Sri Ram Ashram, The Taj and Jaipur

Well, as you may or may not have noticed, we have fallen behind on our lofty goals of doing a blog post each week of our trip.  The combination of enjoying each moment, early bedtimes and wakeups, and spotty internet has left us woefully behind the times.  But, we move forward.  We will do a bit of a recap in this post of our final time in India.  The first part of this post will be focused on, what was arguably each of our favourite time, at Sri Ram Ashram outside of Haridwar—very few photos but many memories and stories (and hopes to return soon!).  Next we will share a few photos—but very few words—on our early morning adventures at the Taj Mahal and our afternoon escapades in Agra, which might actually be a pretty fun city to spend more time in than just for the Taj.  And the final installment of our stories of India will be focused on Jaipur—again very few photos as it was hard to remember to capture images with +47Celcius weather upon us.

Sri Ram Ashram—A new extended family

Sri Ram Ashram is a home for children that was opened by Baba Hari Das and students.  This is the same teacher who inspired the Salt Spring Centre where Michelle completed some yoga training and continues to return to as part of her spiritual community.  Sri Ram Ashram is truly an amazing place, with an incredible energy.  Abandoned and orphaned children are welcomed there to be part of the Sri Ram family, and it really is that—a big and busy extended family full of love.  It is more than an orphanage in so many ways.  We were welcomed there as guests and left feeling like part of the extended family.  The children grow up there raised in a structured, supportive, and extremely loving environment.  After graduating from high school (Sri Ram also has a school for both the children living at the Ashram as well as community children) and moving away from home they remain supported throughout university, or other post secondary training, and they often return to the Ashram for all vacations or when they have time off of work—much like any family.  The Ashram also helps to arrange, support, or facilitate marriages and there are two planned weddings in the fall of Ashram raised women.

This is the schedule for the Ashram.  We were welcome to participate in everything!

To describe the magic of this place in a few words is really not possible.  Michelle is already trying to figure out how to make it work to get back there in October for festival season, a few weddings, and maybe to provide some nursing/mental health/yoga type volunteer support as deemed necessary by the Ashram staff.  They have a farm where most of their food (all mild and wheat, some vegetables) come from, a small clinic that used to provide support to the whole community but now does not have the capacity to, a school (as also mentioned above), and they work with multiple different local and international organizations and schools on different initiatives. 

We joined in with all of the daily activities including morning Sadhana (yoga exercise, breathing, sitting for short meditation, chanting), meals, playing with babies/toddlers or reading during the day while the other kids were at school, playing games during free time in the evening, and making ourselves available to support the youth during study hall.  Thomas even participated in the CrossFit during the mornings, and some of the older boys and girls enjoyed teaching him and sharing their knowledge.  We were welcomed and valued as members of an extended family would be and we really treasured our time there.

We have included a link to their website, and if any of you feel inclined to donate to this amazing organization you can rest assured that your money would be supporting a really special and well run place.

http://sriramfoundation.org/index.php/sri-ram-ashram

Cross fit and other morning exercises...

Agra and the Taj Mahal—“A teardrop on the cheek of eternity” (Michelle keeps quoting Rabindranath Tagore)

We decided to go to Agra for a brief visit with the purpose of visiting the Taj Mahal.  We were scolded by a few when our original plan for the trip was shared, and it did not include Agra.  We decided to go, and we really were glad that we did.  

It is quite a sight to behold, both inside and out.  Because we woke with the sun to visit this place in the early morning, we actually found it rather peaceful and enjoyed spending our morning wandering in the buildings and around the garden.  You can't take pictures inside the tomb, but there is some really incredible carving and marble inlay work.  The morning light and shadows inside were spectacular.

Jaipur—Carpe (Shade)-iem

Jaipur was hot, and we it drained our energy quickly.  No amount of water could keep our bodies and brains feeling energized.  We had high hopes for Jaipur with plans of buying art, gems, textiles and pottery—in all our travels, everyone said Jaipur was an art lover’s paradise—this did not happen the way we imagined.  We also missed some sights we were hoping to see (some forts and temples and trips into the desert), but it was just not possible for us with the blistering mid-day heat and our energy levels waning.  However, we still enjoyed the city tremendously and might even co

nsider going back one day, when it is not hot season.  We stayed in a pretty clean, hip and artsy area in the home of some hip artsy folk.  We noticed a large population of expats and artist folk.  The food scene was fun and we enjoyed browsing in some boutiques (but most items were outside of our budget at hundreds of thousands of rupees).

