A Day in the Life

So, I'd like to keep this blog going, but not too much has been happening lately. I mostly keep to myself, as I mentioned in my previous post. I have to keep a journal each day to turn in with my final project, so here is an excerpt from yesterday:
25 Nov 2009
It was my first day visiting Sajeeva at his house. I left the hostel at 7am, and had no trouble at all finding a rickshaw driver who knew exactly where I needed to go (they often just pretend) and used the meter. When he dropped me off, I wasn’t exactly sure which way to go. The directions Sajeeva had given had not been clear on this point. However, I found it without any problems whatsoever. For me, this was a small miracle.
We went over the seven charkas today, then he explained and had me practice Nithya Dhyaan, an intense meditation technique outlined by his master, Paramahamsa Nithyananda. It has 5 different parts. The first is intense and chaotic breathing, meant to over-oxygenate the system and energize it; the chaotic breathing is for interrupting patterns in the mind. Second is intense humming, also meant to interrupt patterns and thought processes. Third is focus on each individual chakra. Then, sitting silent and unclenched. Sajeeva explained that thoughts, by nature, are unconnected, but the mind finds ways to connect them, turning them into something they are not. An example given is that you may have a happy childhood memory of eating ice cream, and therefore always connected the act of eating ice cream to the emotion of happiness. It just doesn’t make sense if we look at experiences and thoughts in their individual state. So, sitting “unclenched” means to accept the thoughts as they occur, but do not connect them to each other or anything else. Finally, the last part is listening to mantras being chanted; it is believed that the vibrations alone can make a being more pure and blissful.
The first two parts require that you sit with your knees folded underneath you, your butt resting on your heels. Sajeeva had me put a pillow under my knees so that I would be more comfortable.
As I practiced the first part, the over-oxygenation made the muscles in my hands and face a little stiff (I have experience this before, so it was not as scary as the first time). But as I transitioned into the humming, I was able to relax and focus. I barely even noticed the pain in my lower body. When I went to sit cross-legged for the third part, however, my feet fell asleep so intensely I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. So, I basically skipped the chakra part because I could not stop fidgeting and thinking about how terrible my feet felt. By the time that section was over, however, I could feel my feet again and completed the rest of the session without any problems. Sajeeva gave me the CD (it’s guided meditation) and told me to practice each day. He also said that I should build up to sitting through the first to parts on my knees, because it isn’t worth do if I am uncomfortable.
Once I got back, I read some more of The Zen of Creativity, which I have realized is the perfect book for my project. It doesn’t specifically talk about “yoga,” but all of the concepts are the same and the idea is the application of ideas like awareness and stillness to creativity.
I also wrote quite a bit, and edited some other pieces. When I first started, I was concerned that the subject matter should always somehow be directly related to India or this project, but I have abandoned this concern. I have just been writing about whatever comes up for me, and focusing more on exploring what happens in a single moment.

I am enjoying this quiet time. Sometimes I get caught up in worrying that I am not doing "enough," or that I am "wasting" time. But if I don't label it, I understand that I am just happy, and doing what I need to do right now. That being said, I am still so excited to be HOME!! I have awhile, but I figure once my mom gets here and we travel a bit, it will fly by. 

 

hhhmmm

I was just reading over my older blog posts and realized how many TYPOS I make! Why didn't anybody tell me? Geez...I apologize, some things don't even make sense.

Anyhoo...I really just wanted to put up a belated reminder for those of you on facebook: I have put up lots of pictures from my 3 week adventure, so take a look!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136327&id=512136680&l=a872f5c44f

Nothing doing

So, the big question...what have I been up to?
Well, really, absolutely nothing. And its been great.

I've been "working" on my final project, which basically involves doing whatever I want. I read a little, do some yoga and meditation, and read poetry and stories and then write. All things I would probably do if I always got my way.
I met with my guru, Sajeeva, once last week and we discussed karma, a conversation that led me to the conclusion that I SHOULD just live in the woods and read and write and make art and garden and go hiking and swimming etc. I mean, who really needs money? It's better for my karma, folks!


