Hampi

So I don't know if it is the people I am with or the place itself but Hampi is by far the best place I have been in India...probably in this whole trip actually. Hampi is yet another Hindu holy city as well as an UNESCO site of an ancient Hindu empire where much of the Ramayana is meant to take place. Pretty much the scenery is very flat with huge red boulders creating little mountains. Throughout all this is scattered the ruins of this ancient city that looks like and Indian version of ancient Greece. On top of all of this there are tons of palm trees and banana plantations and a giant river. Its pretty picturesque, google it. In terms of people, to my two Australians we have added a guy from Montreal and a guy from Norway. The five of us have pretty much spent the last couple of days cruising around the ruins and eating tons of amazing food. At one of the active temples there is a beautiful and quite happy looking elephant that will bless you for Rs. 10 (totally worth it). We hiked to the top of this mountain/rock hill where we found a young naked sadhu, though he was actually wearing clothes. He had only been a monk for four years but had grown up in Rajasthan and had studied science in University. He says he spends most of his time in the Himalayas and with his guru and other naked monks. It was pretty cool to get the chance to talk to him and drink some chai. Since he has only been a sadhu for four years he was still able to relate to us and spoke great English. When we left he asked us to come back and bring him some suger (for the chai) which some of us did yesterday.
Other excitement included renting motorbikes and driving through a banana plantation to get to a mini little waterfall. I was on the back of the bike and inevitably we got into a bit of a crash so I know have two of the main traveler injuries (the first being branding myself with the tailpipe of a scotter in Vietnam). We were going quite slow so I only sustained minor injuries and more importantly the bike wasn't hurt at all. A super nice Indian guy helped us out and then lead us through the plantation to get to the waterfall.
The locals in Hampi are the nicest and least pushy of anywhere I have been in India. They all seem so happy and proud to live here and it is just so wonderful to stay in a place where no one is bugging you to buy things or begging. The family that runs our guesthouse is adorable and last night the mother gave Jordan (the Australian girl) and I henna on our hands. There is also the cutest little six month old girl next door that I like to visit. Yesterday I saw a whole class of little kids come out of school in their uniforms and before I knew it the entire pack was peeing in the road. It was hysterical but I didn't think it would be appropriate to photograph. The restaurants and food here are excellent and there has been lots of eating and lounging about.
Tonight we all go our separate ways, I will be taking a bus to the cost to Gokarna, yet another Hindu holy city where their are apparently some very nice beaches. I can't believe I only have two weeks left in India, it will be very sad to leave.