Highlights from India

We did so many things whilst in India and the simple encounters we made en route with some amazing people have to be a great highlight but there are some memorable moments certainly for me that stick out as highlights along the way....
Bylakuppe : the Tibetan community 2 hours from Mysore with 10000 monks living and studying in this amazing environment with monastries, schools, hosiptals and the constant sound of prayer and chant as musical backdrop to our stay. A shere delight to share this with them and with our friend and guide Sonam.
The Backwaters - the boat trip with Johnson's Eco Boat was a definite higligh for us all. Very chilled out, lots of space, Fab food! and a perfect way to view life in all its guises on this stretch of water.....simple magical.
Yoga with Venkatesh in Mysore - a unique way of practising hatha yoga to work from within to without focussing on the breath, limited movement and looking to the organs to stretch as opposed to the body
Varkala - this unique cliff-side spot with its red cliffs jutting sharply down into the sea. We stayed at the perfect spot Sea Pearl Chalets which was quite simply ideal with its eagle eye view of the beach below, perfect little garden for morning yoga and afternoon chilling whilst watching the birds of prey fly over head....
The station platform at Coimbatore - witnessing the muslim community say farewell to a few loved-ones leaving for the hadge and Mecca....very moving
The steam train ride to Ooty - long but worth it as it wound its way up the mountain side to Ooty with breath taking views and drops either side to turn the stomach
Pondicherry and staying at the Aurodindo ashram accommodation by the sea with its incredible garden - prefect for yoga and meditation in the morning
Amma's ashram and the amazing kirtan vibes in the evening and the beautiful morning chanting energy
Walking up the Chembra Peak and the tea plantations!
Ayurvedic Massage - enjoying the vigorous moves of the ayurvedic massage especially a lovely little lady in Mamallapuram
The many people we met especially Lakshmi on the train to Coimbatore who sang to us so beautifully, Giatri who leet us squat in her home as Martine was so poorly for a couple of hours, Sonam our beautiful Tibetan friend who showed so much kindness towards us, Pradeep who helped us so much after Martine got her bag stolen from the hotel room aand the many nodding head people who listened too us when we needed help or talked to us and patiently explained the does and donts of India.... Namaste to all!

Last Day of October - Thoughts about India

Well I'm finding it a little gard to adjust to life back here in europe. Yes it is cold and rainy which is a vast difference to the weather in India but life in general is so different and I feel more than a little guilty at the amazing life I have and the beautiful countryisde that surrounds me. The richness of my life in material form is vast when compared to that of the many people we saw and encountered during our trip. Does that mean those people are poorer or unhappier? No I don't think so.... naturally everyone out there is working so hard often simply hand to mouth to earn enough to eat that evening or the next day and they would love a little more than they have but we saw plenty of smiling and happy people, children playing and a simplicity of life that left me in complete admiration ... money does not make you happy for sure it comes from way deeper.... I think that their devotion to whichever religion they have chosen - Muslim, Christian or Hindu and we met them all - provides them with an assurance deep within that everything is as it should be and God will be there for them no matter what and that ultimately everyone is connected in this universe- something we lack in our european world of seperateness. Their faith and devotion forms part of their every day routine just as we brush our teeth or dress for the day ahead whereas we reserve our worship - often the rare times we do - for a church environment on a Sunday or simple at Christmas....thus creating a seperate nature to our faith as opposed to one that has a direct affect on our every day lives.....This is just my opinion of course but I think this faith interlinked with one's day allows a person to feel more confident that their is a higher purpose to the mundane every day, to the hard work and thus be happier about daily tasks. And boy are the daily tasks hard work for many out there! Namaste

28th October 2010

Back in France...what a journey over this past month and what a last couple of days journey! Intense and my body seems to have given up a little filling up with cold on the flight home but we are back safe and sound. The journey back from Bylakuppe was full on with Martine very sick and Leslie not on form - an emotional farewell too to Sonam who was an absolute gem to us. Mysore and the train was intense as ever and Chennai is a heaving mass of life and not always the good side of it....it does have a smeel that only the heat and well dirt and poverty can creat but we found a great guest house for our last night in quiet gardens. We got an early taxi to the airport - mad driving right till the end - second and first gears are not used much! and the flight (s) home were just perfect. Club World is certainly THE best way to travel. My girls met me with Christian at the station in Valence on 26th in the evening and Teo and Claude came too for Leslie and Martine and we just about stayed awake for dinner before driving up the mountain in the cold to our own bed for the first time in a month. Thank God! I will posst more thoughts on India and this journey we have been on over the next few days and more photos as I start to get my head around life back here in europe....in the meantime namaste!

