So Im in Rishikesh at the moment, been here around 3 weeks now, & getting ready to move on to Jaipur this evening on the overnight sleeper bus, which im sure will be an experience & adventure in itself! Travelling round Rajasthan for 11 days, Jaipur, Pushkar, Chittingornath, the National Animal Park, Udaipur & where ever else Im called to visit.
It has been a wonderful journey here so far….. what an incredible place! If you want to learn Yoga, or even just come to immerse yourself in an Ashram, this is the place to come!
I came here to find a Guru to work with, to deepen my knowledge of traditional Indian Yoga & learn from the Hindu philosophy & go deeper. It has been amazing. We even recorded some beautiful Mantras together ☺️
Below are some little adventures & blogs I posted on facebook. If you want to visit India, read on, & visualize the colour, madness, beauty, & diversity of The Motherland. Enjoy!
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Its almost 10:30pm here in Rishikesh, just finished my mantra japa with my guruji, having a herbal tea & a choc ball in the organic cafe next to my hotel, contemplating how quickly my life has changed!
Almost 2 weeks here, feel like ive been here forever! Had a few days of really low energy & emotion, physically drained (guess the last few weeks in the UK took its toll too) but i took myself out of the madness of the city a couple of days ago to recharge & went up into the Himalya, bathing in the beautiful ice cold mountain waterfall, again with little furry angel friends accompanying & guarding me, connecting with nature, meeting the local people & trying to chat with them (its amazing how much u can find out in sign language, no need to understand eachother, energy says all ☺) inviting me into their humble homes for a masala chai, swimming & cleansing in the ganga & beach meditation on the white sands, good food, & little to no carbs (lost a few kilos already yay!) 🤑
today hired a scooter & zoomed off into the sunset to explore & discover more beauty, finding cute little cafes, shopping on the scooter, without getting off it lol, meeting random cool people, how can u not love it here!? Extremities & diversities at best……
The Himalaya is just stunning & i am so happy i came here! Tmrw i will take myself deeper into the mountains to the Shiva temple, as long as the scooter makes it up ☺️
Going with the flow of Maa ma Ganga, but shes pretty fast & furious, but her energy is incredible!
Have a fabtastic weekend all 🌷 love 🕉💖
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This morning woke up at 3:30am to meet the boys from Honey Hut at 4:30am to drive 90mins up to the top on Kunjapuri mountain on our scooters to the Kungapuri temple to see the sunrise… Except the silly boys didn’t put fuel in the tank & ran out of petrol half way up the mountain, pitch black 45 mins into the journey 😂 was hilarious, me trying to flag the huge worker trucks down to ask for fuel, (no one stopped of course!) until we managed to find a bit of piping (my idea coz i was obviously the brains of the operation lol) to syphon fuel out of my scooter into theres.
Job done, made it just in time for a let down sunrise (was so misty & we were so high above cloud level it only poked its nose briefly thro the clouds, but wot a funny adventure! Crazy guys…. After a brief puja & prassad in the temple & some fun with the dogs & monkeys we headed back down & stopped in a little colourful village for a masala chai……. Such friendly mountain people, & so welcoming & hospitable even tho no understandy……. (Thankfully i had the boys on hand) the village Looked so pretty with the all the street decorations for Navrati, & even the trucks are bright & colourful here in India!
Love watching how they live, its all so interesting & different….. Our government wud have heart failure if they saw wot goes on here!! 😃 & The Indian police are so friendly, i just drive around waving at everyone & they love it, a mad western woman on a scooter taking pics wizzing past them on her moped with an Indian dude on the back, I wud be locked up in the UK, or sectioned! 😂
Off for another wizz round on my scooter, feel so free (apart from inhaling the dust & pollution, bought some medical face masks, i look like a loony but my lungs are too important to care!)
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‘Selfie m’am’ the favourite quote from the locals! Everyone wants a selfie ☺️
Took myself & my faithful scooter up another mountain temple a few days ago, Mahadev Temple in Neelkanpth, end of the world, a small tiny but vibrant colourful little village built around the temple…. Took me about 90 mins to get there via treacherous roads with sheer drop on the side, stunning scenery but a little hair- raising with all the lunatic India drivers that do the jeep tours… They literally drive straight at u, no slowing down, so its get outta da way or play chicken…. But was fun! Maybe im a closet adrenalin junky 😱
Anyway, finally arrived at the top, im the only ‘white’ person there, only locals & Indian tourists visiting the temple… I was like Victoria Beckham! As soon as they saw me arrive on my scooter (which is even more funny for them, a girl, & a white one, driving a scooter up a mountain!) 😂 they surrounded me, ‘selfie m’am!’ Large Families & the locals, running after me shouting ‘english english, selfie, selfie’ & calling all their family for a pic, mum, dad, kids, brother, sister, auntie, uncle, cousin, second cousin, u name it!!
They all followed me up the 50 steps into the temple & watched me have a blessing with the swami….., i really did have a taste of how poor Victoria must feel, was a bit overwhelming i must say, but so funny too.
Anyway, i got back on my scooter to come back down, then an old albino India man with his wife, bout 80, asked me if i wud scooter her 1km down the mountain 😱 of course i said no coz she wud be dangerously side saddling & with the roads being so bumpy & gravel, i did not want to be responsible for harming a little old lady that had made it to 80!! 😂
So continued back down the mountain with school kids trying to jump on the back (for a lift down lol) then I picked up an man, bout 60 ish, this time, who was hitch-hiking down to see his donkey…. So i took him down, safely, drove another few kilometres alone, then a Baba stopped me, wanting a selfie, & he was walking to Rishikesh (17km away by this time) so i took him down to the bottom of the mountain, then left him with the police, who found it hilarious to see a white woman driving down the mountain with a Baba on the back of her scooter!!
Wot a funny few days its been, getting to no the locals, making friends with everyone! ☺️
As much hardship & poverty as there is here, the people never fail to greet u with a warm namaste & a hand on their heart. So humbling, so loving, so peaceful, even amongst all the hectic madness!
Been enjoying the Navrati festival here in India, a Hindu celebration of worship & devotion, parties, temples, blessings, special Aartis (puja & prassad – fire ceremonies) concerts, friends, fun, adventure!
My heart is wide open here, as it was the first time I came to India last winter. & it has welcomed me back again, with open heart & open arms.
This is why they call India The Mother-land… Mother India. She nurtures you, each & everyone of her ‘children’.
INDIA, I LOVE U MORE EVERY DAY ☺️💖🙏🕉
Hari Om
Om Nama Sivaya 💖🕉🙏
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