When giant monkeys roamed the land

The boulders stacked precariously on top one another lay before us in all directions. Each one looking as though it might topple at the slightest breath. They probably won't though...they've sat that way for thousands of years or longer. How they got there is quite simple realy. Facing invading forces, the monkey king, Bali and his crew began heaving the boulders in all directions to show their might and scare off the would-be invaders. Of course monkeys were alot bigger then....according to hindu mythology. We are in the village of Hampi, formerly the capitol of the Vijayanagar empire, formerly Kishkinda....the mythical monkey kingdom and home of Hanuman of Ramayana fame. After an 8 hour train ride accross the western ghatts and an over night in a dodgey hotel in Hospet we arrived in this magical, mythical place. After departing another over stuffed state bus we fell on our feet at the gopura (or gate way arch) to the Vapakshura Temple....the main temple in a town litterealy littered with ruins of temple after temple. Most date back at least 600 years. The 32 km2 area of the town is strewn with granite temples built amidst the surreal boulder stacks. Shiva temples, Krishna temples, Durga temples, Ganesh Temples, monolithic chariots, and on and on. We spent days exploring them all, climbing on top and arround, running into sadhu's with their chillums along the way. Our abode for a week was a lovely round, spacious hut that sat accross the river from the town. The way in which you cross said river has remained the same for the last 500 years...a little, round, bamboo boat. Our days were spent biking to the sweetwater lake, laying about the bed swing next to our hut and chilling with stone carvers from Manali. These guys tought us their trade and we gave them conversation. Right now i'm wearing a stone necklace Radka carved for me. We were invited to go with them to Manali in a few months but politely passed for now. I've also been blessed...by an elephant. And not just any elephant. Laxmi, the Temple Elephant! The way it works is this... you approach Laxmi, Rupee in hand and on cue Laxmi takes the Rupee, deposits it and then blesses you on the head with her trunk. You can't make this stuff up. We were into it in a "wow...that's really f-ing funny" kind of way but then you realize the old geezer behind you wraped in white has made a long pilgrimage to the holly city of Hampi for his elephant blessing. In fact, we felt that way quite often in Hampi. Travelers sharing the scene with religious pilgrims. We made a pilgrimage of our own up the 600 or so steps to the Hanuman Temple guarded, fittingly, by monkeys. Crazy Monkeys. Monkeys that don't give a shit what you were planning to do with the biscuits you were about to eat. Ahhh, but the view from the top....worth a hundred monkey attacks.
We decided a week was about right and have moved back to the coast to Palolem, Goa. Sun, sand, surf and saris. I had planned on posting more often but the interet connections have been crap....par for the course over here.