24th October Bylakuppe

Well it has been an amazing day here in Bylakuppe - it is not every day you see monks on motorbikes, a philosophy debate with several hundred monks, younger student monks playing football with an elastic band style ball, visit several quite outstanding temples and have a guided tour with our delightful friend and guide Sonam then bless the mala beads we bought around the hundreds of prayer wheels surrounding the monastry....then go back to Sonam's house to make momos and dhal with her and her husband and share a very privileged moment with her discussing life, budhism, tibet and how her family came to be in India, her daily life and oh so many more memories. Visually this whole journey has been an array of colours and diverse experiences and today the temples were also a mass of colour and sounds but my lasting memory of today has to be the time spent with Sonam sharing her real life Budhist philosophy built on devote belief and simple humility....her eyes, smiles, laugh and sometimes tears said it all.....such a wonderful day. Very sad to leave her home this evening and tomorrow we start our return journey to Mysore and Chennai.....France bound on Wednesday morning. From this corner of Budhist Tibet in the heart of Karnataka... namaste

Mysore to Bylakuppe

So a very bumpy road journey on the bounciest bus I have ever travelled on - but we made it and found our hotel and the yoga shala where we spent three days practising with the very precise and patient Venkatesh. Mysore is certainly the richest feeling city we have been in to date and the cleanest but also the most polluted. Still the people remain very welcoming and we really enjoyed our time there.....Martine found the nurse she was supposed to see to give her the letter from her godfather, we all found silk and had clothes made, went to an amazing temple an hour out of Mysore called Somnapur - incredible stone sculptures piled high - quite an incredible sight, and we had a great evening for my 40th birthday first at the Lalitha Mahal and then the Olive Garden, Unfortunately I got sick the day after (22nd) and spent most of the afternoon in bed or being sick. Better today thank goodness and we have headed to Bylakuppe accompanied by the delightly Sonam who arrived in Bylakuppe in full tibetan dress and we drove 2 hours to Bylakuppe - a vast tibetan community with about 10000 monks studying and living here. Quite an amazing experience to be here with so many monks and a completely different culture to the Indian one just a few kilometres away....Its not every day you see monks in burgundy robes on motorbikes drinking coke! We are here tomorrow and then via Hunsur travelling back to Mysore to catch the train to Chennai and then the return home to France on 27th....all going quickly. There may be one more entry before the end of the trip and then a resume with some more photos when we return to France....goodnight to all Namaste

19th October 2010 Chembra Peak

We climbed Chembra Peak today early start and climbed to the top of the 2100 metres peak and had some great views down the valley. The tea plantations were fantastic to se and the colours of the flowers amazing! Ayurvedic treatments this afternoon and we are collapsing into bed tonight and off to Mysore tomorrow......namaste