Haha...I'm only half serious.

I have more time to myself than I know what to do with, which is making me think a lot about past and future, kind of defeating the purpose of my project. So, Sajeeva has been e-mailing techniques that help me stay in the present and focus on my writing. He sends a new one almost everyday, which is wonderful. It is almost like playing a game: "Let's see how long I can stare at the sky without blinking..."
I hopefully meeting with him again today so we can discuss how these meditations are working and not working.
I'm also (sort of) helping organize a conference V-LEAD is having this weekend about response to natural disasters. I was assigned the job of introducing each speaker at the conference, which involves reading a long list of reasons why this person is so distinguished, so you should really listen to what he has to say. It isn't exactly what I had in mind when I signed up for the "technical" crew, but I can't get out of it. I already tried, and I'm stuck. I haven't had to do that much yet, but then again, I haven't really ventured out of the hostel enough to find out.

Thus is my daily existence. Call it pathetic if you will, but I'm having a grand time. My question is, how will I return to the real world?

Udaipur in photos

View of lake and ghats from our hotel balcony.

 

Udaipur as seen from the City Palace.

Below: pictures from inside the techni-colored City Palace.

 

We also went on a horse ride in the country outside of Udaipur.

This is Lakshmi, the very stubborn and hungry horse I rode.

 

So, after hours and hours of travel, I made it back to Mysore last Saturday. I am here for another month working on a final project. I am working with a spiritual teacher who gives me techniques to help me stay in the present moment that may help me with writing. I am so glad to be back! You never realize how much you like a place until you leave it...my bed has never been so comfortable, the food has never been so tasty, and Mysore has never looked more beautiful! 

Why I Never Made it to the Taj Mahal and Other Adventures

Hello from Udaipur! This place is beautiful, one of the most beautiful I have visited. The city surrounds a lake, and in the center of the lake is a huge white palace, where they filmed part of Octopussy (the James Bond movie). Our hotel room overlooks part of the lake and the city, which just seems like buildings stacked on top of each other, clamoring for the best lake view. Udaipur is a city of rooftop restaurants...and therefore a city of stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. I basically get winded on my way to lunch everyday, but its okay. Walking and climbing stairs is about the only form of exercise I'm getting at the moment, so I'll take it. Anyway, let's rewind.
After another night bus ride (ugh) from Mcleod Ganj, my friend Megan and I made our way over to the Delhi Domestic Airport to meet up with our friend, Anne, who was flying in from Mumbai. Our hostel guranteed free airport pick-up, so we called the hostel and eventually got picked up by Francesco, an enthusiastic Italian who started the hostel with his Indian friend. As we waited for Anne, he explained that he had moved to Delhi to start a restaurant with his friend, but had such an awful time find a decent place to stay, they put the restaurant on hold and created a place where international travelers could stay and feel comfortable. They had only opened three weeks before we got there, so some kinks were still being ironed out, but it was WONDERFUL. It was clean, they served free breakfast and free pasta and beer in the evenings, HOT SHOWERS, flush toilet, free access to the kitchen, free filtered water, free tea and coffee...we kind of never wanted to leave. It kind of reminded me of a Real World house, in terms of decor, and everyone we met was so happy to be there after such difficulty everywhere else, that we all just wanted to sit around a relax. I met a lot of cool people, some in India for a few weeks, some for months, like us, others who were traveling the world for an entire year. It was interesting to hear everyone else's experiences.
Anyway, we did get out of the hostel a little bit, and into Delhi. The day we got there, we were planning on a day trip to the Taj Mahal for the next day, so we went a purchased train tickets for 6:15am. When we got back to the hostel, we asked Francesco to call us a cab, telling him about our plans. He replied, "But didn't you know? The Taj is closed on Fridays." WHAT??!? Very frustrated. Everyone reassured us that we could make our way to the train station to get some of our money back and get a new ticket, but we decided we would just be losing money either way because of the taxi ride there and back. So on Friday, instead, we planned to go to the Delhi zoo, which we realized, once we got there, is also closed on Fridays. Okay, Plan C. We visited this old fort, Purana Qila, which was interesting, but is really just treated as a make-out park for young Indian couples escaping their parents' watchful eyes.
Afterwards, we walked to an ALL AMERICAN DINER for lunch. Lame, I know, but I must confess, I almost cried when I my peanut butter malt hit my tastebuds. It was so satisfying. We ended up sitting there for hours, because they never brought us the bill, and discussed our Taj Mahal options. We could go the next day, but we could only stay for a couple of hours once we got there or risk missing our night train to Udaipur. (Trains around the Delhi area are notoriously late.) A guy from the hostel suggested to cancel our night train and Udaipur hotel, and go stay in Agra for a day and night, and buy a new ticket to Udaipur. This also risked losing quite a bit of money and risking not being able to make it to Udaipur because most trains are full far in advance. It just seemed to be a lot of trouble and stress, and we all decided it would be best not to go. It may be lame, and a lot of people from the hostel tried to make us feel bad, ("It's a wonder of the world! It is worth all the trouble! I can't believe you are not even going to try!") but I really don't feel bad at all. Hopefully, I'll see it before I die, but until then, I am confident that I have seen some other incredible things here in India, things I've enjoyed immensely because I wasn't worried about leaving the whole time I was there.
Well, it is time for me to go. I'm about to go hop on a horse for a ride in the countryside. Wish me luck!

