Christmas day 25th Dec 2009

I had the perfect Xmas day, I got up as usual around 6.30 to do my own practice & then taught a class which worked really well. Some of my students had come to a few of my classes which was really nice to teach the same people for a couple of days. I then sat & had my usual fruit salad, muesli & curd (this is yogurt that they make fresh every day) & a coffee along with my students. After I had a swim & relax on the beach, a walk to find a phone & the internet. Then I went for dinner in the evening with Charlotte, Frank, Nana & Lena, all my yoga students who are lovely. It was so nice to spend Xmas day in the sun & sea, I thoroughly recommend it.

14th Dec 2009 Yogagypsys!!

Yogagypsys – Such an apt name of a place for me to end up in, as I have always been a bit of a nomad, gypsy!
What a beautiful amazing space with amazing chef (Sebodh) & staff (Ganesh,Sulekha, Mary & Suresh), just outside Arambul, on Aswem beach, check out the place at this link http://picasaweb.google.co.in/yogagypsys/YogaGypsysJan09?feat=email#. When looking at yogagypsys I asked the owner Cathy about the yoga & if they had a teacher, at that time she hadn’t & said that I could teach if I came to stay. The yoga platform has a view of the sea & palm trees, its really beautiful. Now I am teaching every day & sometimes 2,3 classes a day, a morning more dynamic class & an afternoon restorative class & occasionally a private class. Its amazing how quickly my dreams can come true if you just trust & believe that things will work out! Cathy the owner has created a wonderful space that is nothing like anything else on the beach, its kind of a hidden away haven. There are day beds, hammocks to hang out in, within beautiful gardens along with a yoga platform over looking the sea. Teaching everyday is giving me so much experience which I am loving. On the occasional morning where I have felt a little tired, as soon as I teach I feel alive, present & focused, I enjoy it so much. I am now doing my own practice for my students, as it’s the only way to find out what works & what doesn’t work. The people I have taught as well have given me positive feedback which is just a wonderful feeling. I have taught so many different people, from many different countries (Russia, French, Portugal, American, Canadian, English, Israel etc) each person with a different story to tell. It so interesting seeing how everyones bodies work differently & just so nice to keep meeting new people all the time. Each day I learn something new from my students.

Everyday I awake in my tipee around 5, 6am & then get up to do my own practice. As I clean my teeth I look into the mirror at the view, beautiful palm trees & the sea. I feel so lucky to be there living my dream! It is so nice to spend my time doing something that you know will benefit people no end! Once again i know i made the right decision leaving Cisco, no matter what happens in the future.

Arambul, Goa – 3rd Dec 09

We got to the beach in time to start an Iyenger yoga course! Unfortunately I was sick, I got bronchitis, I think this had been building up on the journey through Rajasthan due to not so much sleep on the trains & all the dirt & smog I was inhaling. At one point an ayuvedic doc thought it might have gone to pneumonia but luckily I started feeling better the next day so it wasn’t. It was a test for me as the doc said not to do anything, no yoga just to rest. I had already signed up for the course & paid but I had to sit in a corner & watch for most of it, then on the 2nd day I just went for the last 30 mins. The rest did me good as my cough was finally beginning to ease, thank goodness as it was really painful & I was so sick of coughing constantly! Also I wanted to join in on the yoga course. The course was v. slow, it was good for me as it was a real reminder of the fine details there are to teach about each yoga pose. Even though it may have seemed a little too slow during the course I know that I would take away a lot from it. Overall it was well worth doing or listening to as I had!

Mumbai – 2nd Dec 09

Arriving in Mumbai was as chaotic as I had expected after the calmness of Rajasthan! I did not feel great as we arrived into the station due to the heat, no food & generally feeling a little nautilus! Jay also looked for his trainers when we arrived & they had mysteriously gone missing, hahah someone had stolen his stinky old trainers that he had for the full year of his travels. Luckily he had sandals as well & was on his way home so wouldn’t need them but still you had to laugh that someone would take them! I was lucky that mine didn’t disappear as well. You hear lots of stories about luggage been stolen but your stinky shoes is not as common, haha!

