PARADISE FOUND

I arrived on Gilli Trawangan almost 2 weeks ago and I could possibly spend the rest of my living days here (if a certain someone was here to enjoy it with me, ahem). It is a little piece of heaven. No motorized vehicles on the whole island. There are barely roads, and the only things on them are miniature horses and carriage and beaten up old bicycles. The population of this island is less than 1000 people. I am paying less than $10 a night for a little room by the beach with a hammock, and breakfast included. Life is good.

During the first week I spent a huge amount of my time at about 30 metres underwater. I started off just doing some 'Fun Dives' and was enjoying it so much I decided to do my Advanced Diver course. Amazing. Nothing like the initial certification I did almost 15 years ago (which was sooo technical and boring). This level consisted of 5 segments: Deep Diving, Underwater Photography, Underwater Navigation, Fish Identification and Night Diving. My instructor was amazing, a Swedish girl named Malin. I was doing at least one dive a day and the underwater life here is so beautiful. I have seen so much underwater variety and after learning about all the fish I can ACTUALLY identify some of them too! Manta rays, sting rays, sharks, crabs, squids, octopus, turtles galore and more fish than I could even begin to list off. I am addicted to diving and its so cheap that its easy to do a dive a day.

In search of an adventure, some mountain fresh air and a little physical activity, I signed myself up for a 3 day trek up Mount Rinjani. Mt. Rinjani is on the island of Lombok, just a 20 minute boat ride from the Gili's. It has an active volcano on it, and a lake with hot springs inside one of the rims. This mountain is also almost 4000 metres above sea level (similar to Mount Fuji), and let me tell you the climb was HELL! I know I'm not exactly the picture of perfect physical health but I was NOT prepared for what I got. It was 3 days of about 8 hours a day of walking up and down 90 degree inclines on rough terrain. Needless to say my body was not too happy with me. It was an amazing experience (easy to say now that I'm back on the beach, but at the time I probably wouldn't be so forthcoming). There were 6 of us in the group with one guide and 3 porters. We climbed up, up and up on Day One. We arrived at the first rim, and set up camp. At 3am the trek (to make it for sunrise) was made up to the summit and then by early morning we broke camp and climbed all the way down to the lake and base of the volcano for lunch (did I mention there was a live volcano that erupted every few hours and at night we saw the glowing red lava flowing down the mountain? amazing stuff!). Afterlunch weclimbed BACK up to the other side of the rim and camped there.On the last day it wasa good6 hours of climbing STRAIGHT down. By the time we finished I was swollen, bruised, broken, sore, tired, hot, dirty, blistered, and... did I say dirty? Why did I chose to this recreationally? Who knows. But in retrospect it waslovely. Met some cool people, saw some cool stuff, that's what travelling is all about.

Now I'm back on Gili and so happy to be back in flip flops and a bikini and on the beach. It is OFFICIALLY one week till D-Day, when I start my long journey back to the motherland! So for the next week I'm kicking my feet up and sucking up every bit of relaxation I can get.

Indonesia

Oh India, it was fun while it lasted, but now I've moved on with my life.

Welcome to Indonesia.

I flew into Bali just over a week ago and this place oozes with ease! The exact opposite of India, and just what I needed. I went into extreme culture shock for the first 24 hrs from when I landed in Kuta. It felt more like I touched down in Cali, not Bali. Surfers everywhere, tourists galore, big massive shopping complexes, 24 hr convenience stores....even McDonalds delivered on motorbikes. I spent the last 3 months trying to cover as much skin from showing as possible and here everyone walks around completely naked. I couldn't even figure out what to wear my first day! Initially, I wanted to get out of dodge as soon as possible but slowly I remembered how nice it was to have all these amenities at my finger tips, like....COFFEE!!!!

I stayed in Kuta for about 2 days and the novelty actually wore off pretty quickly. At sunset, it was tough to find a square foot of space on a beach that went on as far as the eye could see. Time for something a little more private. First stop: Nusa Lembogan.

Nusa Lembogan, 2 hour boat ride from Bali, population 5000 people. Tourist are usually of the surfing or diving kind. Not much else there, except for seaweed farming. I met 2 great surfers from LA on the boat over and ended up spending a few days hanging with these guys who kept me highly entertained and also taught me the basics of learning to surf (just to clarify we did these lessons at the bar over beers, not actually on a surfboard in the water).

