India at last

I have made it to this wondrous land, full of adventure, excitement, thrills, and anxiety....this place is crazy. Not as bad as I had expected, but still more intense than you can really imagine. Between the people, the heat, the dirt, the horns, the trains, the buses, the cows, and the children...you become worn out the minute you open your eyes.

It has been two months, in a few days, that I have roamed these lands. The first two weeks were spent in a lovely yoga ashram just outside of Trivandru, Kerala. Southern India is so laid back and peaceful compared to the north. I would still be there if it weren't for the heat and rain that pushed my travel companion and I to head up north through Bombay to Rajasthan and now I'm in the tourist cyclone that is Utter Pradesh. Agra holds the Taj Mahal, Varanasi has the burning ghats and they mystical Ganges River, and Delhi is just full of insanity (i have yet to experience the latter). I cannot wait to escape further north into the himalayas, first stop is Haridwar and then Rishikesh for more meditation and yoga retreats. Then to Dharamsala to visit my old travel buddy and to hopefully see the Dalai Lama, and help out by volunteering with some Tibetan Refugees.

It is very hard to travel in India as a lone female, but I feel like I get stronger each day and soon I will be able to handle the most aggressive tout with a good balance of grace and sternness. Ignoring them usually works, but not always.

Lonliness has plagued my mind over the past week, it doesn't help that Indian women are not too friendly and also travel together and with their husbands/families, and are rarely outside of the home unless they are shopping. Only men hang out in the street and talking with them always leads to the wrong path, where the conversation ends with me running away.

I have done much reading and contemplating, and not enough yoga. But soon that will change, as the ashram life will afford me the time and schedule to get serious for a little while. I plan on staying in an ashram for at least a month, and then later taking a course in Ayurveda, but I'm not sure when that will be. They can be costly and you have find a good center which isn't always the easiest thing to do.

Wow the heat is intense, the sun shines upon your head at6:30 and by 7:30 and you already break into a sweat. One must wake up very early, then take rest during the day, then wake up again for the evening. A tiring schedule, indeed. It makes for a hard time when it is dangerous to be outside alone and you are alone....more time to read and write and meditate.

Eating healthfully is also not really an option, as everything is fried, full of oil/ghee (clarified butter), or sugar. I hope to find a room somewhere with a kitchen or at least an ashram with a healthy menu. We shall see...