Blissful in the Himalayas

Just wanted to check in and say hello! Mcleod Ganj has been treating me wonderfully...getting away from the bustle and pollution of cities, eating lots of vegetables, going to bed early, hiking through some mountains...I'm feeling wonderful! Back to Delhi tomorrow on a night-bus, though.
Megan and I have seen the Dalai Lama TWICE so far, once yesterday evening and once this morning, though he was only passing in a car along with his large entourage. Although it wasn't a talk or anything, it was still thrilling and surreal seeing such a well-known face in real life! The energy was palpable as people would line up alongside the road, burning incense, excitedly looking for a sign of his arrival. We just happened to be in the right place in the right time twice. Also, I found out later that the man we saw going into a school that I posted about previously was His Holiness the Karmapa, second in status to the Dalai Lama. Such an exciting place! I'm a little sad to be leaving this little mountain-side town...we've been taking it pretty easy. Breakfast at the same place every morning, shopping (perhaps a little too much), hiking, then lunch on a rooftop or terrace overlooking the mountains, reading on the roof of our hotel, then a visit to the temple, dinner, then more reading snuggled up in the big comforters on our beds and the yak wool shawls we've bought. But tomorrow, back to the real India, the chaotic, rushed, crazy India that I've come to see as home. It will be strange to go back to the comforts of Virginia...but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. Although this place is amazing, if nothing else it has made me realize how much I love my home.

From Big to Little

Greetings from beautiful Mcleod Ganj, home to the Dalai Lama, who is HERE! But I doubt I'll get to see him. There is a certain excitement hanging in the air, though, brought only through his presence in this beautiful place.