I went on 2 dives, the first of which was one I will not soon forget. We hopped in a boat and were in about 15 metres in the deep blue by 8am. The dive site was called Manta Point. I spent about 60 minutes hovering in the same general area with massive mantarays swimming over and under and beside me. No fear. They were completely unphased by the divers and carried on with their life. It was amazing. I could have kicked a fin and been close enough to stroke one. When they swam above me, it was a clear blue day and the mantas were so big they would block the sun and a huge dark shadow would swim over me. What an experience!

The next dive was fun, but nothing in comparison to swimming with massive mantarays. Such a great start to diving a part of the world that is famous for its underwater life. Since the only reason I came to Nusa Lembogan was to dive, and that mission was accomplished, I caught a fast boat out the next day to make my way to the Gili Islands, just off Lombok.

Next stop...PARADISE! The only thing missing from this picture, to make it complete is Garry. xoxox my love ;)

My Return To India

After my fleeting trip to Nepal, I was happy to be back in the familiarity of India. I flew into Varanassi and was welcomed back almost instantly with temperatures soaring everyday into the 40's and a bout of food poisoning that took me days to recover. Oh, Incredible India! I met a great couple from New Zealand, and misery loves company so the 3 of us bonded over that lovely meal together that reaked havoc on our bodies.

Once I was back on my feet and feeling a little revived, Varanassi was really incredible. I was there for just over a week and was up for almost every sunrise at 5am, when the temperaures weren't as ferocious. Varanassi was one of my most anticipated destinations in India, and it was well worth the wait. It is over flowing with Indians all making pilgrimages from all around the country to visit Mother Ganga. Saying that though, as an outsider, that river is one hell of a cess pool. There are different ghats lined all along the western side of the river and its used for anything and everything. People mostly come to bathe in for its healing powers, but you will also find dead bodies being submerged and then burned at the edges, ashes left for the river, water bufalloes cooling off, locals brushing there teeth, doing dishes, kids swimming, laundry being done and flowers or candles being pushed off from boats to offer as puja to the gods. What a place. It is overflowing with culture.

Varanassi is also home to an insurmountable number of beggars and homeless children. In Hindu religion it is believed to increase your karma by giving them money. I'm all for good karma, but when they see white skin they also see money and I have been harrassed in this lovely mecca beyond what is comfortable. Id come home penniless if I were to give to them all. And so many are sick and disfigured, it is a tough sight to see, but so much a part of India.

On a happier note, just to add to the pulse of the city, Challu, the young gentleman working with his elders Mr. Raj and Mr. Chapatti who run the OM Guest House, had taken a little liking to me. Oh what fun. Western courtship is definately a little different from how its done over here. Challu had me on the back of his bike, flaunting his westerner to the whole city. He took me for the best lassi (amazing yoghurt drink I am addicted to) in all of India, and a few silk shops and even treated me out to a local joint for masala dosas for dinner (where I think I was the featured attraction of the evening) . It was fun mostly, though the constant professing of his love for me and his puppy dog eyes got a little tiresome by the end of the week. But sweet Challu showed me a side of Varanassi I wouldn't have seen without him, so I am not complaining.

After a week there, I was done and ready for a change of scene. So I booked a first class AC train to Delhi. This was my first AC train and well worth the investment of less than 20 bucks. One of the men in my car said it was the "rich mans train". It was a completely different experience of train travel, so civilised and easy.

Now, I have arrived in Delhi and come full circle from where I started my adventures in India.

Maybe Next Time, Nepal

Nepal was pretty much a failed attempt. I got stuck at the border crossing overnight because I had missed the last bus from Kakarvitta to Kathmandu. I shacked up in a hole in the wall and was up at 4am, with the wheels on the bus moving by 5. I noticed instantly the police presence on the roads of Nepal which shocked me in a country known for being peaceful and friendly. We were stopped and searched at least once an hour.

The drive was breathtaking. We were on a cliff road most of the time following a river through a mountainous valley, cross country. The journey was to take 10 hours and we were pretty much on time when I saw a sign for 33km to Kathmandu. This is where it all went wrong. Long painful story short, we were held up in the dark, on a mountain, in bumber to bumper traffic, unable to budge for almost another 10 hours. No one spoke English and all I really understood about our immobility was a "strike". The police? The drivers? At this point, who knew? (Did I mention there was a basket full of at least half a dozen chicks at my feet? Or what about the fact I hadn't eaten anything but crackers and water all day cause the food stops were not even an option or me?)

