Spiritual India

Its now a few days since the end of my time with the third group and I am having a vacation from the travel for two nights I am sitting on a breezy balcony looking up onto an old Maharaja Palace from which the resort I am at is based. This place called the Ananda in the Himalaya and is amazing. It might be be best property I have stayed at ever. You arrive and are given a string of prayer beads called a mala along with a cup of tea. The check in is done from a comfy couch. They explain all the included activities (yoga, meditation session, spiritual learning classes, cooking classes, short hikes, etc) and then you drive to your room on a golf cart passing a sunset viewing area, outdoor yoga amphitheater, the spa, pool, and restaurant. Once at the room they show you all the amenities inside and give you a white tunic and pants to wear around the property. This is not mandatory but nice and comfy and gives a break from doing travel laundry all the time! 

I rested most of my first day, then did a yoga nidra meditation session and had a scrumptious dinner. Yesterday I did a yoga class, went to a talk about yoga and meditation, and am now back at the room caught up on emails. I leave here tomorrow for the ashram, if I could afford to stay here for seven more nights I would cancel the ashram in a heartbeat!

On the 13th of Oct I joined the third tour group... What a beautiful treat all these people were. It was a small group, all ladies other than the tour leader. Except for one in her 60's we were all around the same age. The trip was called spiritual India, and took us to some of the most special pilgrimage sites in India in addition to some other fun places too! We shared many quite moments watching the sun rise over the golden temple in Amritsar, and the Ganges in Varanasi. We also joined in at the evening Hindu prayers (Aarti) along the ganges in Rishikesh and Varanasi. 

In Amritsar  We saw the closing of the border ceremony that happens each night between India and Pakistan... There are stands set up on both sides facing each other. The people gather on each side to watch the gates close and flags lower. on the Indian side before the ceremony the people have a dance party at the bottom of the stands. As the ceremony is happening the people yell back and fourth at each other saying that their country is best! 

Some other highlights were taking a ritual walk around the Tsuglagkhang Complex in McLeod Gange. This is where the Dali Lama lives and runs the Tibetan government in exile, the complex contains a temple, a museum, and residences for the monks. It is a beautiful forested walk strewn with prayer flags and stones carved with prayers and Bhudist  symbols. We saw everything from meditating monks, cows, monkeys, and countless prayer wheels along the way. In Rishikesh which is the Yoga hub here in India we got to experience a yoga class and then see the Aarti. Basically this is where Hindu devotees gather along the Ganges and chant and pray at sunset. It was very moving to sit in amongst the people clap along to the songs and take part in the offerings to the Ganges. Before the Aarti we bought those flower filled boats from a very sweet and very old lady along the river and set them off downstream. 

I also got to go for a motorbike ride to the top of a beautiful mountain with a view over Rishikesh (this is the yoga Mecca of India) and then later in the day we went river rafting, only small rapids but still kinda scary for me. In the slow bits we were able to get out and swim in the Ganges. In Rishikesh the Ganges is quite clean, and the sand is glittery with silver flecks that I am still finding in my shirt!!!

I was originally going to leave the group in Rishikesh since this is where my Ashram is and I was due to check in only a handful of days after the group passed through. Also, I had already been to the next destination Varanasi when I first arrived in India. But I was having such a great time seeing India with this group that they convinced me to stay on until Varanasi. Our tour leader worked very hard to arrange transportation for me back to Rishikesh, this ended up being my first solo overnight train experience in India! The decision to carry on was an amazing one. If only for the hour we spent on the Ganges at sunrise. As the most amazing sunrise came up through the distant clouds, we floated by the cremation Ghats where three cremations were going on. The local guide then pointed out two men that were on a boat with some flowers and an urn. He explained that not everyone can come to Varanasi to die and be cremated and that these men were bringing the ashes of a family member that had died somewhere else in India. We were all holding back tears when the man emersed the urn into the Ganges. Such a beautiful moment.

Finally I am updating!!!!

Hello All! 

Yes again I have been neglecting my updates!! Since the last time I wrote I had the opportunity to experience the backwaters of Kerala. We traveled from the beach town of Alleppey on a day train where we boarded a boat which cruised along a series of canals that are like roads in this town. We ended up in a small village where we found our home stays. The group was split among three homes. Myself and three other girls were in the home of a rice farmer Matthew (yes, many Indian Christians in this area and many have Christian names) and his family. They were very sweet and wonderful hosts. They have one teen aged daughter still living at home. She chatted with us in the evenings and taught us some Indian card and board games. In the day we went out onto a houseboat and just cruised all day long through the canals. 

From Alleppey we caught another train to Fort Kochin... This is essentially a tourist area in the middle of a big city. Even so, it was a treat to be there... Quite streets, nice shops, and some of the best food yet!the breakfasts in the cafes's here were out of this world. This is where the tour ended so it was also a place of good byes... 

I flew back to Delhi with four Aussie girls that were on the tour. In Delhi I treated myself to a night at a nice hotel near the airport and had four hours of spa treatments before transferring to the hotel where I met my third group.

Alive and Well in India

Hello All...

It has been a long time since I have written... Many apologies.

Right now I am writing you from Varkala. Varkala is a small beach town on the Arabian Sea. Since I have last written we travelled from Varanasi to Agra where we saw the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. Both of these sites were incredibly beautiful. Walking through the gate at the Taj is truly one of those moments were you get goose bumps... Even in the 34 degree sunshine! We were there for an hour or two before sunset and were able to see the Taj covered in the wonderful evening light.

From there we made our way across Rajasthan. We were introduced to Rajasthan by visiting a small village called Tordi. There we stayed in an old palace that was converted into a guesthouse. It was basic and beautiful at the same time and had wonderful rooftop views of the countryside. In the evening we hopped onto camel carts and rode to some sand dunes. You would never know it from e photos though. Monsoon has been very good to Rajasthan, delivering the most rain in over 20 years, so the dunes were coved in lush green grasses and shrubs. In Tordi I started to get bogged down with the cough I have been fighting since the trek and was not feeling well at all.

From Todi we went to Jaipur... Here I was quite sick so I stayed behind at the hotel while the rest of the group saw the city and the Amber Fort. The upside of being here for me was the availability of over the counter antibiotics which helped me start feeling better.

We then carried onto another small village called Nimage there was not much to see but the small villages are a welcome break from the cities. The cities are generally nice but one does have to overlook garbage, cows, dogs, and people everywhere. There is also a surprising lack of sidewalks which means we are usually walking alongside the nutty traffic. The awareness of where my feet are in relation to my surroundings has never been so heightened!

We then traveled further west to Jodpur. This is known as the blue city because the old quarter homes are all painted blue. I was looking forward to coming here for the photo opportunities but we didn't actually have a chance to walk the streets of the old city. I was able to snap some photos from afar while we were visiting the very impressive palace in the city.

We had one more stop in Rajasthan at Udaipur. This was the favorite of all the Rajastani cities. The city is set on a lake and has a bit more of a relaxed feel to it. We vistited a temple when the morning songs were happening. This was very beautiful.

I will sign off for now, but I have more to share about our adventures in the South so far. The next couple of day stake us to a home stay in the backwaters of Kerala so likely no Internet. I wont take so long for the next update though!!!

Hope all is well back home and thanks to those of you who Have dropped me the odd email :)

Namaste...

Sarah