18th October 2010 Kalpetta

So three days have passed since the last entry and boy have we travelled. It started on a train from Allepey to Coimbatore with cockroaches for company and thankfully some great people including the lovely Lakshmi who even sang to us and entertained us for a couple of hours - aged 70 but full of energy! Then a rickshaw to Mettupalyam where we stayed in a lodge that wanted to be modern but let itself sadly down once you left the reception area.....evening at the station to collect the station masters token without which we would not be allowed a ticket the following day - purely at the station masters discretion the tokens and we bypassed the hundreds of people on the waiting list - as we were collecting the token we witnessed a moving departure of people to mecca for the hadge - on their first part of their epic journey Mettupalayam to Chennai. A lovely man explained the principles of Islam and the hadge to us as the prayers and tears and shouts of allah akbar could be heard along the platform by the many relatives standing their to see them off. 5 am start and off the to station for the ticket collection and then stood in a queue for an hour or so to make our way through the srum and bag our seats for the 5 hour journey up the mountain to Ooty at over 2000 metres altitude it a hillstation that used to be manned by the brits to escape the heat. The train crawled steam driven up the mountain through tea plantations and with deep drops either side of the train on more than one occaision. We saw monkeys and amazing flowers and Martine appointed hersefl litter warden telling all the people i our carriage to put their rubbish in the bag she had and not to through it out the window as India is not a dustbin - she has her work cut out for her let me tell you! Ooty a disappointment - dirty, poor, nothing on offer although funnily they were actually selling scalves, gloves and hats outside the station - it was at least 25 degrees in the sun not -25! Then we took an epic 4 hour taxi journey down the mountain in possibly the oldest taxi in India with a driver who battled with his collapsing car and kept telling us to pray for him and performing elaborate signs of the cross on himself and the car whilst Christian songs blarred out from his stereo. We finally arrived in kalpetta and the ayurvedic clinic - yet another disappointment on the hygene front but otherwsie all ok. Then I realised I'd left my mobile in the taxi so we frantically called him and he drove to meet us in Sultans Battery (yes this is the real name!) so a later evening than planned but I got my phone back. Today we have all had a breif consultation with the Ayurvedic Doctore Dr Vinod Babu and had treatments this morning and this afternoon followed by some yoga and tomorrow we are off to clim the Chembra Peak at 6 in the morning before more treatments in the afternoon and hopefully and early night! Mysore will be the next stop...I hope to add some photos there of the last few days but suffice to say we have already had quite a journey here and we are all still digesting everything we are seeing every day of this trip...it will take some time to do so I think.....until the next entry. Namaste

15th October... later that day

So allepey is a mass of noise and shops and people and we are exhausted. We intended to go to the beach but as it has turned out the weather has not been great so we might wander to the beach just to look this evening but we spent the day shopping and eyes wide open again at all there is to see here in india. The people once again prove so friendly - a young boy who reminded us so much of th slum dog millionaire story as his father was a drunk and died in a train crash and his mother works in saudi so he is looking after his younger brother by working in a cafe aged 18 spoke amazing english and is a campion frisbee player - they have a league and a team for that here would you believe!

So exhausted but happ we will sleep here in allepey and then head tomorrow 7 hours of train and a taxi ride to Mettulapayam and then onto to ooty the following day via the blue mountain railway before descending the mountain and down to Kalpetta for some serious ayurvedic treatments! namaste to all

15th October Allepey

So we had a night at Amma's ashram which was an experience to say the least. The chanting and kirtans and pujas were just amazing but the ashram, its rules, its hygene and its noise left a lot to be desired. We were quite glad to leave - not for the level of spiritual devotion we found there but for the lack of sleep, the strictness and austerity of the people in all their gestures.....we headed to allepey and met with the character full Johnson before taking yet another rickshaw to the water side - the backwaters of allepey. Our house boat was just the best spot for us to chill out for 2 days, the staff were fabulous and the food the best we have had so far! We have spent two amazing days watching the water world go by and getting some well earnt chill time. Although even the houseboats beep their horns every now and then - they are no doubt getting withdrawels from the lack of beeping on these amazingly beautiful stretches of water. The local people when we stopped were so friendly and we had a great chance to see the people at their daily lives - morning puja and prayers, washing themselves and their clothes in the river, the little canoes and the local traders selling anything from rice flour to milk to cigarettes. Yoga on the deck of the boat in the morning and evening and leslie and martine has a swim in he river after lunch yesterday. It was glorious weather during the day and rainfall at night. We visited a small local village and temple last night and it was lovely to see the simple but devote way they worship despite the water, the mud and the obvious lack of material wealth they have. So now back in allapey town and we plan to head to the beach this afternoon - the last water and beach of this trip before we head up to Coimbatore and Mettupalayam tomorrow and then onto Ooty and Kalpetta on Sunday......3 nights then at the ayurvedic hotel so we hope to get some serious treatment time and a few walks in as well. Until then from this amazing country of soul! Namaste and om shanti!

Varkala 11th October....