Turns out the whole country was affected by bus loads of Communist Maoists protesting the current government, the focal point of course being the capitol, Kathmandu. I arrived into the city in the midst of mayhem. It wasn't until 3am I finally got into the right guesthouse, AFTER my cab driver ripped me off AND my wallet was stolen. All in all, not a good way to mark my arrival into a new country.

The 2 reasons I went to Nepal were to volunteer at an orphange for a week in Kathmandu and then get to Pokhara and do a trek through the mountains. Fail on both accounts. I spent a week in Kathmandu, with the whole city shutdown and only certain things open from 6-8pm. The protests started out peaceful, but under strained conditions things started to happen and get worse on a daily basis. We walked around much of the city so I definately got a feel for Kathmandu, but all forms of transportation (except police, army, UN, press, ambulances, and airport shuttles for tourists) were halted throughout the coutry- so getting to Pokhara and trekking was out of the question. I decided to cut my losses and get back to India. After an entire day at the embassy with a million other travellers doing the same thing, I got permission to re-enter India early on my visa and booked a flight out.

I am disappointed not to have been able to get the most out of Nepal, but on the flipside it was so interesting to see a country on the brink of a revolution. The violence was scary and made me realise how far away from home and democracy I am, but now in retrospect I am glad I got to see it first hand, in such a foreign place.

Dear Darjeerling

The air around me is cold and clean and ever so refreshing!

(*inhales deep breath*)

I am also wearing a ridiculous amount of layered up clothing to keep warm, which I apparently wasn't really prepared for. I have no thermometer but am pretty sure that through the night it must get as low as single digits up here. It is so surprisingly cold. I keep remembering the disgusting, uncomfortable, sweltering, heat of Calcutta and the rest of India when it's on the tip of my tongue to complain (complaining to you Garry, doesn't count ;).

I have been up in the Himalaya's, in Darjeerling, for almost a week and it really has been a breath of fresh air. I've done almost nothing and that feels great too. I was debating whether to do a trek from here, but got sick the first day here and that made up my mind not to. So I have spent my days wandering about, drinking the most amazing tea and exploring the hillside.

There is a little steam engine that runs through the mountains and I took a 2 hour "Joy Ride" to Goom, the highest hill station in India. It chugged ever so slowly through town after town, and a famous place called the Batasia Loop. We got to stop and hop out a few times. It was an odd mixture of touristy and kitsch, and authentic and interesting. The weather changes so quickly here that we passed through beaming sunshine and then eventually, when we got to Goom there was a thick fog that added a really misty, ghost like quality to the atmosphere in the small, old train station.

Another afternoon I visited the Himalayan Zoological Park (fancy name for a zoo), the Natural History Museum and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. It all made me feel like a bit of a kid again, which I fully relished in. The zoo was fun, although mildly disturbing to see all the cats pacing back and forth in their enclosures. The cages were plush and huge, but they were still cages. I took mild comfort in reading that the two tigers had been rescued from a circus. Most of the animals were native to the mountains so it was interesting to learn about red pandas, the asian black bear and all the different cat species. There was an 'exotic aquarium' set up too, which was hilarious! I think the fish tanks in my grade school classrooms could've done a better job at "exotic".

Another highlight was visiting Happy Valley Tea Plantation. This is where Harrod's in England get their organic packaged tea. I just wandered into the plantation and was guided through the factory and told how the whole process works. I was allowed to wander the hills where the women were picking and it was such an interesting process to watch. I've never really thought about how any of my tea actually gets from Point A to Point B, my cup. The women in the hills were gossiping a mile a minute as they plucked away, and even stopeed to chat with me as I walked by. At the end of t I sat in a little cafe and drank the freshest tea picked earlier that week. The kicker was this plantation doent sell to just anyone, its exclusively produced for Harrod's, and also the employees are allowed to have it as part of their contract. But this little lady that runs the tea garden in the hills gets it from the employees and sells it under the table to tourists or who ever else is interested in it. Its al really hush hush, she wont even let yuo bring a camera in and the tea is hidden under the seats. Black Market tea, I loved it! It was totally overpriced but I bought some anyways. "Super Fine Tippy Golden Flower Orange Pekoe One", thats what I got. Top of the line stuff, in our tasting, the tea was so fresh sheonly had to brew it for 5 seconds and it was amazing. Ahhhh, the underbelly of Darjeerling!