Ok, so I last left you in wonderful Goa. Anne and I hopped on a plane to Mumbai to meet up with her best friend's parents, who asked to be called Auntie and Doctor Uncle. They graciously invited me to stay during my time in Mumbai, which I was SO grateful for because I would have been terrified to set foot in the city otherwise. Upon arrival, Auntie immediately quizzed us about what we wanted to eat, pizza?, and asked a lot of questions about why we haven't been eating meat. She was very confused, shaking her head and saying, "So sad." She ended up ordering tons of food, including chicken biryani, which was all very good. Anne and I were exhausted from another long day of traveling, though, so we were grateful when Auntie laid out some mattresses for us to sleep on. The next day, Anne's friend's boyfriend, Adi, took us out to see some highlights of Mumbai. The family has a car and a driver, so we rode in the comfortable air-conditioning to the southern part of the city, visiting the Queen's Necklace, which are buildings surrounding a water inlet that look like a shimmering necklace when lit up at night, as well as the Gateway of India, the Taj Mahal hotel (where last year's terrorist attacks occured), a museum (Anne's favorite), and the Hanging Gardens, which was a beautiful park on the other side of the Queen's Necklace. It was great to see such a beautiful side of Mumbai, because what is usually projected on television is the slums. Of course, they make up a huge percentage of Mumbai, but I'm glad I got to see more of the city than just that. Adi was a wonderful tour guide...I wouldn't have found better on my own. It was so hot, though, we were exhausted by the time we got back to Auntie and Doctor Uncle's apartment, and I ended up taking a long nap. When I woke up, Auntie took Anne and me out to dinner, where I tried pani puri, the first thing that has made my eyes water here. Pani puri is just a little tiny puri (basically puffed, fried bread) with a little hole poked in the top so it is like a little bowl that holds this tamirind/chickpea liquid. You are supposed to put the whole thing in your mouth at once, but that causes some of the spicy liquid to go down your throat before it hits your tongue. It was DELICIOUS though, and I have wanted more ever since.
VERY early the next morning, Auntie drove me to the airport so I could hop a plane to Delhi, where my friend Megan was waiting. She'd had a very bad experience with the taxi her hotel provided her with to get to the airport (he pulled over on a deserted road and demanded money from her, although her taxi was supposed to be included in her room fee, and then ditched her at the airport) and we headed back to the hotel and complained. So we got free breakfast and got to stay way past check-out time. We de-stressed by watching TV, munching on some great eggs, and sipping tea. We left late in the afternoon to find an invisible bus stop for our ride to McLeod Ganj. It took us FOREVER to figure out where the bus would stop because, as I said, it was not marked. So we found a guy with a suitcase in the general vicinity we thought it was in, bought a grapefruit bigger than my head, and waited for the bus. Eventually, more people started showing up and we realized we were in the right place. They FINALLY got us on a bus at around 5pm, but we literally drove aimlessly around Delhi for about 2 more hours. It was confusing and frustrating, but we eventually got on the road. No one vomited on this ride, but it was way bumpier: I think I have bruises on my elbows from them hitting the armrests. After about 12 hours, and maybe 2 hours of sleep, I woke up suddenly, freezing, and found myself in the mountains. Hotels here do not take reservations in advance, so Megan and I set off to search for a few hotels that had been recommended to us. (This place is tiny, so it is not as bad as it sounds.) We wandered aimlessly for awhile, and eventually passed the chorten (kind of a Buddhist temple), which is in the middle of the town, and a little, old Tibetan woman saw us and said, "Come." So, we followed her, to a hotel, and she gave us chai. It is a wonderful little room with a balcony and a view, but we are going to search for something a little bit cheaper for tomorrow. This place is SOOOOOOO beautiful, I could easily see myself staying for a while. Unfortunately, we only have a few days then it is back to dirty, mean Delhi to meet up with Anne again. Hopefully, before I leave, I'll post again about McLeod Ganj. So far, it is great. We got breakfast, banana honey porridge and ginger tea with real, huge pieces of ginger in it, met a few people from Australia with recommendations for hikes around the area, and saw someone really important get out of a car and ushered into a Tibetan school by a bunch of guards. I'm not sure who it was, but he shook a girl's hand and she started sobbing (with joy). I'm excited for what the next few days will bring!

(So far, I've covered almost the whole length of India. Ah!)

Hello from paradise!

