Hampi

Hampi is like a scene out of a Mars movie. First of all they have these half-demolished, half-decaying, half standing up temples are sprinkled around the various hills. Next the hills are covered with these red rocks. It is like the Gods played marbles with these huge stones and forgot to clean up after. Some pile on top of each other to make these huge mountains, others sit alone in a rice field.
The village itself was small and when I arrived it was (unluckily) a festival. Hampis' reputation as a quiet place to relax was ruined. Thousands of people gathered at the temple to worship an elephant, the various cows that parade around like kings, and a picture on a wall that I'm never allowed in too see. The temple floor glistened with coconut oil and garbage piled high beside the garbage cans. In seems that there is a festival in India everyday. All are chaotic, loud, noisy, and somewhat annoying. One the other side you can see many interesting things like men sticking swords through their cheeks, men making cobras dance, men dressed like clowns begging for money, and a lot of old, wrinkled, karma beggars.
If you ever do get to Hampi, get across the river. There we stayed in a secluded hut in a distant rice field. All the huts surrounded a circular restaurant where everyone sat on the ground and talked. The palm trees whistled, the monkeys howled, and the people relaxed. Hampi is a place to be seen and done.