As you step off the trains you see thousands of people everywhere! Then it took us 3 hours to cross Mumbai to get to the right station for our overnight train to Goa. No lunch, very hot & no food until 5pm! As you can imagine I was so relieved when we finally managed to drop our bags off at the right station & then hunt down some food, a simple chana masala has never tasted so good. I had 2 pepsis as well to get my blood sugar back up! It did the trick & I felt alive enough again to head to the beach to chill out . The beach had a really nice vibe, much more liberal it seemed with men & women hanging out together which normally you wouldn’t see, young couples walking, chatting & wearing more western clothing. Some young children came begging but were actually quite funny jumping all over us & playing, I have to say I was concerned about our stuff! We gave them bananas though which they tried to feed back to us! Bless I did feel for them but still refuse to give any money to kid beggars.

We were not staying in Mumbai as we didn’t have enough time & to be honest been in a city that is said to have more people per square metre than any other city, & has over 16M people, which grew from a once fishing village 500 hundred years earlier, the biggest urban sprawl in the planet. I was glad to get on our final night train to Goa & slept so well. I almost didn’t want to get off at our stop! We then got an auto rickshaw (tuck tuck) to the bus station where we hopped onto our first local bus of the day. The bus was super nice in comparison to the local buses in Dharmasala & was empty! First impressions of Goa seemed like there was a lot more money here, even for local transport. It was also v.green, lots of palm & banana trees & v.hot. Two buses later we made it to Arambul & then got a motorbike taxis to take us to the beach & the main town. I was pretty exhausted by this point but looked forward to finding a place to stay & going for a swim! After been so cold in Dharmasala it was really nice to feel the sun & it wasn't too hot.

Overnight bus to Udaipur from Pushkar – 27, 28th Nov, Udaipur – 28th Nov

We arrived at 5am from the bus, earlier than expected & the first 2 guest houses we tried were full, the tuck tuck driver showed us a couple more & luckily we ended up at a really nice one! Beautiful city, this time the lake did have water in it. There is a lovely palace out on the water that has been turned into a hotel. It is another city that has morning prayers played across the city, which makes it really magical. We went on a short boat trip around the lake, which was a great way to see the palace & a view of the city, I would have liked longer on the boat but never mind. The buildings in Udaipur were beautiful, old & rustic looking & at night all lit up like in a fairy tale. The sunsets were also amazing, you could watch from roof top restaurants & you really felt like this was the India you envision from books & films you have read & seen. It was a much bigger city than Pushkar but a complete contrast from a city like Delhi, infact they are not comparable! There are beautiful cobbled back streets which were like a maze, one day I got lost around the streets which was really interesting as I got to see people at work, there were rooms that had big printing machines, people making things, mechanics etc. It reminded me of a back street industrial estate in UK but much smaller & in cute houses, super interesting! On the same walk whilst trying to find my way back to my hotel I had two young girls directed me & ha a little chat with me, one of the girls looked like she was blind but still she was busy playing, laughing with her friend. It felt so nice seeing what goes on behind the tourist areas & all the people were really friendly & helped guide me back to my hotel. Doing yoga on the rooftop to the sound of the chanting, prayers whilst the sun was going down was wonderful, I actually felt like you were emerged in the city without having to go anywhere! We were lucky that the food was also really good in our hotel so there was no need to rush around, which I liked as I was in need of a rest after our travels had moved us on from day to day. I was actually quite sad when it came to move on from Udaipur, It is definitely a place you could base yourself for a little while! However we had to travel on as we had booked to start an Iyenger course in Goa by the 4th Dec & had arranged to hook up with Natasha again here. She had not wanted to do the travelling on trains & buses for a week through Rajasthan & had decided to fly down to Goa instead.

When we arrived at the train station in Udaipur we couldn’t believe how quite & nice the station was & then our train was waiting on the platform & our carriage was literally right in front of us! This wasn’t usual for catching a train in India! The night part of the journey was smooth, however this was a long train leaving at 10pm & arriving into Mumbai at 2pmish the following day. In the morning I had awoken around 7am & we were stopped at a station, I have no idea where we were but I decided to get off & get some toilet paper! I haven’t managed to adopt India’s way of using the left hand! I got off the train & bought my paper, then was deliberating over whether to buy some chocolate or not. Very unhealthy thing to do for breakfast but hey long journeys sometime require such snacks! As I was about to decide the stall guy told me to look round, as I did I saw the train moving away, oops, hahha! Luckily the trains set off out of the train station so slowly that a thousand chai sellers are able to get on, go through the train & get off again as the train has just left the long platform. So I was easily able to run & catch my carriage, l didn’t buy any chocolate though!

