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.

Yoga training and Himalayan Cave journey's

Hi friends,
I have had the good fortune of being led to an ashram in Rishikesh market area. I was interviewed by the guru and given the opportunity to have an intensive training with an Indian woman named Arpita. This woman will work with me one on one 6 days a week for two months. She's super skilled and pushes me pretty hard which is good for me; no day dreaming in these sessions. The yoga school is actually a college for Indian people. Once in a while they will take in the odd foreigner if they feel he/she is devoted and sincere and right for the training. And it looks like I'm that odd one! The ashram is a short distance away so I have to make my way on the rickshaws through the bustling city everyday to get to my destination. But there's something to be said about making an effort to get to your destination.

And.............the guru invited me on a journey into the Himilayas to visit caves and ashrams with the students of the school. I will be going on Friday for a 5 day journey. The place is situated on the edge of Nepal about 14 hours north west from here. I will let you know more about the exact name/location of the place when I get back. And I will add some nice photos hopefully.

So that's the scoop for me now. I am very happy about this new opportunity.

I want to wish everyone a happy new year celebration. I have plans to go to an Indian dinner the guru invited me to tonight and then I will make my way to the Little Buddha Cafe and enjoy a Hello to the Queen; it's a big bowl of cookies, bananas, chocolate and ice cream with coconut, pomogranate and chocolate sprinkled all over. I will try to eat a whole one to myself.

:D

Graduation to me

A typical sight in the streets. These women must have the strongest necks.

This is my group on our graduation night. We finished the first month of our course. It was awesome, we all performed. I got up and told everyone about Capoeira and how much I love it, then I sang a song.

This cow found some snow in the streets. He seemed to find it to be quite the tasty treat (and no it's not snowing here, I don't know where this pile came from).

These are my main yoga teachers. They are a beautiful and inspiring couple.

The Indian people were having a party in the streets.

A few words about the holy land

Hello friends and family, I haven't written in a while because of procrastination and the fact that computer's are really slow here. But now I'd like to share a few words about my life in this holy town.

Rishikesh is really lovely. I have fallen in love with the cows and monkeys (so far I haven't had too much trouble with them, this could change). But I find the cows to be really cute. They just walk around slowly minding their own business and every once in a while picking up the pace if a local starts coming at them with a stick. Some are little babies and other's are enormous. Big bull horns and all. The locals can be really harsh at times with the cows (which confuses me because I thought they were to be considered holy). But It's true they sometimes get their face into the foodstands and I'm sure that would be annoying.

The monkeys are extremely adorable. They sit on this one wall that I walk past most days and just look around eagerly to see what's going on. Sometimes they are grooming their little ones or just holding them in their arms. They usually have one eye on any food that travels past. The other day I was holding a couple of oranges without thinking; I must have felt a presence because suddenly I noticed a monkey lurking beside me ready to go for the dive. They do this all the time. It's also hilarious. Especially when they come into your room looking for food. The other day they got my roommate's raisans. The mama (or papa) grabbed the bag, reefed off, another monkey took a grab and the whole thing exploded in the hall. Suddenly a team of monkeys moved in to clean up the mess. I'd say they usually put on a good enough performance to accept the absence of the food. And out back behind our place they like to jump around in the trees (or maybe just to be mischievious) cause the man who lives back their must really hate them. As soon as he sees a monkey he starts hollering, screaming and throwing rocks at the trees. The family of monkey's usually find their way to my roof and start practicing for some kind of marathon (at least that's what it seems like). The monkey's seem a little smarter than us folk.

Every night after class my roommate and I come home at the same time to the same music playing in the distance. It seems to be this jolly man singing songs of love, that I obviously can't understand. We are pretty sure it's coming from an ashram and these are hymns of praise and gratitude. Everynight he sings the same songs at the same time. One night we are going to go out adventuring and find where it's coming from. What's so funny about it is that these songs sound so bouncing and playful, not your typical religious music. I personally like all kinds of worship music, but I've just never heard anything like this before. Also, he does a set at 5 am every morning, but usually it just melds into my dreams. That and the hour bell.

Night after night a friendly man sits outside our home and rings a bell to mark the hour. Why this man needs to ring the bell all through the night and get no sleep is a little beyond me. But he seems to enjoy it. I have come to get use to (more or less) mad sounds. India has made peace with it no doubt about it. Random sounds from every direction, after a while you just stop noticing them. Except for when the neighbors (also Indian) like to just let there door hang loose and swing and smash in the wind. Again, some things (maybe a lot of things) just don't make sense to me in this country. But it's all part of the journey.

And one more thing, cause the time is ticking away. India is hilariously make shift. I took a peek out my window yesturday to see a man setting up for a wedding. He was hammering in the laces and frills for the table decorations. And sure enough, his hammer was a big rock. But my favorite so far are the brooms. Indians make these rounded brooms that are so small (some are half a meter and less, others slightly larger) out of this straw stuff and spend hours hunched over brushing the floor. At first I was just wondering why they didn't find a way to extend them over the years and help out the old back. But since I started using one I have found brooming to be kind of adventurous and fun.

I have much more to say but I must wrap up now. So until next time, I hope everyone is well and enjoying the beautiful snow and Christmas/New Year Season. Again, I wish they invented the snapper (snap an object and you can be in another geographic location in an instant) but they're holding back for some reason.

Lots of love,
Niki/Nicole

Caveman from the Ganga and the Pyramid Cafe

This is me and the fabulous caveman
who made us a Dal and Chapati in his cave in between visiting the sacred ascent of the Ganga











This is the Pyramid that I love to dine in in between classes















The Pyramid Cafe is just a little walk into the forest. It is the most peaceful dining area I've found yet. Great for those days when you just want to be silent.

We has a psychadelic chocolate party up high at this cafe one night. It was amazing.














We went to a traditional Indian wedding on the weekend.















These are the heart shoes I've been stomping around in.













See the monkeys above.









I forgot to mention,
Mr. Monkey was shocked at the amount of waste the grapefruit generated!