I visited the climbing capitol of the south this weekend. Hampi is a small pocket of western culture mixed with Indian tradition that is found throughout Eastern Asia. Normally, I would be critical, but it seemed so well blended and quite frankly, nice to not be stared at for 3 days. It has been quite dull at the Tagore House lately; everyone is fed up with the unorganized, over-kill system that is Indian academia. It was just nice to get out.

The traveling was exciting, but I also felt quite at home in the cramped, unrefined, and stripped to the essentials, sleeper class of the train.

To get to my final destination, I took a motorbike, a train, a shared auto, a public bus, and a boat. It took about 18 hours but it was fun and I bought coconuts on the way.

Traveling alone is unlike anything else. It is so incredibly easy for unexpected things to occur; you can adapt so easily when you are not worrying about what everyone in the group is comfortable with. For example, I found it absurd to pay 20 Rs. for a 1 Km ride, so I walked, backpack and all. I am all about saving money wherever possible. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but if I do that even just twice, that’s a bottle of water, or even a cheap meal. That mindset also expands to other things, like taking a public bus for 13 Rs. rather than a private auto for 150 Rs. If I wasn’t in the mindset to save, I wouldn’t have tried to find a cheaper way. As I have said in past posts, however, I have incredible traveler’s luck.

Anyway, I got there and immediately found a place. Cheap, private, mosquito net included, and right on the river. I went walking down the strip, found a climbing shop, and inquired about the prices for renting equipment. The boy working there was incredibly sassy and hysterical. I asked him where HE liked to eat, and he pointed to a small hut with about 4 tables. It was, of course, delicious and cheap, but that’s not even the best part! I met an amazing family there from England; a 4 year old boy, a (about) 7 year old girl, and their parents. The family was traveling around the world for about 8 months, and would continue for another 6. They were planning to rent motorbikes for the day to go swimming at a lake. Originally, they were going to put all 4 of them on the bike, but I expressed interest in swimming so they asked if I wanted to join. I didn’t want to impose but they told me they really should be safer and get two bikes, and I would push them to make that decision, so off we went.

It was beautiful and refreshing and a perfect match. The parents are delightful and the children are brilliant. We played in the water, jumped off the bridge, laid in the sun, and fought with monkeys to keep our bananas.

I met a few travelers with a crashpad and exchanged info so we could climb together the next morning (incredibly serendipitous and lucky). We let our skin was dry and the sun was getting low, so the family and I ventured up to the monkey temple; Hanuman. We were told to watch the sunset there so we hiked up through the boulders, chatting about butterflies and metamorphic rocks and the welcome symbols painted on the steps. I was continually amazed at the 4 year old’s articulation and the 7 year old’s ability to think multiple steps in advance; valuable skills many adults do not posses. It kept my mind in a place of infinite possibilities without completely leaving earth.

I bought my new playmates bananas to feed to the monkeys and tore some cloth so we could all make wishes and tie them to the tree. After we watched the florescent pink star disappear beyond the hills, we began our descent.

Before we could leave the temple, however, the mother of the family and I were dragged into a circle of Indian woman dancing in tribute to Hanuman. They danced and chanted and clapped our hands as we laughed in confusion and delight. eventually the ritual was over and we thanked them and moved on.

We reached the town as night took over and said our goodbyes and exchanged info. They returned to their guesthouse and I went to rent a crashpad for the next morning. As I approached, the climbing friend, Andy, I had made at the lake was waiting there to return his crashpad for the day! we instantly sat down and made plans to meet at 6:30 the next morning. We ventured out early and met up with about 5 other climbers along the way, all heading to the same place. It ended up being a brilliant mix of skill and experience, as well as a melting pot of nationalities. We became an instant family.

We spent the rest of the day having lunch and work-shopping crafts on the riverside. A Native American taught us how to make dream catchers and I taught his girlfriend how to hair-wrap. I used Andy’s grown-out wrap to teach her; his wrap represented his travels of two years and 5 different wrappers.

After our relaxation we ventured out into the forest to find a waterfall. As it turns out, it was dried up but the group was so easy going, the adventure alone was worth it. We ended up at a large pooling where we swam instead. It was the fishing are for a small nearby village and we were invited for fish dinner with them, but unfortunately, we are all vegetarians. My favorite gauge earring slipped out of my ear while we were swimming and disappeared into the river. Luckily, Andy had a knife and carved me a new piece form some wood we found along the beach.

I told him how much I appreciated it and he just said it was coming back to me for working on his hair. It is sort of funny how energy flows like that; give and receive. Maybe not immediately, but when you need it most.

We went our separate ways for dinner and all turned in early. We met again the next morning for a new climbing spot. This one was way more interesting and a lot more of my style. The Swedish guy and I were the first to send the problem so we ventured off and decided to create a new one. It was an under-cling with a really interesting start and 2 heel hooks thrown in.

It was my ideal route but my strength is low and only the Swede could send. I had never experienced making up my own serious problems outside before and it was really challenging but greatly rewarding.

We went our separate ways and I went to hang at Andy’s hostel for the afternoon. I was sewing a dream catcher when friends from Tagore came strolling through the brush. I had sent out the intention in the morning to find them, but I wasn’t sure I would before my train left. We sat for lunch and exchanged stories before we set out to the bazaar and temples.

All of my goals were met so effortlessly; I got to do everything I wanted in the way I wanted to do them. I am a solo traveler, but only because I make friends along the way.