hazy in hampi

hi all!

good to see some new posts! thanks for the pics of all the snow and the little ones. i love eva's valentine to uncle pete! erin thanks for the picture of riley - he's even bigger than he was a couple of months ago; i guess babies do that.

hampi right now. it's hot. it's really really hot. the travel book says this place is "chilled out". it's more like a vortex of sloth. i have been here 5 days among some ruins and boulders and i have not seen one temple or really done anything constructive! i've been laying around in this pavillion and gone swimming in a lake. which sounds really nice but it's frustrating not to have any energy to go see these ruins and temples. also there are tons and tons of westerners, which is nice and comfortable and social and all, but when i come to places like this, i feel like i've left india, and i'm looking forward to going back to india!

also both kate and i got sick from some food the other day. she was vomiting and i had it from the other end. so we laid around moaning in bed all day yesterday. today we are determined to see a temple. although a nap sounds really good right now!!

tomorrow we're going to a tibetan settlement. when i was in amaravati (my first stop) a tibetan lady told me i should come visit her town. so i'm going to. after this touristy place, i'm looking forward to seeing a town that's not even listed in the lonely planet!

after that i am the luckiest girl in the world and my friend from the yoga ashram has offered to teach me a ten day intensive course in ayurveda (indian holistic medicine) and ayurvedic massage. there were supposed to be some other people doing it, but they backed out. so i'm going 20 hours south on a train, which is a way to backtrack, but it's also one heck of an opportunity. plus i get to go back to kerala.

kerala, i miss that place. i still think that indians are very warm and friendly people, but am learning that this is much more true in kerala. now i know why people told me it was an easy place to travel! plus the food there is amazing! everything comes with fresh coconut chutney, and i could go on and on.

anyway, that's it for now - keep up the posts, it's so nice to feel connected when i log on to the blog and see your comments and pics!

ps to rach - 1. NICE PICTURE! 2. what is curling? 3. i'm pretty sure i'm going to thailand, just not sure exactly when - maybe june, july.....so keep some vacay time for me!!