Greetings from Anjuna beach, Goa! aka heaven on earth. Getting here was a bit miserable, however: three hour train ride, a fourteen-hour night bus ride (something like the knight bus in Harry Potter, but accompanied by vomiting Indians), and two more bus rides to get to the beach, the last one bedecked in shimmering tinsel and  blaring Hindi rap as Anne and I were literally shoved on by the door slamming behind us, it was so packed full. But once I reached the beach, that was all behind me. It is easy to forget the real world here in Goa. Ever since my arrival on Sunday, I have just been lounging around on the beach, eating when I want to, swimming when I want to, reading, journaling, napping...it is almost too luxurious to handle. I actually had second thoughts about continuing on to other places in India. Yesterday, we rented mopeds and scooted around Goa a little bit, which was a blast.

It was so freeing, flying down back country roads, lined with palm trees, the ocean in the distance. It is beautiful here. The beach I'm at has tons of other tourists, but that just means the food is better (but also more expensive). Since arriving, I've had pizza, a REAL cheese, lettace, tomato sandwich, fish and the BEST calamari last night, and french toast for breakfast this morning! After we finish this internet time, Anne and I are heading to the beach for some shell-searching and, of course, lounging in the sun (insert happy sigh here). Tomorrow is our last day in Goa; we're going to the famous Anjuna market in the morning, then hopping on a plane for Mumbai in the evening. One of Anne's best friends is from Mumbai, and her parents have invited us to stay for a bit. I was a bit nervous at first about visiting such a large metropolis, but a friend from this program has spent the past few days in Mumbai, and told me today over the phone that it is a great city, so I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully I'll be able to post from there as well, so stay tuned!

North Karnataka continued and my computer!

Yes! It's true! My laptop has finally made it home to me, after hours of travel. Of course, it couldn't be that easy...I think I blew up my charger. I'm not really sure how, because it was plugged into a converter which was plugged into surge protector...but it is no longer working. I don't know. Perhaps I am magnetic or radioactive or I'm actually a X-man and my power is destroyer of electronics. Anyhow, the professor here from Iowa has a few extra Mac chargers, and he has let me borrow one of his for the time being. (I'm praying to the laptop gods that I don't destroy his as well.)

Well, let me just go through a few highlights of the rest of the Northern Karnataka tour, since I never got around to finishing my tale.

After Badami, we traveled to Bijapur, a city in which the majority religion is Islam. So our first stop was Ibrahim Rouza, a tomb/mosque. The weather was wonderful, and truthfully we all just enjoyed being outside after our bumpy, frantic four hour bus ride. What I'm trying to say is, nobody really learned that much about Ibrahim Rouza...but it was beautiful nonetheless!

Right after Ibrahim Rouza, we went to visit Gol Gumbaz, known for its Whispering Dome, which we would visit the next morning. Our visit that evening was the simply sit in front of it, sipping chai, in awe of its splendor. I think it is either the second or fourth largest dome in the world...and quite a sight to behold. I could even fit it all into the picture, obviously. This is some of us, sipping chai and waiting for the sun go down so we could watch it slowly be illuminated by spot-lighting. (Does that even make since?)

A minaret at Gol Gumbaz, by moonlight.

 

A shot from our van on the streets of Bijapur:

 

In my last post, I mentioned further hotel drama. That night, after visiting Ibrahim Rouza and Gol Gumbaz, the power went out in our hotel room as my roommate and I were brushing our teeth. I spit in the sink and ran to the window to let some light in. As I drew back the curtain, the rod fell right on my face, on my eye, to be exact, and approximately 45 seconds later, the power came back on. My eye turned very red, slightly purple, and swollen. I got some ice for it, and emerged the next morning with only a sore nose. So, it wasn't that bad, just another hotel injury.

The next day we were off the Hampi, land of the boulders. We spent three nights at a lovely hotel in nearby Hospet, whose restaurant had the best garlic naan I've ever had. Hampi, though, was AMAZING. The city built there, Vijayanagar, was built out of slabs cut from the boulders that litter the landscape. Very Universal Studios. My favorite parts of Hampi:

1. Feeding the Virupaksha Temple and feeding Lakshmi, the elephant, some bananas.

 

2. Walking along the old bazaar and along the river, looking at the old temples tucked amongst boulders.

3. Climbing Matanga Hill at 5:30am to watch the sunrise over the mountains. We sat on top of the temple that rests on top of the hill and overlooks all of Hampi.

