a little flesh, a little history

What a weekend! Spending 24 out of 60 hours on an Indian train is not the best weekend one can have, perhaps, but Saturday was one of those perfect days that comes along so rarely. Hampi was breathtaking--we saw lots of amazing ruins, gorgeous rock formations, etc., etc. We also found some great shopping in Hampi Bazaar, some terrible breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and a tolerable dinner in the restaurant bar. Some people found too much malt liquor in the bar as well; by the next morning we were all miserable from food poisoning, hangovers, or both. Needless to say, Sunday was a bit more relaxed; we went back to Hampi Bazaar, revisited a couple of the more scenic vistas, hung out by the river, and then had an early dinner at the Mango Tree. The restaurant was out in the middle of nowhere (an area we had christened 'the killing fields' because of an altercation we had had with a travel agent earlier in the day; we were sure we were going to get killed over 300 rupees, which would be laughably tragic). But, the restaurant was amazing--it was overlooking the river, under an ancient mango tree, and the 'chairs' were actually long, carved stone benches with built-in reclining backs. We relaxed at the Mango Tree, drank lots of Coke and ate lots of extremely tasty food, and then headed back to the hotel. We only kept one room for Sunday night since we were catching a 10:45pm train--and so the seven of us took turns showering whilst watching 'Rocky III' and then part of 'The Matrix' on tv. There is nothing better than cramming seven people into a room with two twin beds, one desk chair, and a questionably-stained couch while the steam from seven showers emanates from the bathroom. Awesome!

Getting back on the train was painful; there is nothing worse than using a squat toilet in a moving vehicle. I woke up around six a.m. and couldn't fall asleep, and so I listened to my ipod and watched the countryside until we arrived in Hyderabad around 10:45am. I took a quick shower at home, went to work, and was rather unproductive. Now I should go to sleep to make up for last night's sleeplessness. Pictures from Hampi are posted below!!