...Don't tell my grandma

My grandma would definitely not like to hear about this part of my trip... but I'm going to write about it anyways, because yesterday was insane!!!

I've been in several countries with infamously bad drivers, including Mexico, Russia and China (let's face it, everywhere has bad drivers) , but my taxi driver yesterday was the worst, hands-down! I'm a fairly intrepid passenger (I'm trying to cultivate nerves of steel), but yesterday was the first time I've been scared. You know when you're watching a scary movie and something jumps onto the screen that makes your whole body icy cold and your hair stand up on end? Yeah, I felt like that the whole time I was in the car with him. Our taxi driver liked to drive fast - as in, twice the speed limit. Can't blame him, I would drive fast too if it meant getting rid of passengers sooner. He also liked to pass other cars - fair enough, semi trucks are the worst to get stuck behind. But passing on blind, hairpin turns with zero visibility, going double the speed limit on a narrow road through a steep canyon, with one lane of heavy traffic each direction? No shoulder to pull onto, and no bailout plan... see the problem?

Mom and I both asked him to slow down after the first near head-on collision. After the second (within inches of a high-speed wreck) we were both obviously upset and asked him to stop passing on blind corners. Instead, he increased his speed and was driving even worse, just to piss us off. After the third time he recklessly passed on a blind curve and brought us within inches of a head-on collision with a truck, I was done. I told him he was being dangerous, yelled at him to stop, and pounded on the back of the seat when he ignored me. He finally stopped, and we jumped out and started hiking happily down the busy canyon road. We got a ride with a truck full of nice young men who took us to the next bus station, and we traveled in peace for the rest of our 3-hour trip.

Looking back, I thought it was strange that I'd yelled at the driver to make him stop and let us out in the middle of rural India (we had asked nicely several times for him to slow down), and I was surprised that I'd had such a strong reaction to his driving, since just minutes before I had been telling mom that we have to let go of having control because the drivers here are used to this and know what they're doing. Now, other drivers haven't bothered me. I wasn't the least bit concerned when one driver took us on a one-way street through oncoming lanes of traffic, and I wasn't stressed by other drivers who were within inches of cows, pedestrians, and trucks. But the ride yesterday made me extremely upset, and I'm glad we got out. I try to follow my intuition carefully when I'm traveling, and I'm absolutely convinced that my story would not have ended well, or perhaps would not have been written, if I hadn't gotten out of his taxi. I'm glad for intuition to know when to say "enough is enough."

Crazy Indian drivers.

Mom's and my adventures!

Khublei!

My mom is here in India with me now, and it's been a blast so far! We went around the Golden Triangle her first few days here (my second time, but hey... I can deal with seeing the Taj Mahal twice!!!). Now we have flown to the far north-eastern Indian states, and we've been exploring Assam and Meghalaya. We couch-surfed in Guwahati with a super cool family, Krish and Mandira! Their house is amazing, and they had their personal driver pick us up from the airport, how cool is that?! Krish is the most hospitable person I have ever met, and he has effectively cured my homesickness with his kindness. I am so happy to be in this region... it's very different than the rest of India, and the people here are incredibly friendly and laid-back. I LOVE it here.

Krish gave us his personal chauffeur, and we had the most incredible day ever! We went to a museum that showed us what life in the local villages is like (these are cultures that used to have head-hunters, wear loincloths, and tattoo their women so that other villages wouldn't kidnap them!). Then we visited a hilltop temple with a view of the whole valley. We spent the afternoon in Pobitora Nature Reserve and went on an hour-long elephant ride, to look for wild rhinos!!! We saw about 20 rhinos, the birds that sit on their backs (I thought that was just in cartoons), bright yellow and bright blue birds, and wild boars. We also went to an exhibit of puppets from all over India (they claim to have invented puppets thousands of years ago) and we ended up chatting with some puppeteers who were visiting for the huge puppet festival this week. They invited us to come see (and play with) their marionettes, and they gave us a short demonstration of their marionette who played the drums. You never know what sort of people you're going to run into when you travel, and it's so exciting to share even 10 minutes with people who have interesting lives!

As we were driving through the countryside that evening, we passed an Assamese village holding a huge springtime festival called Rongali Bihu, so we stopped to watch the dancing. Some people welcomed us in, and wouldn't allow us to sit down on the ground like everyone else, but instead brought us to the place that the village leaders were sitting, and gave us front-row seats of honor! Then they brought out red and white handwoven scarves called Gamoshas, and presented them to us. Gamoshas are given as a sign of honor and love, and as they put the gamosha over my shoulders I felt extremely honored and lucky to be among such lovely people! Then they handed me a microphone, asking me to tell the hundreds of people gathered there where we were from and what we thought of Assam (we LOVE it). Then they resumed the festivities. They played energetic music with drums and flutes, and the village girls and boys performed elaborate dances with graceful hand-gestures, dancing in a circle around the musicians. I've been to many folk-dance performances before, but none of them could compare to the authentic experience of celebrating with the locals, for whom folk-dancing is an essential part of their culture and lives. The kindness of the Assamese people is something that I hope to always remember in my heart.