One memorable story requires recollection; it is that of our one day where we fell victim to the scams and manipulations of India: Michelle and Thomas’ “No Good Dirty Rotten Day”.  The day started out as per usual, dry and hot at 35 degrees before 8:00 am.  We decided to go to the local Tapri Tea House, and jumped in a tuk-tuk anticipating scrumptious masala teas and Indian snacks.  Upon arriving at the teahouse, we discovered it was closed, (a fact that the tuk-tuk driver standing by knew all too well).  However, he was more than happy to haggle over taking us to our next destination for an additional fee.  Based on our schedule, we decided to go to a local art museum (which was a fatal error because we had not packed snacks for Thomas).  The tuk-tuk driver dropped us off on the opposite end of the museum where he attempted to convince us that we needed to take a horse-drawn carriage ride.  All of this was manageable, and even the requirement of paying a ‘foreign tourist ticket surcharge’ was fine.  Even the 50 or so selfie photo requests were fine at the stiflingly hot museum of Indian artistic expression through the ages, but the next part of the story is where tragedy strikes.  We had managed to find a cold beer store near our place, and we made the trek to pick up some ice-cold Kingfisher Lager.  Buying beer in India feels very shady, and the vendors are often dark and dingy stalls.  In this case, there was a que of Indian men examining different types varieties of spirits.  Michelle handed Thomas a five hundred Rupee note which Thomas put in his pocket (equivalent to approximately 10 dollars CAD).  Michelle then waited for Thomas to purchase the beer.  As soon as the shopkeeper saw Thomas waiting in line, he beckoned for him to come to the other side.  Thomas ordered 3 large Kingfisher beers and waited.  The beers arrived, Thomas passed the note and awaited change.  To Thomas’ surprise, the shopkeeper showed that he had a 100 Rupee note in his hand, which was insufficient to purchase a single beer.  In the moment, Thomas hesitated and did not challenge the vendor, as he questioned whether Michelle had handed the right note.  This ultimately caused a fatal error; a loss of 400 Rupees as well as no beer.  Michelle and Thomas returned home; and that was that.  The first and last time we simultaneously let our guard down.

This concludes our blogging time in India.  We loved India and will most assuredly be back.  The next blog will go through our time in Thailand (spoiler alert: Thailand is the best)!

Rajasthani cuisine: these were some type of desert bean.  

Uttar Khand: "Mooooooooove and Stretch Here"

Part 3: Uttar Khand: "Mooooooooove and Stretch Here" 

In this next chapter, we will be going through our travels in the Himilayan foot hill region of India known as Uttar Khand.  One of the challenges that we have had with our time in India has been that in each place we have gone we have ended up staying longer than we anticipated!  The flexibility has been great, and has resulted in us reformulating plans/ideas which has been an adventure in its own right.

From Varanasi we had to make it up to the Rishikesh area to spend a week at an ashram doing yoga.  This meant another train journey.  This journey was twenty hours long and the train was of a different standard than we expected.  There were significantly fewer chaiwallas (no chaiwallas), and no snacks to be had for the entirety of the journey.  We also got sick on the train… not with gastrointestinal issues however, rather we both managed to

catch colds and were racked with respiratory and sinus distress! 
The lack of chai and burgeoning illness ended with us arriving in another holy city; Haridwar.  We arrived at 3:30 in the morning, and then took a bus and a tuk-tuk to get within the vicinity of the ashram.  We crossed a suspension bridge on foot and then discovered it was approximately 2-15 kilometers to the ashram on a winding mountain road (the distance varied depending on who you asked).  The town was silent, only slowly waking and the air was still.  We decided to hike in, and had an absolutely beautiful and peaceful walk ending at the ashram Phool Chatti as the sun was rising that ended up being around 6km.  During our walk we were invited into a ladies home for chai, and for the first time our trip there seemed to be no hidden agenda and we just gave a small donation for the nourishing nectar.

Our time at Phool Chatti was phenomenal.  The ashram (another name for spiritual home) has been open to spiritual seekers and pilgrims for over 120 years.  The ashram itself is nestled on the banks of the Ganges river (The goddess Maa Ganga), and we had a room where you could hear the roar of the river at night and look up to see the stars flipped in the sky from what we see at home.  The ashram is a self-contained series of buildings and garden areas with a rooftop terrace to eat meals on.  The energy of the space was very peaceful and the group we were with during the course was small.  We were grateful to our teachers, Lalitaji and Prashanti, for sharing with us some of their wisdom.