 

 Other Hampi highlights:

a Lamani tribal woman (about to spit, no less)

 

Narasimha, lion/man incarnation of Vishnu aka supercool

 

So, of course I couldn't leave Hospet without one more hotel saga. On second day in Hampi/Hospet, I wasn't feeling well all day. At dinner, my friend and I ordered Gobi Manchurian (basically fried cauliflower) and I thought I was going to vomit. Which I did...later that evening. Several times. All over the bathroom because the toilet would not flush properly and I had no choice but the aim for the sink, and then a bucket. I was feeling so sick, I couldn't figure out how to clean it up, and promised myself as I crawled back into bed for the final time that I would wake up before my roommate and clean it up. Unfortunately, she beat me to it, and ended up calling someone to assist us clean (aka clean while I suffered in bed and she comforted me). I stayed in bed the next day, still feeling ill, and missed our last morning of site visits in Hampi. Luckily, once we got on the van to head to the train station, I seemed to have rid my body of all fluids and therefore had nothing else to expel. By the time we reached Mysore the next morning, I was feeling much better and grateful to be home. (Home...haha..I guess that is what it is now.)
Overall the trip was wonderful, barring my own personal issues. I'm leaving for my own independent travel on Saturday, and I am hoping to have better luck. More on my travel plans later!

More pictures!

For those of you on Facebook, check out the HUNDREDS of pictures I have put up...seriously, some of them are worth it.
For those who are not on Facebook, don't worry, I know one day, eventually, I'll find a few minutes to get serious and post again.

Northern Karnatka tour: Badami

Finally! A post!
So, all last week, the 18th through the 26th, our group traveled to three different cities in northern Karnataka (the state we live in) to see some sites. Our program director, Dr. Rao, is the former director of the Archaelogical Survey of India, and I think he likes to show off the work he and his officers put in to preserving ancient sites as well as their museums.
As there is so much to tell, I'm going to write three separate posts for each place, to save myself a little time.

Our first destination was Badami, just a night-train ride away. The train we rode had compartments (designated by a curtain) with either four bunks or two bunks; two below, two above, etc. On the train ride there, I was assigned a top bunk, which you have to be pretty limber to get to. You have to literally climb your way up. After awkwardly heaving my way up onto the bunk, it was pretty comfortable, and I slept well. In the class we rode, there is AC and they give you sheets, a blanket, and a pillow. Feeling pretty luxurious, I allowed the train's rocking to lull me to sleep.
It was still dark out when someone stuck their head in our curtain and yelled "HUBLI!" which was our stop. Half asleep, we all lumbered out of bed, until somehow we were told we only had five minutes to get off the train. That woke us up. Everyone clambered onto the platform, still sleepy-eyed and slightly confused, but all in one-piece.

At Hubli, we met our driver for a three hour drive to Badami, where we would see some ancient rock-cut caves, used as temples. Badami is a small, dusty town, but our hotel was nice and had a pool. After unloading our luggage, we made our way to the caves. They were so much more than I expected. Dating to around 7th century AD, the "caves" are carved in the sides of red sandstone cliffs, with beautiful, incredibly detailed sculptures inside. There are four caves at Badami, the first dedicated to Shiva. Its specialty is the sculpture of Shiva with nine hands, the most out of any known sculpture of Shiva. Each of his hands is in a Bharathnatyam position, and the different combinations of hands represent different dance steps.
The second cave was dedicated to Vishnu, which had my favorite carving: Vishnu with one leg and one arm pointed into the sky. It represents a story about Vishnu about to destroy the earth...something...not totally sure...I just liked it because because it looked like a ballet position.

