HELLO WORLD! (Or the small percentage of people reading this)
HUGE UPDATE
(please excuse my typos, I'm fairly tired at the moment)
Back in Mysore and things have been a bit slow going after the week-long trip up to the northern part of Karnataka. Can you believe that it's already October 5th? It's crazy that the half way point of the semester is approaching and so much to catch up on.
If you're curious about the stops we made on our journey (links below):
Badami Caves
Mahakuta
Pattadakal
Aihole
Bijapur
Ibrahim Rouza
Gol Gumbaz
Hampi
Vijayanagara Empire
The first leg of the journey started around 9pm at the Mysore train station. There were tons of people all boarding the Mysore-Hubli train, including ten excited American students with their Indian tour guide. We all had a backpacks strapped tightly on our backs as we boarded the sleeper train.
As you can see to the left, I got the top bunk (which ended up being better because when your on the bottom bunk next to the aisle people tend to bump you when you're trying to sleep).
Upon arrival in Badami we settled into our hotel and were going to rest but then we realized that there were too many beautiful rocks to climb:
Nina Sarah Laura
Proving that we could do yoga with our typical and corny poses.
See that red road to the right? ----->
That leads to our hotel :D
I was attempting to do the praying mantis move. It just ended up looking like a derp dinosaur.
Badami Caves
Leaving the bus, we were told not to take backpacks which was an odd request. We soon found out that we should have taken their advice. The monkeys here are highly habituated and like to steal things (including Jake's water bottle which he eventually got back- luckily).
The caves, like most of the temples we visited, were impressively carved directly from the stone.
Some skilled ancient Indians indeed.
This town that was nestled in the valley bellow the Badami caves. It was nice to see such a simple little town. There were cobblestone roads lined with rows upon rows of white houses.
Outside one of the building I sat down just to take break from the heat and was bombarded by people who shoved babies into my lap to take some awkward photos with out anytime for me to react. I wonder what they are going to do with those photos...
Mahakuta Sacred Pool
This was our first swim since arriving in India and a very holy one indeed. It was surprisingly clean water.
There were only men in the pools but we balanced out the male to female ratio a bit.
The highlight was the mini man-made cave that we had swim under water to get to. There was an extension of the cave that lead to a dark mysterious pathway, but I was too much off a todd (for you Flammer family) to go down that way, instead going back to the pool.
AIHOLE
The next stop on our fantastically awesome (and hot) tour was Aihole, an ancient city that had a few goats to greet us. This one (to the left) was especially curious.
This place had breath taking views that gave us a different idea of India. Before this trip I was only exposed to large cities and largely populated towns. It was nice to be in agricultural lands and desert. Twas a pleasant change from the everyday life of Mysore.
What could we do instead of contemplating life and staring out into the beautiful views of Northern Karnataka...
Spelling party of course!
(AIHOLE)
Ibrahim Rouza
The next two series of pictures might be my favorite architecture seen on this trip. I'm a sucker for the symmetry and geometric aesthetics of the islamic art/architecture. These particular buildings, if I'm remember correctly, were built for a king and queen.
Gol Gumbaz:
Our group was offered a special early morning tour of this mosque. It is extra special for it's huge dome (or doom as pronounced by Indians) and the Whispering Gallery at the top. There is a special area at the top of the dome that we had to climb about 8 flights of steep stairs, which was worth it because of the echo. If you stand on one side of the dome people can hear you on the other side with ease. Even a simple sound made makes an eerie sound
It reminded me of the Dark Side of the Moon record.
Next stop was Hampi
and our hotel in Hospet
View outside of Kate and my hotel room. This photograph doesn't really do the hotel and view justice. This place is by far one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed at. There were shower heads with ACTUAL RUNNING HOT WATER.
We were told to close our windows because the monkeys might come into our rooms-
They weren't kidding.
Virupaksha Temple ^
The rest of these are pictures from Hampi which was gorgeous :)
Hazara Rama Temple
I'm so grateful for this trip, it was such a great experience that will be hard to forget.
Almost forgot to mention that the food was AMAZING, classy Indian dining. It was more expensive then what we were used to, but worth it. We even had grilled sandwiches, which is on my list of food to eat when I'm back in the US.
I miss people immensely and it's been hard to contact people, so if anyone wants to talk please drop me a line!
Have a great day!
HUGE UPDATE
(please excuse my typos, I'm fairly tired at the moment)
Back in Mysore and things have been a bit slow going after the week-long trip up to the northern part of Karnataka. Can you believe that it's already October 5th? It's crazy that the half way point of the semester is approaching and so much to catch up on.
 |
| Google Maps (I take no credit for this) |
Badami Caves
Mahakuta
Pattadakal
Aihole
Bijapur
Ibrahim Rouza
Gol Gumbaz
Hampi
Vijayanagara Empire
The first leg of the journey started around 9pm at the Mysore train station. There were tons of people all boarding the Mysore-Hubli train, including ten excited American students with their Indian tour guide. We all had a backpacks strapped tightly on our backs as we boarded the sleeper train.
