Our family trip down south..

'Been having some problems for uploading pics lately, so i got late telling you about my little family excursion, with my mom and dad..

To escape the Lucknow heat for a few days we decided to head down south, to Bangalore.. "the India silicon valley" they call it.. honestly, had it been for that first cow i ever saw stopping at a red light, it wouldn't have felt so much different than Lucknow!..
except for the temperature of course.. that was awesome!..

So from Bangalore we went to spend two days up in Hampi; a beautiful archeological site about 300km north of Bangalore (of which you could already admire the pricing sign in an earlier post!)
Back to Bangalore we headed west to see two old temples, Halebeed and Belur, and then south to Mysore, just in time to take a good "crowd bath" (i'm not sure this expression translates!) for the huge Dussera festival..
Mysore itself (in spite of the crowd) felt like a more pleasant town.. bit more quiet and green..

So here it is in a few pics..

First i'll take the opportunity to introduce my parents..

..and me desperatly trying to find the right angle in all these steps!

the site of Hampi..

a couple of shots caught as we were driving..

cute Hampi kids..
i found the southern cows much different than in the north.. what do you think?!

the only temple still in use in Hampi..

and my mom receiving a blessing from the temple's elephant!

Now i'll have to quote my dad on this one, for i'll always admire his sense of observation and analysis, and if anything, i whish i could inherit that much from him!
"See my son, this is a true symbol of India: individual excellence subordinated to cheap and brainless commanders!.. the whole compound wall is made of crooked stone blocks exactly adjusted to one another without any cement.. imagine how difficult it was to adjust perfectly all these inclined and curved planes one to another.. instead of making square blocks like anyone else.. all this just to use less stones??"

Talking of extremely fine work, the old and never finished temple of Halebeed is unanimously the one we found the most impressive.. every inch of it is beautifully sculpted..

We reached Belur a bit late, so you'll only get these two stupid night shots.. our embassador in front of the main gate..

and a blurred view of the site..

After that we reached Mysore and got lucky enough to find tickets for the Dussera procession..

these last two definitely belong to the "why-the-hell-did-i-shoot-this-digital" series!

Last but not least (although i agree, this expression has had its time!), there was this funny "vehicle festival in Bangalore.. people (and mostly those who make a living out of their vehicle) do prayers for their vehicle and decorate it with banana tree leaves and flowers.. so the whole city ressembles a funny motorized jungle!