A journey through small mountain settlements

Hello all,
Before too much time elapses I want to share a little about the epic journey I went on.

So, early around 4 am on the 2nd of January I rolled out of bed and got set for the journey into the Himilayas. A yogi student came to pick me and another foreigner up closer to my home. He suggested we both squeeze on the back and hold our bags on our laps. I got on, my friend and I looked at each other and the two inches left of space on the bike for him to squeeze into and thought 'maybe you could make two trips?'. And so the journey began.

There were about 50 yoga students in total plus the Guru and a few teachers. Then there was myself and the other foreigner from Finland (Veli) on for the ride. The Guru ordered us a special car with two fun characters. I may have enjoyed this fact if I was not permitted to see outside the front window of the vehicle. However, within the first minute of the drive I found myself gripping on for dear life. Not only was our driver a mad man who needed desperately to be the king of the road, the fog was so thick you couldn't see 20 feet ahead. And you can bet we spent 3/4 of the drive on the wrong side of the road passing anyone and everyone. So I just had to condition myself to look away out the side window whenever my head naturally drifted forward (kind of like what I do when I am watching a horror or violent movie).

It was about a 14 hour drive to get to our destination. The last 5 were spent swirving back and forth, back and forth as we cruised up the mountain (my mind still wondering why our driver had to burn like a maniac around every corner). But, on the lighter note, we had some seriously fun bollywood music to keep us rolling in style. It's like music you'd hear in old classic films, just with Hindi lyrics and a much different style of singing (which I quite enjoy).

Our destination for the first day was a popular Indian honeymoon location called Nainital. When we arrived that evening I was ready to flop down and read a book in my own space. But I soon realized that that's not how the Indian people roll and not how my trip was going to unfold. Right away the students got busy playing games, music, singing, shopping and drinking chai. No one spoke much english, everyone on the streets glued their eyes on me, the weather was cold, my room was dark and there was no hot water in the hotel. I felt cold, hungry and isolated. And finally I knew what my foreign friends (as well as the international kids I used to work with at the camps) may have felt like when they couldn't communicate in their own language. It's not too often you have to feel that way when you speak english in this world.

I'm a strong girl though and these challenging aspects of the trip didn't get to me too much. I felt blessed to have been taken on this journey and to get a real glimpse and feel for the Indian way of life; both through my eyes as we travelled through various small villages, as well as through sharing the daily activities with the students. Together we travelled to different ancient holy temples and ashrams, rang bells and recieved blessings, made and ate yummy foods, sang songs, played music and adventured around different parts of this north east section of India (Uttranchal).

One thing about these people is that they LOVE to be together. It doesn't matter what activity they are doing as long as they are in the company of others. When we arrived at the second hotel the Guru sent me to a room and had five of us girls share a bed. A very large bed mind you, but it sure made the girls happy to know they would be sharing it with a pile of friends. Again, no one spoke english so I resorted to smiling, using my hands and attempting to learn some Hindi.

Overall the journey left my heart deeply impressed by the simplicity of the Indian way; particularily in the settlers of the various small mountain villages we passed through. In the early morning I would see lone men and women walking around the twisty roads miles away from any visible community carrying water, shrubs and random objects on their heads peacefully making their way to some unknown destination (that or just sitting on the side of the road). I would find myself wondering what this person was doing in what appeared to be the middle of no where and what their typical day would be filled with (also what their concept of time was like; moving at such a slow pace). One thing goes without saying, it's definitely different from mine.

So I am thankful for this eye opening awe inspiring journey. It left me feeling thankful for many things, including hot water and food that is not fried. But mostly it left me inspired to find new, harmonious and simple ways of approaching life.

:D

Nainital, Kausani and Almora with a bunch of Yogis

On the way home we had another flat so the boys got busy and made a crappy fire on the side of the road.

This is Surya Prakash (sunlight) and Nitesh. They were the two students the Guru sent with me for the drive. We had our own personal vehicle. It's too bad the driver had to be a mad man.

The students got busy dancing and singing for hours and hours on the last night. And just when I thought it might be over the guy playing guitar decided to sing a song for everyone (about 50people) in the room. The song he chose for me was 'you look wonderful tonight' by Eric Clapton.

We were waiting for dinner so the students had another jam session.

This is one of the girls I shared a room with.

Here's a photo from behind the Temple around Almora.

This is me and my beautiful Yoga instructor Arpita.

Here's a photo with me and the whole group outside a holy ashram. I can't remember the name of the Yogi who settled here while he was alive but it was a special place and the students put on a ceremony of chanting, singing and performing advanced asanas during our visit.

Big Hanuman! For those of you who are unaware, Hanuman is the monkey god of the Hindu faith. He's all over the place around here. He is the great devotional figure and is very strong.

This big board of Jesus with Hindi print was on the side of the road in Nainital. I love how Indians seems happy to embrace different religions. Here it seems as though devotion is what's important.

Here is a photo of me chilling on the side of the road in Nainital.

Outside our hotel in Nainital.

My Yoga teacher and the Guru. Hindu's have Guru's to help people on their spiritual path. This one reminds me a bit of Little Richard.