ceremonial days, where scales were hung from the transom and the Raya (or the emperor) was ceremonially weighed against gold or jewels. The treasure were then distributed to Brahmins 

 Krishna Bazaar

 Narasimha Temple/Statue

 The Landscape; the mountains are what really got me

 Brie and me, with the land Dr. Rao excavated behind us

 I needed a picture with Suresh, our amazing van driver

 The Lotus Mahal

 Zanana Enclosure

 An Elephant Stable

Unfortunately there were no elephants to see inside..

 The famous Rangamahal (or aqueduct)

 The group looking out at the Royal Enclosure Area

They are standing on top of the Kings' old performance space

We left Hampi on Saturday, made the long drive back to Hubli to catch another late over-night train, and then arrived back in Mysore the morning of October 2nd.  It is (1) hard to believe it is October (2) more difficult to fathom my Junior Fall semester is two weeks from over (as far as academics are concerned) and (3) good to be back in a place I feel like is home: Mysore.  Although the trip was amazing, it is always nice to come back to something familiar. Even if that is a cold bucket shower.