Just a Big Pile of Rocks
Hampi, Karnataka - February 28
It's been a bittersweet 10 days here. A year ago, I would've been WOWed and have never wanted to leave, but now... I appreciate it. Probably more than many a traveler judging by the amount of time we spend out + about. Many move through here quickly or spend days on end lazing around chatting and swimming. Those things are good too, but you can do that anywhere. How many times in your life will you be in a ruined 13th century city sited amidst a surreal, boulder-strewn landscape? We certainly spend time sitting + chatting too, but prefer to get out and do it in the boulders. BUT, my capacity to appreciate and really get into a place - especially where good architecture is concerned - is DEEP. We can spend an entire DAY at just ONE temple to really absorb it - the details, what it must have been like to be there in the day - so to have this feeling of "OK, another temple" just isn't sitting well with me. A place like Hampi is ONE OF A KIND, and I have the supreme fortune of being here... so, WHAT IS MY PROBLEM?!
For one, Hampi village (and even across the river) have turned into a tourist ghetto with the associated burger/ pizza/ felafel joints and stalls selling hippie-wear. As comfy as that may be, being comfy certainly isn't why I came to India. And even though the long string of guesthouses is sandwiched by rural villages + farmland, there's too much western influence. The sight of so much exposed skin (Even though I'd love to do it myself - it's HOT!) is both distressing and depressing to me. The locals certainly don't dress this way, so it doesn't surprise me that women walk past as though I were invisible. I find myself feeling ashamed at being lumped together with the rest because of the color of my skin.
Secondly, I think I'm a bit jaded now. I'm sure everyone has a different threshold for how long they can be satisfied with JUST traveling. I hit mine somewhere around Hanoi at about the year-and-a-half point. Darin was feeling the same. It was here that we stopped for a month and started looking for work we could feel good about. We did eventually find it and our work with Kiva + Maxima in Phnom Penh was a fantastic interlude. Three months later and we were on the move again, this time to India. We figured the shock of daily life there would reinvigorate us. In our first month here, besides Auroville + the Tiruvannamalai pilgrimage, we found ourselves complaining and arguing often. Once in Kerala though, the hospitality of the people and mellower rhythm of coastal life brought us around. A month later, and more sights + cities under my belt, I'm feeling saturated and irritable again.
But THIS IS IT! The tail end of my potentially once-in-a-lifetime. I refuse to let this 2-1/2 year long Asian Odyssey fizzle out like this! It's time to get out of here and start experiencing the REAL India - drinking in roadside chai stalls + eating at crowded dhabas - even IF everyone stares at us. See colorful festivals, the likes of which I've rarely seen elsewhere. At least that feels REAL. At least it feels like India. And it's the unique experiences that make coming here worth all the headache. It's why I returned.
What ELSE can I do? Maybe it's time to do something more personal - yoga, meditation, trekking. Right now, I crave, I NEED, something to help me prepare both mentally and physically for our inevitable stateside re-entry. I need to mix this in with the cultural so that I can more likely appreciate the magic of sites + experiences here as fully as I want. I don't want Hampi to be just a big pile of rocks when it's so much more.
To see what a magical place it is, check the "link" for more photos
It's been a bittersweet 10 days here. A year ago, I would've been WOWed and have never wanted to leave, but now... I appreciate it. Probably more than many a traveler judging by the amount of time we spend out + about. Many move through here quickly or spend days on end lazing around chatting and swimming. Those things are good too, but you can do that anywhere. How many times in your life will you be in a ruined 13th century city sited amidst a surreal, boulder-strewn landscape? We certainly spend time sitting + chatting too, but prefer to get out and do it in the boulders. BUT, my capacity to appreciate and really get into a place - especially where good architecture is concerned - is DEEP. We can spend an entire DAY at just ONE temple to really absorb it - the details, what it must have been like to be there in the day - so to have this feeling of "OK, another temple" just isn't sitting well with me. A place like Hampi is ONE OF A KIND, and I have the supreme fortune of being here... so, WHAT IS MY PROBLEM?!
For one, Hampi village (and even across the river) have turned into a tourist ghetto with the associated burger/ pizza/ felafel joints and stalls selling hippie-wear. As comfy as that may be, being comfy certainly isn't why I came to India. And even though the long string of guesthouses is sandwiched by rural villages + farmland, there's too much western influence. The sight of so much exposed skin (Even though I'd love to do it myself - it's HOT!) is both distressing and depressing to me. The locals certainly don't dress this way, so it doesn't surprise me that women walk past as though I were invisible. I find myself feeling ashamed at being lumped together with the rest because of the color of my skin.
Secondly, I think I'm a bit jaded now. I'm sure everyone has a different threshold for how long they can be satisfied with JUST traveling. I hit mine somewhere around Hanoi at about the year-and-a-half point. Darin was feeling the same. It was here that we stopped for a month and started looking for work we could feel good about. We did eventually find it and our work with Kiva + Maxima in Phnom Penh was a fantastic interlude. Three months later and we were on the move again, this time to India. We figured the shock of daily life there would reinvigorate us. In our first month here, besides Auroville + the Tiruvannamalai pilgrimage, we found ourselves complaining and arguing often. Once in Kerala though, the hospitality of the people and mellower rhythm of coastal life brought us around. A month later, and more sights + cities under my belt, I'm feeling saturated and irritable again.
But THIS IS IT! The tail end of my potentially once-in-a-lifetime. I refuse to let this 2-1/2 year long Asian Odyssey fizzle out like this! It's time to get out of here and start experiencing the REAL India - drinking in roadside chai stalls + eating at crowded dhabas - even IF everyone stares at us. See colorful festivals, the likes of which I've rarely seen elsewhere. At least that feels REAL. At least it feels like India. And it's the unique experiences that make coming here worth all the headache. It's why I returned.
What ELSE can I do? Maybe it's time to do something more personal - yoga, meditation, trekking. Right now, I crave, I NEED, something to help me prepare both mentally and physically for our inevitable stateside re-entry. I need to mix this in with the cultural so that I can more likely appreciate the magic of sites + experiences here as fully as I want. I don't want Hampi to be just a big pile of rocks when it's so much more.To see what a magical place it is, check the "link" for more photos
posted by Tami at 8:41 AM
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