Yesterday was my last day here and it was probably the best of all. I wandered down the side of the mountain in search of a small monastery. It looked deserted when I found it but I ended up running into a monk that takes care of the place. He unlocked it and sat talking with me for ages, pining away the afternoon. he explained all the paintings on the wall, the powders used to make it; the history of Buddhism, how the monastery ended up there and so much more. He was old but nimble as anything, and a sense of humour that had me giggling more often than not! It was such an incredible and unexpected way to spend my afternoon and it reminded me how lucky I am to be here and why I have such a passion for travelling. He sent me on my way through a sneaky mountain back route to get to a Tibetan Refugee centre and I was off.

This morning it is torrentially raining and I am all geared up with al my stuff and about to make the journey to Nepal. A jeep taxi down the mountain for about four hours is the first step and thats about all I know so far, keeping my fingers crossed I will make it to Kathmandu sometime tomorrow.

And so, then next phase of my travels begin.

The Streets of Kolkata

Where to begin?

The main reason I haven't written in ages was because of Vipasanna. This was a 10 day meditation course I took in Chennai (you can do them anywhere in the world, but the practice originated in India).

After 10 days of silence you'd think I'd be bubbling over with things to say, but it was such an extraordinary and personal experience that I'm not sure any words I write would really convey the experience very well. I can say it was one of the hardest things Ive ever done (test yourself and try to keep quiet for 10 minutes, never mind 10 days!). But it was also really rewarding, I'm so pleased I actually made it through till the end (not everyone did).

I thoroughly enjoyed meditating, though 10 hours a day (ya, that works out to over 100 hours!) was a little excessive in my opinion. So many times during the day I had to force myself NOT to walk out and head back to reality. I will give a little taste of what my days consisted of though, brace yourself:

SCHEDULE:

4:00 wake up
4:30 - 6:30 meditation
6:30 breakfast
8:00-11:00 meditation
11:00 lunch
1:00 - 5:00 meditation
5:00 dinner
6:00 - 7:00 meditation
7:00 - 8:30 teachings
8:30 - 9:00 meditation
9:30 lights out

It was tough stuff. And the weather was insanely hot, hitting 40 degrees everyday. Try sitting perfectly still through that. But what an experience. When I get home I'd love to bore anyone with details of it, but I just don't think blogging about it would do much justice.

Here is the website for anyone interested in reading up on it:

http://www.dhamma.org/en/vipassana.shtml

So, saying that....here is a bit of life AFTER Vipasanna.

The day we got out (sounds like I was in prison), my roommate Katie and I chugged around Chennai and managed to suss out a really posh restaurant, full of expats, antique furnishings, a picturesque garden, and a mouth watering menu. One of the main teachings of Vipasanna; the art of living, is to resist craving. So as rebellious students we ordered a really nice lunch complemented by 2 heavily coated chocolate laced desserts! Ooops.

Chennai is supposed to be a not-so-pleasant place to visit so I timed it to fly out of Chennai the day I finished Vipasanna. After the day with Katie I headed to the airport and made my way to Calcutta (now spelled Kolkata). As a rule of thumb, I pretty much never book ahead when I travel. I enjoy the challenge of sussing a place out when I get there. Also, with budget accommodation especially, its easier to choose after seeing a room, rather than reading about it. Its almost always fool proof, but Calcutta proved me completely and utterly wrong. What an entrance to that city I had!

I knew Calcutta was supposed to be a poor city but NOTHING prepared me for what I saw when I arrived. I hopped in a taxi, my flight was a late one already, plus it was delayed, so it wasn't until probably after midnight that I rolled into the city. I had a rough idea of where I wanted to go, where there was a cluster of hotels and guest houses. I picked one and showed it to the driver, who typically didn't speak much English. Getting into the heart of the city, it was as quiet as a ghost town but there were bodies everywhere. Crooked, misshaped, small ones, big ones, old ones and so many young ones, there were bodies sleeping on mats, on newspapers or just flat out on the concrete, or perched on store ledges. I think I was plummeted so quickly from the serenity of Vipasanna, to the harsh and real world of such poverty and it took me by such storm. I couldn't even comprehend it and just sat in the taxi with tears welling up in my eyes.

