March 2009

Omm'ing, bending and breathing;
Ashram life awaits...

So, after finding my feet again - solo stylie - and encountering the bizzare world of Ttheyam... I found myself Ashram bound..
A long held dream of mine was to check out what all this Ashram business was all about - being fairly curious when it comes to matters of the soul and spirit the thought of exploring an Ashram had been a long pondered on idea of mine.. and then as only an Indian adventure can provide = an Ashram opportunity presented itself on a plate..

I discovered that starting within a few days, a 2 week course in Yoga was taking place at an ashram very close to me.. way too good an opportunity to pass up - and a choice that I have lived to be thankful for ever since...

So off to Sivananda's place in Neyyar Dam I went..


It started perfectly encountering the infamous Chelsea and Mike - now aptly named Mike JEEE -
At first I felt lost and, too be frank, quite nervous - the thought of signing myself up for 2 weeks without being able to leave a place I had no idea about, was daunting - but a tad exciting!! -
I quickly discovered we were all bricking it - and so we were all in it together one for all and allf or one - and all of that!!! (I was relieved!)

So on arrival I immersed myself into 4 hours of Yoga a day.

6 am rises,


with chanting,

vegan food and spiritual guidance lessons.

I must admit I digged the Yoga and really enjoyed it, but the changing of names and spiritual chanting didn't grab me.... but it was amazing experience - I ended up staying there for 3 and a half weeks - experiencing Pancha Karma

(an Ayurverdic treatment - not for the faint hearted - or for public explaination!!! but a must if you can handle it!) and I fell in love with the tranquil environment.

We woke to the noise of lions mating daily

(a lion sanctuary was nearby - quite a disturbing a frankly hilarious noise when trying to meditate at 6 am each morning!). The Neyyar Dam provided a beautiful lake for daily swims


and weekly meditation...

I met a whole host of amazing people at the Ashram - this was where Lucy and I met - the all important Lucy...
I also met Kate,

Nadine and the wonderful Mono Loco

Marcel

oh and a load of other amazing peeps...

Apart from learning how to stand on my head

I found a great group of friends


But everything has its darker side and for me the routine and all the strict rules (which I can see are important) were too much for me at that point in my trip (especially after nearly 3 years on a boat!)...
So, although I loved the Yoga, I had to leave.... and so I headed forward to my next experience =


"AUROVILLE"

The following poem is a gift from one of the most beautiful souls I have ever met. She gave it to me without realising and by doing so finally allowed me to put words to this never ending quest of mine.

Thank you Lucy xxx

Poem from an Ashram, Kerela

Some people do not have to search, for they find their niche easily in life and rest there seemingly content and resigned.
At times I envy them, but usually I do not understand them... and seldom do they understand me.
I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we completely content. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand.
We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by it's power and unceasing motion, it's mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests, mountains, deserts, hidden rivers and lovely cities, aswell.
Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as our laughter.

We searchers are ambitious only for life itself and for anything beautiful it can provide. Most of all, we want to love and be loved, to live in relationship that will not impede our wanderings and prevent our search. We do not want to prove ourselves to others or compete for love.

This passage is for wanderers, dreamers, and lovers who dare to ask of life everything which is good and beautiful.

(Feb 2009 - March 2009)

Beach beach BBEEAACCHH yeeehaaaahhhhh

I think it is fair to say that I LOVE THE BEACH.... LOVE LOVe LOve Love, love it!!!!....And after being left a little solo in Kochi I figured the best thing I could do was get myself to one sharpish! Refresh the soul and all!! The Western Coast of India is famous for beaches and luckily for me I had spotted the perfect one.. A barely known spot in northern Kerela known as Malabar Costa.


Wow this place.. well perhaps I should stop there because part of its charm is the fact that you´re practically alone......but it´s just so amazing I have to share it with you....


As always the scenery makes up just a part of any experience abroad . The people and the places you stay and visit make up the rest. Here at Malabari Costa the place I stayed, the wonderful people I met and the amazing places I visited is what really makes this place unique.
I stayed at what can be loosely described as a homestay.

My days (initially I planned for 4 I left after 10!) consisted of waking, breakfasting with 5 others then beaching it from 9 ish until midday. Shower, lunch, brief siesta then beach until sunset.... the beach was me me and only me miles and miles of sandy beaches just for me..

when i say me I mean only me no sellers no bars no OTHERS.. heaven... heaven heaven.. and the homestay.... well, apart from the guests being a real interesting bunch of people the food was out of this world.. INCREDIBLE does not do it justice.