As you can see to the left, I got the top bunk (which ended up being better because when your on the bottom bunk next to the aisle people tend to bump you when you're trying to sleep).
Upon arrival in Badami we settled into our hotel and were going to rest but then we realized that there were too many beautiful rocks to climb:
Proving that we could do yoga with our typical and corny poses.
See that red road to the right? ----->
That leads to our hotel :D
I was attempting to do the praying mantis move. It just ended up looking like a derp dinosaur.
 |
| Reach for the sky! |
 |
| Land Ho! |
 |
| King monkey receiving a groomin |
Leaving the bus, we were told not to take backpacks which was an odd request. We soon found out that we should have taken their advice. The monkeys here are highly habituated and like to steal things (including Jake's water bottle which he eventually got back- luckily).
The caves, like most of the temples we visited, were impressively carved directly from the stone.
Some skilled ancient Indians indeed.
This town that was nestled in the valley bellow the Badami caves. It was nice to see such a simple little town. There were cobblestone roads lined with rows upon rows of white houses.
Outside one of the building I sat down just to take break from the heat and was bombarded by people who shoved babies into my lap to take some awkward photos with out anytime for me to react. I wonder what they are going to do with those photos...
Mahakuta Sacred Pool
This was our first swim since arriving in India and a very holy one indeed. It was surprisingly clean water.
There were only men in the pools but we balanced out the male to female ratio a bit.
The highlight was the mini man-made cave that we had swim under water to get to. There was an extension of the cave that lead to a dark mysterious pathway, but I was too much off a todd (for you Flammer family) to go down that way, instead going back to the pool.
 |
| What's up? |
AIHOLE
The next stop on our fantastically awesome (and hot) tour was Aihole, an ancient city that had a few goats to greet us. This one (to the left) was especially curious.
This place had breath taking views that gave us a different idea of India. Before this trip I was only exposed to large cities and largely populated towns. It was nice to be in agricultural lands and desert. Twas a pleasant change from the everyday life of Mysore. | ||
| Joseph practicing Yoga outside of class [Yogi would be proud :')] |
What could we do instead of contemplating life and staring out into the beautiful views of Northern Karnataka...
Spelling party of course!
(AIHOLE)
Ibrahim Rouza
The next two series of pictures might be my favorite architecture seen on this trip. I'm a sucker for the symmetry and geometric aesthetics of the islamic art/architecture. These particular buildings, if I'm remember correctly, were built for a king and queen.
 |
| Beautiful arches! |
 |
| Can't figure out panoramic on my camera... |
Our group was offered a special early morning tour of this mosque. It is extra special for it's huge dome (or doom as pronounced by Indians) and the Whispering Gallery at the top. There is a special area at the top of the dome that we had to climb about 8 flights of steep stairs, which was worth it because of the echo. If you stand on one side of the dome people can hear you on the other side with ease. Even a simple sound made makes an eerie sound
It reminded me of the Dark Side of the Moon record.
 |
| BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE. |
Next stop was Hampi
and our hotel in Hospet
View outside of Kate and my hotel room. This photograph doesn't really do the hotel and view justice. This place is by far one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed at. There were shower heads with ACTUAL RUNNING HOT WATER.
We were told to close our windows because the monkeys might come into our rooms-
They weren't kidding.
 |
| Momma and Baby: See the light coming out of the mama monkey's bosom? Watch out, that's a feminist monkey that will zap away sexists with her bosom laser. |
 |
| Why hello Ganesh |
 |
| Blessing Elephant- it bumped people on the head to bless him/her, but for a small fee. We also fed it bananas and didn't mind eating the peel |
The rest of these are pictures from Hampi which was gorgeous :) |
| KINGFISHER! |
 |
| This creeper cow loved our group. Nina wasn't sure how to handle it. |
 |
| Aquaduct |
 |
| We learned that there was Persian Influence here. Just look at the mustache. |
 |
| Queens Bath |
And last but not least...
 |
| Suresh!!! Our wonderful bus driver rocking the sunglasses. Just look at that sass! |
Almost forgot to mention that the food was AMAZING, classy Indian dining. It was more expensive then what we were used to, but worth it. We even had grilled sandwiches, which is on my list of food to eat when I'm back in the US.
I miss people immensely and it's been hard to contact people, so if anyone wants to talk please drop me a line!
Have a great day!