Well after the mishaps and a very unsavory experience at the police station I do not wish to repeat we left Kovalam for Varkala and its red cliffs. Our chalet tippe style hotel just a delight and we have been the only ones there so simply perfect for yoga in the garden each mrning with the waves for music and finally the sun has come out and the rain subsided! We have spent a few happy days here and will be sad to leave. The cliffs and seaside resort have just been a welcome breath of calm after the stress of the cities.
Indian life still never fails to wow and intrigue us and tomorrow we are back on the road after yoga in the morning heading for amma's ashram and then the bacwaters of Kerela on a house boat just for us! Martine managed to recover her passport so we are back on track for the route as planned and we are really looking forward to the rest of our adventure! Om shanti and namaste to all!

Saturday 9th October

Well in Kovalan and heavy rains here not much sun and lots of indian families in full dress in the sea! Slight disaster befell us last night with Martine having her bag stolen from the hotel bedroom at 2 in the morning so not happy bunnies this morening and very tired. Not sure how things will pan out over the next few days as she will have to get a replacement passport in Pondocherry. The adventures of travelling I suppose - they took her money, camera and phone too but we are safe and in good health if tired. The plan is to head to Varkala later but we have to get the certifcate of theft from the police department first and then see what we do.....all the joys of travelling. Otherwise all is fine and we are really loving India and ALL is different aspects - it is a challenge at times but the people are very friendly and helpful....
all our love from kerela... namaste

6th October

Thought from India
We have totally amazed by the assault on the senses here - through the chaos - especially on the roads - their is some order and few accidents, through the dirt comes amazing beauty, through the noise comes quiet and a deeper sense of peace that we do not know in the west. Just an amazing experience to see the smiles of everyone - even the women carrying 7 bricks on their heads to the building site next door all day until late at night or the bin lady drseed in a sari sorting the rubbish by hand into her cart and smiling! This is quite a country and the people simple wonderful - they are very friendly and not once have we felt threatened or at risk. We get starred at a lot because of our skin and because we 3 ladies travelling alone but all is well and everyone more than willing to smile with us and help us or answer our questions on anything. Simple an amazing country of contrasts!

6th October 2010

well tiring and wet is the word but we are fine and in trivandum after a 16 hour train ride which toilets aside was actually quite good. Slept well and woke to the tea seller coming onto the train around 9 with hot sugary tea. Trivandrum is wet with the rains still here at the moment and as such not the best time but we managed to get to the museum which was amazing just for the building itself and a lot cleaner than Pondicherry which was quite frankly filthly! Pondi was goo thoughand we managed to do quite a lot including some descent shopping! The Ayuvedic doctor we saw was interesting and good although a little too involved in his own ego and looked very like little richard! We half expected a quick rendition of great balls of fire! Anyway where Pondi was dirty outside and the guesthouse spotless in Trivandrum it is clean outside and the guest house is well very dirty! So we are going to head to Kovalam tomorrow and the seaside hoping for some sun rays in between the deluges. All is well - I'm missing my girls a little and Christian but all said we are all three fine. The food is amazing and we are enjoying the fact that very few places sell meat! Veggie heaven. Off to bed now so until the next time....in K0valam or Varkala

Arrived in India!!!

So after a short stop and a very hair raising drive to Mamallapuram we have now arrived in Pondicherry and are staying in the Sri Aurobindo ashram accommodation which is beautifully located with amazing garden looking over the bay of bengal. All is well - very hot and lots of mosquitos but fine aside from that. Yoga in the garden this morning which was a real treat and a day of sightseeing here before we leave tomorrow night for Trivandrum and Kerala. India is a reall assault on the senses with noise 24 hours a day, colours and life all around you and too much to take in in a short space of time. The people are lovely although there are not many westerners here at the moment so we are quite an attraction! We are going to try and buy local clothes to blens in but I suspect that might be tricky! White skin and blond hair - kind of hard to hide! Sending love and light and heat to you all from Pondicherry. Namaste

1st October 2010

Heathrow in the rain heading to Chennai in 2 hours time - be in Mamallapuram tomorrow afternoon! All is well despite lots of tiredness - can't wait for the bed in club class! Thanks Steve and Rachel!