The Taj Mahal! Unbelievable! 26th Nov 2009 - Agra

We all got up early so that we could go to the Taj for sunrise, however oddly they had an odd queuing system to get tickets & didn’t open the gates until the sun had nearly risen! Still once we were in it didn’t take away the amazing site of the Taj. It actually looks just like the pictures & you cant belive it is actually real. I touched the Taj but yet still when you look at our pics it looks like we were stuck on them! Inside the Taj its very open, apparently it was never finished, it did have a serene feeling to the place. Already by 8am it was getting hot so I was grateful that we had gone at this time of year that was apparently really cool. We sat down to mediate on one side of the Taj, I liked sitting quitely but the others said they were distracted by all the tourists going past. I enjoyed seeing the Taj but the overall experience wasn’t a patch on the Golden Temple, partly because no matter how hard you looked at the Taj & its wonderful architecture it just didn’t look real!

We also ventured off to the Red fort which was quite cool although like many of Indias buildings looked slightly worse for wear & neglected. The price that westerners pay for the Taj & other tourist sites is really expenie, the money is supposed to go to the restoration of the buildings but it didn’t look like they do much to me!

Agra was a tourist hub & therefore a place where you get a lot of hassle people everywhere wanting to get you a rickshaw or sell you something & not taking no for an answer. I was glad that we were getting out of there that evening on a night train to Pushkar (station near Pushkar that I have forgotton the name of) in Rajasthan. After the previous days experience I was hoping that the next train would be hassle free!

The train was delayed by 3 hours, more waiting! I remember Aeife saying that India has taught her patience & yes you definatley have to get used to Indian timings can mean anything! At the station it was funny me & Jay bumped into Paul , a dutch guy I had met in Mccloud Gange. I thought our paths would not cross but there we were 3 weeks later waiting for the same delayed train. We all played cards whilst waiting, then had a snooze until eventually the train arrived. At 12 at night the station had calmed down a lot & the only people around were now sleeping all around the station. Its amazing a lot look like they are dead as they cover themselves from head to foot in a blanket & then sleep on whatever they can find. Also people just cross the tracks to get to another platform, women, men carrying stuff, they don’t bother with the bridges!

When the train arrived this time things went a lot smoother, for starters knowing the carriage & seat your supposed to be in helps a lot! As it was so late the train seemed less busy, those that were on were busy snoring away, luckily in India you always have ear plugs with you as its generally v.noisey with either traffic or people! With ear plugs & eye mask & trusty Tibeten blanket from Mccloud I was able to get some sleep. The train was cold though even though I had thermals on! We arrived earlier than expected at our destination & then we headed for a bus to Pushkar, a place famous for its holy lake. Unfortunately when we arrived there was virtually no water in the lake as apparently it had been drained due to its dirtyness! Hahaha nevermind. Pushkar was a really cute little place with loads of stalls & nice different food places. We also had a guest house that had a nice big quiet garden & overlooking the mountains. Me & Jay had a wonderful time exploring the town, we got dragged down to the mostly empty lake to do a Puja offering by some locals, we thought afterwards that it was a half scam as they demanded money off us straight away. They said the money was for the Brahmans, Pushkar was the only Brahman town. Oh well you are going to get ripped off as a tourist in these kind of places & you just don’t know in India if you have to do these things or not, otherwise you might create bad karma, haha! Later on we & the whole town were invited to the local wedding. This was complete madness, it was a huge area & the bride & groom were at the front on thrown like seats been photographed, whilst all the women sat watching. At the side, there was an 80s style dance floor with a dj playing banging rave sytle music. It was crazy, all the locals got us to dance with them which was fun & then we got fo eat some lovely food. We went upto the couple who had a photo with us, hahaha! Pushkar had a lovely feel about the place & was a lot less hectic than some the towns we had passed through to catch buses, trains. It was a good first taster of Rajasthan, another time when I go back I would like to go into the desert, its really close by & supposed to be amazing, especially when they have the camel markets! Its one crazy party apparently.

