they say it's your birthday....

so yesterday i was sitting in a cafe, drinking chai, trying to read a book while being harrassed by boys selling postcards and creepy men wanting to take my photo (seriously - this is the second time random creepy guys have asked to take their photo with me, and as much as i love having my picture taken, that is completely dodgy and i always say no and pull a face) when an english guy named alex came up and started chatting to me. so we sat and drank tea and he was telling me how he was looking for this other guy and they were going to get a chicken and cook it on their little stove for dinner.

so we left the cafe to wander down near the river and we ran into the other guy - mike - and the three of us went down to the river and crossed it in what looked very much like a wicker basket with tarp on the outside. a little scary, but we made it across. so mike was actually staying at a guesthouse on the other side of the river, and it was an amazing place. there was grass everywhere surrounding these little huts. there were hammocks and swinging beds hanging from everywhere. very beautiful.

so alex went off on a mission to find a chicken, which i was starting to doubt was really going to happen the more i got to know him.... but in the end he managed to pull it off. so we chopped up some veg and made a lovely chicken stew as a sort of joint birthday feast (alex's birthday is today, the 22nd, and mine tomorrow for anyone who forgot...). very lovely.

so this morning i finally picked up my train ticket, so i'm just kicking around hampi until about 6 o'clock and then i'll go to the train station and try to find my train.

mike and i are going to go see the most famous temple in hampi shortly with this south african guy who we met at breakfast. he's taking pictures of india for a book he's putting out.

so the next time i write i will be a quarter century old... a very strange thought. perhaps it's time for me to start taking responsibility, living a normal life.... or not. :)