Weekend Trip to Hampi

Monday was Independence Day, so CIEE took the opportune long weekend to take my program on a trip to Hampi and nearby Badami! It was an exciting and exhausting weekend, with breath-taking landscapes, art-history informational overload, buffets for every meal, long bumpy bus rides, and lots of group bonding.  We took an overnight train on the way there, which was one of the most memorable parts of the journey. A group of us stayed up talking until we were certain that the whole train car hated us. I slept more comfortably than expected and when when I awoke, it was light out and the wilderness of India was zooming by out the window--truly incredible. The itinerary was packed full of site-seeing, shopping, eating out, seeing a traditional puppet show, visiting museums, and even attending a  private performance of Indian classical music. Though it may not have been the program's intention, one of the biggest things that I think many of us are taking away is the chance to see daily life in rural India, a stark contrast to what we have experienced in Hyderabad. Everyone was really intrigued to see this additional aspect of India-- different sects of Hindus worshiping deities at live temples, farmers selling their produce at a village's weekly market, and a local school's Independence Day ceremony. To me, these experiences are invaluable because I never could have found them in the same way from just opening a travel book and looking up Hampi and Badami.  Still, no one can deny that the focal point of this weekend was visiting ancient temples! Temples from different empires, with different architectural influences, made by different sects of Hindus, crafted out of different stones, and sometimes carved out of huge caves up the side of a mountain. We just went to SO MANY different temples that the intricate carvings and infinite rows of pillars are all blurring together in my mind. Luckily, my camera captured every moment! Here are the best pictures of the weekend... Enjoy!  [[Click on each picture to see it larger!]]

We saw SO many animals this weekend. Kittens being my favorite,
monkeys my least favorite (SO SCARY), and goats definitely most common.

Having too much fun

Absolutely beautiful.

The weekend's enthusiastic, knowledgeable, overwhelming tour guide

It wasn't as tastey as expected, but one thing to cross off our India bucket list. 

Gettin' silly

So many rooftop/mountain top views. And we had beautiful
weather all weekend... warm with a nice breeze. 

I keep forgetting to take pictures of food because I am so eager
to eat it. So these are the remnants of  our Rajastani lunch.

We spontaneously pulled over our huge AC bus and crashed a local
weekly market! It caused quite a commotion and was very memorable for us all.

We also crashed this local temple/bath.

Brother/Sister duo. The mark across their head shows that they
are the same sect of Hindus as my host family.

Common scene: Parent hands baby to student for a picture while
the baby gets increasingly uncomfortable

As always, there were beautiful children and I creepily took their pictures.

So many stairs. Good thing we were eating HUGE meals!

Me and Suz, duh.

The temple is all carved out of the cave in a mountain, no outside materials.

Ganesh- My Auntie's favorite deity

1 of 1980802314379823 beautiful temples of the weekend.

Not in Hyderabad anymore...

At least I asked if I could take this one.

Nom nom nom banana plantation.
[Photo stolen from Zoe]

Well aren't we cute.
[Photo stolen from Zoe]