While the disciplined routine of the ashram and the information of the eight limbs of classical ashtanga yoga was not new to Michelle, it was new to Thomas.  For those of you that know Thomas, he is an avid racquet sport enthusiast, farmer and beer connoisseur.  It is safe to say that yoga is still in its beginning phases of relationship with him.  The course provided a broad introductory experience in the eight limbs of yoga and ashram life.  It was a pleasure to be there together, sharing in silence and learning and refreshing on the philosophy and practice of yoga.  While challenging in some ways, it was a beneficial experience that we are likely to repeat in some form.  Besides the schedule, we’ll leave the summary at that. If you’d like to hear more about our individual experiences feel free to ask more the next time you see us.  There was of course no internet, phone (sorry in our disconnecting we took very few photos) or meat and we were happy for that.  In addition to the human ashram dwellers, there were langour monkeys, a pair of German Shepherds (vegetarian), a chubby pug (also vegetarian), chinchillas and carrier pigeons.  

The schedule of each day was approximately the same… Silence during all meals and from technically from 2100-1300, and outside of that mindful speech only.  The food was incredible.

Wake up bell at 0530 (sometimes getting up earlier for own time to sit, read, walk etc)

Morning meditation 0600-0630 

Chanting 0630-0645

Shatkarma (yogic cleansing, during this course only jal netti was taught) 0645-0700

Pranayama (breathing exercise) 0700-0715

Hatha Yoga (yoga asana, physical practice of yoga) 0715-0845

Breakfast (and chai!) on the rooftop 0900

Karma Yoga (selfless service, doing tasks for the betterment of others and the ashram) 1000-1030

Meditative Walk (sometimes to the Ganga for bathing, sometimes up hills to waterfalls etc) 1030-1230

Lunch (and chai!!) on the rooftop 1230

Then some free time.  One could walk, read, sleep etc.

Lecture and Discussion 1500-1600 (although it often went longer as the group was very engaged)

More yoga asana 1600-1730

Pranayama again 1730-1745

Temple Pooja at sunset

Chanting and Kirtan after Pooja

Dinner (and chai!!!) at 1930

Guided meditation from 2030- 2100 (which would continue for some until 2300)

On the last evening we had a special fire ceremony and then a campfire in the evening with everyone sharing a song from their country.  Michelle re-vamped the moose song from summer camp (...there was a great big moose who liked to drink a lot of juice.)

So overall a simple and beautiful time for self contemplation and a more disciplined schedule.  We left grateful and really not wanting to leave, and the food and chai was lovely.  We continue with some morning Sadhana practice learned there, which has really helped us remain grounded (until Jaipur, but we won’t spoil the surprise yet!).

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After the Ashram we were jonesing for some internet as we both had work related emails we felt we NEEDED to access and had no idea what had been happening in cyber world.  So after seven days we left the Ashram and planned to stay one night in Laxman Jhula area of Rishikesh.  We were happy for the lesson learned that there was nothing overly important or pressing waiting on our devices when we got back to them.  An important reminder that the world does not revolve around internet access and connectivity in that way.  In Rishikesh we stayed at an awesome little hotel owned by the sweetest and  most genuine family—we loved it so much we stayed two extra days (which changed our up coming plans slightly, but that was fine.  We’ll catch other things on our next trip).  We fell into an easy rhythm in the low key energy of Rishikesh, enjoying slow mornings and lovely walks throughout town during the day.  Oh, and the food was excellent.

We enjoyed our first non indian meal of the trip--yoga hippie salads and refreshing beverages in a spa like restaurant. Then back to the Indian food!

No meat or eggs in the whole town, which is pretty cool.  Also no beer or any other alcohol.



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Next join us for our tales of our time in Haridwar (brief) and Sri Ram Ashram....

Varanasi

Hello all, here is another post. 

We have had a wonderful next portion of our trip and are excited to share it with you.  We previously went through our time in Delhi.  Now we will outline our first adventure on the marvelous interregional Indian railway, as well as our time in auspicious Varanasi.  Throughout this post we will be focusing on the importance of looking underneath the initial experience in order to appreciate the best parts of India.

In our opinion, the way trains in India are organized is fascinating.  Unlike the regulation of traffic as per our previous blog, the train system is regimented by very rigid rules around booking travel.  The average number of passengers travelling through New Delhi Train Station is half a million passengers per day, but it is exceedingly difficult to secure a ticket on an Indian train unless you are well versed in how the system works, or are an ignorant foreign tourist.  This system is problematic because there are more people wishing to take the train than tickets available, and the trains often sell out months in advance.  As foreign tourists, there is a certain quota available only to tourists and we were fortunate to secure 2 tickets on a train from New Delhi to Varanasi.  We were in sleeper AC 3 class, which means that there is air conditioning (yay) and three tiers of bunks in each open train compartment, with two bunks down the aisle.  On the surface, it was a nerve racking experience to figure out whether it was possible to use the train, but once we figured it out and were able to make it work it was a positive experience.  Here is a video that encompasses our experience on the train in a most excellent fashion.  Michelle loves chai, and on this train there were many opportunities to enjoy the masala tea.  It was fascinating to watch farming take place as we travelled.  The vast majority is done by hand, including swathing, gathering and threshing.  We also saw many people using backpack sprayers to spray wheat.