Then to make it all worse, the taxi driver got frazzled with me cause he couldn't find where I wanted to go and he kept trying to make me get out of the car. Turn after turn and all the streets looked the same and eventually I got out at a hotel that once I gathered all my bags I realized was locked and closed up. The cab had peeled off instantly and I can honestly say I was scared shitless. I had no idea what to do or who to turn to. Almost instantly, out of nowhere, a man came and offered me a hotel if I followed him. Normally this would seem dodgy, but I had no alternative and blindly followed him. He took me to Hotel Paradise (which more aptly should have been called Hotel Parasite), but I welcomed it with open arms and shacked up there.

The next day, Calcutta was not so bad. I think my imagination and my emotions got the best of me. There are homeless people EVERYWHERE, but so many are friendly and just part of the city. There is one family that I keep stopping to chat with. The mother is lovely and has not once asked me for anything but a chat. I had 2 juice boxes with me and gave one to her daughter, no more than 2 yrs old and now every time I pass her, strutting in her underwear and nothing else, she calls me "juice, juice!", waving and grinning from ear to ear! Too sweet.

I am only here for a few days. I went to Mother Teresa's Mission, and after seeing the sick and impoverished here, I have so much more respect for that woman. She did miraculous things. Her tomb is here, set up in the middle of a modest chapel in the mission. I sat there for a few minutes with no one around except a few quiet nuns. It was amazing and yet surprising it wasn't a little more....hmmm, monumental?

Calcutta was a very short stop but it definitely impacted me. I think the mountains will be a welcome change from the sweltering 40 degree heat and overpopulation. I welcome the change of scene, AND TEMPERATURE!

Au Revoir Pondicherry, Bonjour Silence!

The last 5 days in India have consisted of a whole bunch of nothing. There isn't really a lot going on in Pondicherry if youre not an exchange student. It's on the ocean but with a polluted and rocky seaside, and no beach. When I arrived here, I found it a little frustrating because I knew I was stuck here for at least 5 days not having to be up in Chennai till the 10th. But after a bit of thought, all of a sudden I embraced the whole bunch of nothing and enjoyed every single day of it. So in Pondicherry I have had a lovely few days of doing nothing but eating and drinking and walking and reading, oh and sleeping, lots of that too.

Pondicherry (now officially called Puducherry, but Pondi has a much nicer ring to it) was a former French colony and apparently a real educational hub. There seems to be schools and hospitals on every corner. With the French influence here, there is also a surplus of cafe lattes, baguettes and croissants, part of the reason I kicked back and enjoyed my days of nothinginess. Ive been lazily eating French breakfasts every morning with a book, real coffee and an overdose of carbs. I also came across a very reasonably priced english book store cause I am chewing through books faster than pastries! And if thats not enough, I also scored a room with a phone and have spent hours on the phone to Canada with the long distance love of my life!!!! Pondicherry may actually turn out to be the highlight of India ;)


Aside from all that, there was a festival here (shocking, I know) when i arrived, celebrating the 100th year of Sri Aurobindo coming to Pondi. Aurobindo was a freedom fighter for India's independance and later an important philosopher. The festival itself was pretty lame. I walked about, got blessed by a beautiful elephant named Lakshmi for 10 rupees, took a tour of the principle ashram here and then went to go eat chocolate. Happy 100th.

So that was Pondicherry in a nutshell, uneventful yet enjoyable. Next stop, I head north back to Chennai. Thankfully its only a 4 hour local bus ride, no overnighters necessary. Apparently Chennai is not a place to linger so I have planned to go directly to my destination which is a 10 day meditation course in Vipassana. Ive heard lots about this practise in the last few months. It seems quite daunting but at the same time, Im so keen to learn about it. Ive added a link to a website that does a better expalantion that I could of what it is all about.

http://www.dhamma.org/en/vipassana.shtml

I learned a little about it at Ashiyana's, the yoga retreat I did in Goa, and am looking forward to exploring it a little further. Did I mention it is a SILENT MEDITATION for 10 days? So hopefully I dont come out on the flip side clinically insane from being in my own head for too long, left to my own devices. Fingers crossed.