Hampi on a bike

Yesterday afternoon was a great mix of leisure and culture.  I spent about 4 hours wondering around through old temples, listening to distant mosques, taking pictures (someday I will learn how to get them from my camera to the computer...), and reading about what I was witnessing.  The town of Hampi is situated in the midst of giant boulders and hills. From one hill I sat on (for at least an hour) I could look out and see the old bazaar, the giant temple (I learned today it's 52meters high... I will learn more tomorrow), kids playing cricket next to an abandoned temple, tourists on bikes, and yet it was so peaceful- no construction sounds or honking horns.  I came down from the hill and stood in front of the giant temple as the sun came down.  I meant to stay there people watching but instead I watched dozens of monkeys as they played. Five young monkeys were in the tree just above my head and they were the most entertaining, still learning how to use their tails to hang on to branches and trying to knock other monkeys off the tree.  I met a man from Hampi, Lucky, who sells flutes at the temple (not a very lucrative job). He told me a bit about Hampi, the monkeys, and then pointed out a tree next to the temple that had a different kind of monkey- they were a bit bigger and with black faces.  After watching the new monkeys for awhile I had some chai and some street food (salsa-y rice stuff... no idea what it's called but it was delicious) and headed to my mosquito net on the roof. During the night, dogs and monkeys joined me on the roof. None tried to harm me, yet they were all curious what was under the net, so they came to poke and sniff at me. It made sleep hard to come by.
Today I took a bike tour through the temples.  It was amazingly beautiful.  I'll admit, the guide wasn't that great at explaining what we were seeing so I can't really tell you the history behind it all, but the old temples and giant ruins with hundreds of carvings of elephants, monkey men, goddesses, camels, etc. were very beautiful. And massive.  Again, I'll try to get photos.  And, I spent 4 hours on a bike and didn't fall off once! I count that as a victory :)
I met some fellow Alaskans yesterday, so my plan for tonight is to rest, eat, chat, and try to get some sleep.  I've changed rooftops so hopefully there will be less intrusion from strange animals.