Leaving Ispiice

25th Nov – I left Ispiice – Sascha, Verun & Aeoife & the local community. 5am bus to Chakki bank to catch a train to Agra where we were meeting Jay. For once in my life I was early for a train, this time 3 hours early! I tried to focus on this been a good thing & get over my inability to spend time waiting for things. This lasted for about 50 mins as I tried to write my journal , then I felt too tired to write but unable to sleep so I thought it would be a good opportunity to use the internet! It seemed like we were in the middle of no where but I was sure there must be one near by so I asked various people & they suggested a 10 min walk & I would find one. Whilst we had been there the same little begger boy had come upto us 4,5 times, each time we said no, I will not give money to kids even though they do look desperate & it breaks your heart, you know it will not help them, it only encourages them to continue begging. I left Natasha with the bags & headed to find the Internet, I managed to find the main street which interestingly didn’t seem to have any women on it, so I had a lot of curious eyes looking at me as I walked what turned out to be 15,20mins the wrong way! As I didn’t have any luck I turned round to go back, hot & tired, I still had my thermals on from the bus journey, as Dharmasala & the bus were freezing! As I was about to give up I found the interenet, by this time I only had about 30mins before the train, so quickly checked my mails & headed back to Natasha.

Now this would be both me & Natashas first train journey in India & neither of us were very savy about how things worked. I had a reserved ticket but when I looked at the sheet there was no seat or carriage number on it, whoops! Natasha didn’t even have a ticket & ended up by a local class ticket. We thought we would blag it so Natasha could sit with me on my sleeper seat, even though it’s the day you still have the beds out to lie down on so 2 people could share! When the train arrived it was heaving & hot! I made a decision that we should just sit on a free seat! We did this & when the guard came round, his English wasn’t too good & he gave up trying to get us to move & sort out Natashas ticket by saying she had to pay a fine by disappearing & not telling me where my seat was supposed to be. After feeling ok for a while & eating the amazing packed lunch Aeife had given us for the journey things started to get a bit troublesome after about 3 hours, the train was a 12 hour journey (that cost £5!) in total & I thought we were going to end up standing! Jay had said that all the train journeys he had been on the inidan people were really nice & let him join them in a good seating area even if he didn’t have the right ticket. This was not the case with me & Natasha, some Indian men got on & demanded that we were in their seats & that we didn’t have the correct tickets! They called the guard & after much kaffufle the guard told us we had to move & to follow him. Meanwhile the guys who were taking our seats had much fun laughing at us! I got slightly annoyed when none of them even helped us get all our backpacks down from the upper beds, you definitely get the feeling that women are not as respected as men in India! The guard took us to the guard room & basically kicked out some other guards & then finally with the help of another guard they managed to locate my seat, we were in the totally wrong carriage! As the right carriage for me was about 5 carriages away they told us they would find us a seat in the carriage near by. In the mean time they asked us if we wanted chai & then were really nice to us. They told us not to show anybody Natashas ticket as she shouldn’t be in the sleeper carriage! We got all the usual questions that you get in India, how old are you? What do you do? Are you married? When they find out my age & the fact I am not married they find it very strange & you get the distinct feelling they look at you like “poor girl left on the shelf” hahaha . I don’t care, the break from the squashed seat we were in with the sun blarring through was really nice & we actually had a seat & free chai!

Eventually the other guards wanted their seats back & moved us to another seat in the normal carriage, to our horror though they kicked some men out who were sitting there. We said we didn’t want to take their seats & we would share but the men moved anyway! The little seating drama was good as it wasted at least a couple of hours of the journey. When we settled into our seats the train didn’t seem that bad & I was quite enjoying seeing some of India. Every possible stop Chai sellers, beggers etc would join the train & try & get you to buy something, we were very grateful we had our packed lunch from Ispiice & our nibbles so we didn’t have to eat the food that passed by!

12 hours later we arrived outside Agra but then the train was held up for 1 hour outside the platform, by this time it was 11pm & we had been up since 4am so we were v.tired. Infact I had awoken at 2am as I couldn’t sleep as I was excited about going on my road trip through Rajasthan. First look of Agra train station at night & the place looked like a hole & it pretty much is apart from the Taj Mahal. We successfully found our hotel & met up with Jay who had travelled from Rishikesh.