on to hampi

well i have made it to hampi! i left my hotel in goa at 5:30am tuesday morning and arrived to my guesthouse in hampi around 12 hours later. it was a beautiful train ride, the first part was very jungle like and then once we left goa and entered karnataka (the state hampi is in) it became very flat. lot's of farming on the way, but no tractors they were using cows pulling these stick things to plough the fields.

goa was beautiful and it was hard to leave, i met allot of amazing people, locals as well as susi's friends. from what i've heard it's been a bad tourist season so far, which was nice for us in goa but not so good for the locals. but it did mean they had time to talk and you got to know them, a bit better. i will definitely return to goa i think in february before heading north for another visit. hampi so far is amazing, i've only had one day of sightseeing as i spent the first day just chilling at the guest house. it's allot quieter here, i am staying in a hut over looking some rice fields and the river. i have a bed swing outside my door, kinda like a hammock but it's wood, it's a perfect place to watch the sunset.... today i went in to hampi, it's just across the river, there is a little boat that takes you across (about 1 minute) for 10 rupees/0.25 cents. i went just wandered around on foot and walked through some amazing rock formations and ended up at some temples, i will post pics later, right now my camera battery is dead. i then wandered around hampi bazaar where all the stalls are and every one wants to sell you something. i was stopped by some young guys in one stall who wanted to know where i was from, and i ended up sitting with them for about an hour drinking chai talking about canada and the differences between canada and india. they were quite sweet, especially when they told me they wouldn't try and sell me anything. one of them is just visiting from rajistan i'm going to have dinner with him tonight to pick his brain about the north. he's only 23 and has never had alcohol or meat, not because of his religion but because he wants to keep his body pure. and he can't actually eat dinner tonight as he is fasting every thursday for the next 3 years. i asked him why and he said someone, i think his guru told him it would bring him good luck. travelling alone i am definitely meeting some interesting people, it seems more indians then tourists.