"Maybe Later"

We left at 6:00 am for Sirigere. En route we stopped at the holiest of all the Jain places of pilgrimage. The Jains place great emphasis on ahimsa...the doctrine of non-injury to life. They typically sweep the path in front of them as they walk so as not to kill bugs, they wear a mask so they don't ingest any insects, and practise pure vegetarianism, abstaining even from eating eggs because they might be fertilized and not eating anything that grows underground like carrots and potatoes.

This morning it was only after I had put on my pants that I realized we had an ant infestation. As I was slapping ants off my body and stomping them into the floor, I laughed when I thought, "I wouldn't make a very good Jain!

As we descended from the bus, we were accosted  by peddlars and the only way to get by them was to agree to their, "MAYBE LATER"! We made the trek up the massive hill of granite. All entrances to holy or sacred places must be done in bare feet...but because they stone were so hot, we needed to wear socks. This is my first trek in sock feet! At the top of the 690 steps was the world's tallest monolithic statue, Sravanabelola,  at 17.7 meters. 

Of course when we got back, all our MAYBE LATER people were ready for us!