Next, our time in Varanasi.  As a city, Varanasi is known as a very sacred Hindu place.  There is a belief that anyone who dies and is burned in Varanasi is cleansed, causing the soul to go into moksha releasing you from the cycle of birth and death.  It is also very spiritually important for Hindus to bathe in the Ganges River (locally called the Ganga) which flows through Varanasi.  This means that there is an incredible number of Hindu people spending time in the city to bathe in the Ganga, to die near the Ganga, or to say goodbye to a loved one.  There are also sadhus, pilgrims, brahma and swamis who live sometimes sleeping on the steps of the city leading down to the Ganga.  It is a teeming mass of life that is equal parts intrigue and exhaustion.  Michelle loved getting to know several friendly goats and cows.



Upon arriving in Varanasi, we had made the decision to stay in a home stay/guesthouse that was run by a Varanasi family.  The house was approximately one kilometer from the Ganga River, and it was quite lovely.  We had the opportunity to eat with the family for every meal, and after tasting the first dish, we realized that the food was amazing and ate nearly every meal with them.

Varanasi assaults the senses in a way that Delhi did not.  While we experienced the crowded madness that is India in Delhi, Varanasi is on a different level.  The horns on motorcycles seem louder, there are increased numbers of cows and goats, and there is more interaction with Indian culture on every level.  On our first adventure we walked from our guest house to the Ganga, and were shocked by how exhausting it was to adventure.  People constantly come up to you trying to bless you, bindify you, offer a boat or tuk tuk ride, or give you a massage, and it was tough to push past this initial bombardment.  However, looking beyond this to the importance of this place and its place in history made it an important next part of our journey.  We did a bunch of walking, took a boat tour, and did most of our touring between the hours of 5:00 am to 9:00 am and 5:00pm to 9:00pm with an extended nap during the middle of the day.  Despite the chaotic mass of life and movement, Michelle often stopped to glance at and extend a greeting to all the cows… after all, you can’t feel stressed when looking at a cow!

Here are some additional photos that we took which we thought you would enjoy. 

Here is a shot of Thomas as we were walking along the ghats bright and early on the right, and a shot of Michelle doing the same on the left.  The most remarkable feature of Varanasi's architecture is the concrete steps leading down to the Ganges, depicted in the photo featuring Michelle.

In this picture, Michelle is receiving a blessing from a Brahmin, who sits along the banks of the Ganges.  In receiving this blessing, she also was the lucky recipient of a rather large artwork across her face made of sandalwood, tumeric and rice.  While of great spiritual significance, the substantial size made it challenging to appreciate.  Thomas was not intending to receive the same blessing, however it was not possible to opt out.

We have been trying to do a smattering of the more touristy things as we are in each place because they can be fun sometimes.  In Varanasi, we chose to go on a boat down the Ganga which was actually quite nice.  Also please note the substantial size of bindhi upon each of our foreheads.

Exploring Varanasi in the very early mornings and walking along the river provided a beautiful look at the beauty of the city and the devotion of the people.  There was no pestering or loud horns in the mornings.

Here is the Pooja (fire ceremony) that is performed every day at sunrise.  It is danced by young Brahmin boys and sung by young Brahmin girls.  There is a paradoxical existence of the caste system that is still alive and well in Varanasi.  The Brahmin caste is the a very holy caste and they perform many ceremonies and blessings; but they continue to rely on the untouchable caste to burn their bodies when they die.  It is challenging to see this through our eyes where we try very hard to uphold equality, but these traditions remain beautiful and vibrant to this day.  

Varanasi provides time to pause and reflect on the bookends of life... birth and death.  Life is out loud, and nothing on either end is hidden or glossed over.

We took a day to leave the hectic environment of Varanasi and venture to the nearby town of Sarnath.  Our lungs and spirits thanked us.

We visited a serene Buddhist garden, which has the claim to fame for being the place where the Buddha delivered his first teaching after attaining enlightenment.  We visited the ruin of a Buddhist Monastary. It was peaceful and very different than a lot of the Hindu things we had been seeing!  The place had a special gentle energy about it.  The picture of Thomas is beside a large structure that marks the supposed place of Buddha's first sermon discussing the middle path.

Those of you who have met Thomas know he is quite tall. There is no end to the architecture and clothing to remind us of this fact (note the arch he walked through to the right).



Thank you for reading and sharing in some stories of our travels!

….Next up a brief summary of our time at a Classical Ashtanga Yoga Ashram and Rishikesh