while lazing in the afternoon sun down by the ghats Suresh came looking for us to let us know Lakshmi the elephant wouldn't be cleansing at the ghats tomorrow morning because, goddess love her, she had to walk over 50 kilometers tomorrow to honour a particular festival so instead would be walking the entire area now to bless Hampi before she left. so, we went to find her and when we did we found ourselves walking through areas of Hampi not marked on any tourist map. we were literally walking through a jungle and amongst people and homes that appeared to replicate what i'd read of the 50,000 inhabitants of Hampi in the 1300's.
Our return journey found us bumping into Suresh who was packing up for the day. he invited us to join him in the spot he cherishes and visits every morning to meditate and practice his yoga. he said it was the best position to see the sun set on Hampi. we knew we were taking a chance but went for it any way. We were not to be disappointed! we climbed - i love to climb rocks! but took it a little easy for Cathy's back and once we got to the 'spot' which wasn't the top, it didn't need to be, we had the most spectacular view of Hampi and sat there watching the sun as it shifted from brilliant yellow to soothing orange to luscious red.
the Bizaar and Temples of Hampi shifted from the foreground to the background and settled into the gentle embrace of night and nestled as deep black silhouettes on the landscape.
we stayed a little to chat some more and as we did i spotted a man in uniform with a stick frantically climbing the boulders towards us. turns out he was security, of which there are 100 or so, employed to safeguard visitors to Hampi. it is a safe place but guide books warn you to be careful when the sun sets. he came close enough to check on us and turns out he knew Suresh so moved on, a little put out by having to make the climb. a touch of reality for us so we packed away our munchies and headed back towards the bazaar. the journey back was absolutely lovely. children playing and laughing, women sweeping, people sewing and washing, couples chatting - honestly they had nothing of the things that entertain us, don't think you would even see something as familiar to us as a pen amongst them but they had community, they had communication, they had heart!
while i was very grateful to Suresh and deeply touched by him, this was a special day for me and Cathy and i began to wonder how we might gently move back to each other without offending him. as we approached the very grand gates leading out of Hampi he very beatufiully stopped and put out his hand to shake mine and bid us good night. his was the kind of communication that was heart to heart and whose eyes rested gently in your soul, no words were necessary. i wanted to give him something but not money so i offered the pack of ciggarettes we had on us and he very graciously accepted. this was a very special day indeed.
with massive smiles on our faces we headed to a restuarant for a very delicious meal with lots to talk about and much to be grateful for!
settling down for the night consisted of the now familiar ritual of mosquitoe bashing, cockroach evicting, ant restricting, spider checking, bed investigating and cold showering :0) but you know what it was done now without the stomach churning or feelings of frustration. what a great 4th anniversary!
Nameste xxDee&Cathy