I spent those 10 days living a clean healthy existence getting myself ready for a bit of India solo.. and what a perfect retreat Malabar Costa was....



And on top of all of that - if it's possible to top that - was the phenomenon of Ttheyam. A local ritual of which i was lucky to witness. I was unaware of its existance until I met the owner of my homestay. Some visitors came just to see the Ttheyam, I felt very shallow when he discovered I was there for the undisturbed beach time.... but that quickly changed when I witnessed this extraordinary event.

Theyyam is an amazing ritual performed just in this area of India at this time of year. (Kerela Jan-April) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theyyam.




I visited two performances and although the first wasn't quite what I had hoped for the second blew my mind away. The dancers dress themselves up as Gods,


go into a trance acting out various stories concerning Hindu Gods, they train all their lives for these performances..




It´s quite spectacular to witness this, especially when they look right at you, yet through you.

Our host at the homestay was incredibly knowledgeable and really helped to put the complicated stories into some sort of context both in terms of the villages and the gods history.

It was after much pained deliberation that I left this paradisical bolt hole. I headed inland for another brief yet rather unsuccessful tiger spotting mission

at Waynard Park,

where all I saw was bamboo

- lots of it!

Tail between legs I bounded to Varkala beach (yes more beach!) and prepared myself for the much anticipated OM chanting, back bending, Yogic ashram experience.

Bags are packed and ready to go...

OOOOOMMMMMMMMM

Jan - Feb 2009

Bikes, rivers, mountains, NO tigers and lots of tea

The moment has come = the dream trip on el Enfield arrived...


the backwater trips in Kerela

(on the canals and on bikes) blew my mind.... the tea estates of the nilgiri mountains come up trumps and the persistent search for the elusive Indian tiger continued.


After an excellent start to this tripette in Goa, Kerela beckoned. Named "Gods own country" by India, Kerela without a shadow of a doubt lives up to that name.. The backwater trip on the infamous houseboats was an absolute paradise...

It is truly tranquil

and beautiful

and clearly a living tourist attraction

with a whole host of communal activity going on

amongst all the pasty legged photgraphers.. we managed to sneak off for a quiet - dare i say romantic !! - 2 days, and aside from the millions of photographs i have taken, that experience is up there as an all time favourite...

Talking of all time favourite experiences its incredibly hard to distinguish which is the best in this whole Indian adventure.. After all that beach life and river water serenty we (me and my new found travelling companion David - from Spain) headed up into the mountains originally on a tiger and elephant search (In the south, for those of you not in the know, are the Nilgiri Hills - part of a mountain range older than the himalayas). The mountains have a lot of reserves with wild animals roaming free - apparently there are lots they just seem to be avoiding all amelia and david look alikes we soon came to discover - our tiger and elephant search took us to some amazing scenery in the form of Periyar wildlife sanctuary.. it was here high in the tea estates that we decided there was only one next step that could be taken - both in the search for tigers and for the benefit of this amazing trip - ahh at last we were to rent an Enfield.... I had already given up the notion of buying one and driving it myself - just too damn scary! But after a fair few intense/hilarious/hair-raising bus journeys, renting one and behaving myself as a great passenger sounded much more achievable. Varkala we hit and an Enfield we rented.....
then ensued a month of wonderful journey's: A visit to the most southern point of India = Kanyakumari and a hilarious encounter with a bonkers Baba some more reserves and tiger spotting missions and the glorious renting of a house (with kitchen and open fireplace)
high up in tea estate filled Coonor. Crossing over from the state of Kerela to Tamil Nadu with the ever entertaining trials and tribulations of having an old motorbike and its failing parts, India showed her true colours

with everyones unfailing and humbling generousity,
her mind blowing scenery
and her certifiable, undeniable, absoulte complete madness..


At the end of all that, phew, two and a half months of this trip (in total) has flown by.. My travelling partner in crime had to return home to Euroland and I was left in the amazing Kochi Enfield less - and little lovelorn - and with a blank sheet (again) readying myself for a touch more beach, yoga, community life and island paradise.... i e: don't feel too sorry for me.... the story of the spanish inquisition and the Enfield can not end there!!!

i leave you with the only tiger i managed to click my lens at! ggrrrrrrrrrrr!!