Today I woke up early and rented a boulder pad and a Motorbike and headed back to Baba Cafe. I only had about three hours to climb before the sun takes over Hampi and the rocks get greasy. The day before I got a map of the classic areas to climb hand drawn by a Irish man who lived in Hampi for decades. I was able to warm up with some yoga and a few easier climbs.. I set my eyes on a great v3/4 problem called Kurt Albert. Within a few goes, I was standing at the top of this iconic boulder. Applauding me from below was a Shiva Baba. He patted me on the back when I returned to the ground. He then said, "do that one"... a V8 problem called "Space baba". The baba gave me some of his wisdom about Hampi's climbing as I looked at other problems to try. It felt really nice to climb after all this travel to get here.. Now, I never want to leave!
After trying a few more problems, I headed back to the guesthouse to meet up with Pat. Had some food and chai and Horst stopped in to say hello. We will be going out to the island in a couple of days to meet him for a retreat. After that, we headed in to the bazaar to look around at some things to bring home as gifts. While in town we went to get more masala dosas. They are just that good. Also, I tried these spongy rice cakes called Idli. Very good!! The dipping sauce was a coconut chutney and sambar which is a veggie curry of sorts. After lunch, we headed back to Shanti to get my pad and then go to an area called the "rock plateau". Temps were good but again I only had a few hours before dark. Warmed up at the Egg boulders on a few really quality lines that impressed me though were not difficult. Then went to the OM boulders which had some crimp lines on it that looked good. I got on "Classic", a v4 face climb with a line that called my name. The holds were really sharp and I had to gush to send it. Within four tries, done. Happy about the day despite only climbing for four hours or more. Got a sense of what to expect. Sharp and slopey, with a lot of mantles. More updates tomorrow... Peace.
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