The third cave was another Shiva cave, and the fourth, with the best view of the lake below, was a Jain temple. Now, Jain monks are always naked, so all the carvings of people in the temple are naked. There used to be different steps and a wall separating the Jain temple from the Hindu temples so that the Hindu worshippers (especially the women) would not have to be exposed to the naked Jain monks.

The view from the caves was beautiful; they overlooked a lake, surrounded by weathered sandstone cliffs, dotted with other temples. There were women down on the ghats (stairs) along the lake doing laundry, their blue pink green orange yellow saris spread out to dry, creating one, huge patchwork blanket. Children were screaming as they jumped off rocks into the water; lime-washed huts, blinding white in the sun, lined an edge of the lake. It was a beautiful day.

The next day, we woke up early to hike to a prehistoric cave at Shidaphadi. Actually, it is more of a natural bridge than cave. It is an archway, hollowed out by wind and rain, I guess. The ground is littered with arrowheads and there are cave paintings on the wall. We climbed around the rocks for a while, enjoying the cool morning before the sun got hot, then continued on to a Shivite temple complex, Mahakuta. The hike there was surprisingly strenuous, with some serious rock climbing. A few people, including me, took a few spills on the way there, but no harm done. Once we finally arrived at Mahakuta, we were greeted by Sindhu (our wonderful program coordinator aka Mom), who fed us a much needed breakfast in some much needed shade.
Afterwards, we toured the small temple complex, which has been my favorite so far, set around a sacred pool and courtyard with huge, shady trees with impossibly long limbs. All the deities and little temples along the periphery seemed well-loved, their black surfaces dotted with tilaks (the red, or other colored, dots, symbolizing blessing).

The BEST part was our swim in the spring-fed sacred pool. The water was the perfect temperature, and some of the clearest I've ever swum in. It didn't even seem like the sediment on the bottom could cloud it completely. A Shivite priest showed us a "secret" temple in the corner of the pool, that you have to swim under the wall to get to. It is a tiny tiny little space, and the hold in the wall has a shiva lingam and two other deities you are supposed to bless with water. When I leaned in the hole to give blessing, however, I was pretty sure I saw a snake, so I quietly got out of there as quickly as possible.
After the pool at Mahakuta, we took a short ride to Pattadakal, kind of an "experiment," I guess, in temple architecture, as it combines both Northern and Southern temple architectural styles of the time (7th century AD). Pattadakal is considered to be some of the finest examples of temple architenture in India, and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987. Poor Pattadakal, though; after the wonderful, shady bliss of the sacred pool, nothing they could have shown us stood any chance of holding our attention, save, perhaps, a cheeseburger (I speak for myself). Alas, there were only statues of cows; but the heat really did get to everyone, and our attention spans waned. We were all happy to get back to the hotel and have the rest of the afternoon off before traveling to Aihole and Bijapur the next day. The night before we left, however, I got a pretty serious electric shock from touching a wall in the shower, which freaked me out, needless to say: I brushed it with my finger and my hand contorted involuntarily. I wasn't sure if it was just a bizarre muscle twitch, so (stupidly) I touched the wall again, and felt an electric current shoot up my arm and twinge the base of my neck. I came out of the bathroom, in shock, and warned my roommate not to take a shower. I was glad to leave the next day, hoping for no more accidents (DUN DUN DUUUN...more to come later...)

PICTURES WILL BE UP (HOPEFULLY) VERY SOON! COMPUTERS HATE ME AND REFUSE TO POST MY PHOTOS.
Update: I dropped off my laptop in Bangalore (a journey which deserves a post to itself) at an iStore. It is completely fixable, my computer is under warranty, and all should be well in 4 or 5 days, so they tell me. AHH! So close!

On tomorrow's menu: temples of Aihole, and Ibrahim Rouza and Gol Gumbaz of Bijapur. Plus, another hotel saga. Stay tuned!