Hey, "That's India"!
Our trip to India , the motherland of yoga was an adventure , and I want to share some highlights from our adventure with you!
This trip was an epic whirlwind of yoga practice, bus rides, beautiful lavish hotels, chaotic roadways, shopping, witnessing moderate to extreme poverty, air pollution beyond imagination, jewelry wars, cows, goats, chickens, pigs, monkeys, ( lots of monkeys!), dogs, beggars, burning bodies, and on and on.
Read on to hear more about our beautiful, life-changing journey and get a taste of all the magic and wanderlust this incredible retreat held!
Hey, "That's India"!...
We started in Jaipur, then moved onto Varanasi (the oldest living city in the world!), then to the Ananda Spa that sits in the mountains above Rishikesh.
Like a delicately made cake, India’s many layers start from the obvious and move towards the subtle. After getting used to my senses being assaulted, I was able to look beyond the layer of appearances and see the hidden India; the unseen, intangible spiritual layer behind the curtain so to speak.
India is a land of extremes; a land that can potentially challenge and even dismantle a strong, rational mind.
While on this journey, we came up with the saying "that’s India” which translates to to "that’s the way the cookie crumbles"...The whole experience is a lesson in letting go.
...The Craziness of Jaipur
Jaipur, our first stop, was a great introduction to chaotic city life. We stayed on the edge of town at the Oberai Villas, a most spectacular hotel where we lavished in the best dining, beautiful surroundings, and did yoga on the steps of a 300-year-old Shiva temple.
Our outings included lots of staring out of bus windows into a strange yet beautiful world that included a parade of cows, goats, pigs, bicycles, cars, rickshaws, motorcycles, trucks, pedestrians, and on and on...All constantly weaving into each other on the roads together like a veritable orgy of constant movement.
New Experiences...
From Jaipur we flew to Varanasi, the world's oldest living city. We spent 48 hours taking in one of the holiest cities in India. We took a full moon boat ride along the Ganges, followed by a sunrise boat ride just a few hours later. Throw in "Sarnath" where The Buddha taught his first sermon, add rides to and from all the holy sites, a tour of the cremation ground where they burn bodies 24/7 365, (Yup, more or less 200 of them a day right there in the open for all eyes to see), then back to the airport to say goodbye to the cows, (yes, cows, even at the airport!).
Then we headed off to Ananda Spa to decompress, take in some amazing spa treatments, learn some Vedanta philosophy, and of course eat more fabulous food. We ate a lot on this trip and somehow we all came back skinnier than when we left!
With Gratitude...
Some stats from the trip: nobody got sick, nobody lost any luggage (an amazing feat considering the 4 separate flights we took as a group!), and we all still liked each other after 9 days of rigorous travel!
Much much gratitude to The Gods of India for their guidance, mercy, and compassion on our journey. We have all been forever touched and transformed by Mother India.
All that being said, remember when in India: Good brakes Good horn and Good luck!!! Hey, "That’s India"!