Today mom and I went on a helicopter ride! We flew in an old Russian helicopter, and the ride was exciting because we went through a small storm, up and over some mountains to the city of Shillong! Shillong is built on a hill, with brightly-colored houses and narrow winding roads. It's only 60-70 degrees here and it feels surprisingly cold to me, since I was in 108 degree weather just a few days ago. Now I need a jacket! Our day included a trip to a huge cultural museum and some terraced waterfalls. This area is a cultural mix of Indians, Tibetans, Chinese, and many independent villages, so it's a wonderful change. We're spending the next few days in nature to get energy and recover from Delhi and other hectic cities, so I'm grateful that my mother suggested visiting this region!

Updates again next week. Love from India!

Magical Rajasthan

I am finding that India is exciting, but extremely overwhelming. I've had several frustrating days where I had no idea what I was thinking when I decided to come to India, and I just wanted to be done - but then I think about the incredible places I've seen and I realize that the frustrations are worth it. I am now in the Golden Triangle area, visiting famous sites in Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra. It's very different than southern India, and I am enjoying the change of scenery.

Some random things I've seen here:
-A man with a bamboo cane and his evil-psycho monkey of doom attacking our car window.
-16 people riding in one tiny auto-rickshaw, three of which were on the roof. Note: auto-rickshaws typically only seat three plus the driver. They are basically glorified riding lawn-mowers that can go fast and weave through roads congested with people, busses and cows.
-Highway traffic was super slow at one point, so people in tractors, motorcycles, rickshaws, and even carts pulled by donkeys crossed the raised median and drove up the wrong side of the road, weaving through fast, oncoming traffic!
-Everyone here does have a water-buffalo. I passed ponds full of water-buffalo, with just the horns and heads above water. And camels, donkeys, and water-buffalo (with or without their owners) share the road with modern traffic.
-I saw a wild peacock sitting atop a bush in the middle of a field, green parrots flying around the countryside, and monkeys running across the road. Exotic animals everywhere :)
-Newspaper is used as tissues and napkins, and to serve food.

Mathew and I spent one day in Agra. We were lucky enough to be there on World Heritage Day, so we got into each of the World Heritage Sites for free! We went to Akbar's Tomb, where there were huge sandstone buildings and vast lawns (with wild gazelles grazing on the property). The tomb had incredible acoustics! A man working in the tomb sang a short melody that echoed through the otherwise silent room and sent chills down my spine. In all the other open-air rooms surrounding the inner tomb, the architecture (pillars and domed ceilings) allows sounds to travel from one corner of a wall to another. When one person faces one corner of the room, and another faces the diagonal corner, you can whisper and hear each other from across the room!

I've seen several world wonders, like the Great Wall of China and the Colosseum, but the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful architectural masterpiece I've ever seen! Built with white marble, it stands out drastically from the sandstone landscape all around. The first site of the Taj Mahal through the main gate is the most stunning, since the gate is built in such a way the opening of it frames the whole Taj Mahal as you walk through - creating an optical illusion that it's even bigger than it is. The marble surfaces are decorated with floral patterns made from inlaid semi-precious stones. When you shine a light into the marble, the stone lights up and the gemstones glow brilliantly. Adding to the exotic atmosphere, there are also monkeys climbing around and parrots flying between flowering trees.

We went to Fatipur Sikri, and ancient palace and mosque. The swirls of color in the sandstone structures are lovely, but even more impressive are the huge carved doors made from solid ebony, and windows made from one solid slab of marble with intricate lace-like patterns cut through them. When you look out the window, it looks a little like stained glass. You can look outside, but you can't seen inside through the cut-marble windows very easily.

In Jaipur we saw the famous Amer Fort and Amber Palace, set on a hillside overlooking the ancient city. There were elephants carrying tourists up to the palace, and people playing drums and flutes. But the best part was the snake charmer!!! An old man with an instrument and a small basket was crouching in the shade on the stairway to the palace. He gestured me over and as he played, a cobra rose up from his basket and opened it's hood! The cobra stood up tall and swayed back and forth for several minutes. And the best part? The charmer let me touch his cobra!!! After he stopped playing, the cobra hissed and moved around, then laid down in the basket again.

As one last activity before he heads home tonight, Mathew and I are going to ride some elephants! I'm off to play, so Namaste!!!

Changes are good :)

I am learning that the only way to travel through India is by being completely flexible with my plans and accepting the inevitable changes. Even if you have every detail planned out, things will change, and plans will not go as expected. For example, distances that are super short to drive in the USA take hours (or days) to drive here, because of heavy traffic, super low speed limits, and cows in the road (or elephants, as I have found out). The government even forces people to slow down on the highways by putting up multiple speed bumps and baricades, so that vehicles are required to carefully go over and around them. I've had several plans fall through or change because it takes too long to get from one place to another. However, something else I've learned is that if you accept the changes and enjoy the journey, sometimes you will even up with something even better than you planned.

Matt and I had a few plans fall through so we ended up coming to Mysore (a completely different state than we were going to visit). But the journey to get here was full of incredible sites and surprises! We took a long-distance bus through the Western Ghats - a steep and dramatic mountain range, covered in dense jungles and tea plantations. We had the best seats on the bus, so we had a perfect view and it felt like we were on a jungle safari. The road was very steep and windy, with huge vehicles flying past each other around hairpin switchbacks. We saw groups of monkeys hanging out on the side of the road, playing and eating bananas! A few hours later the road went through a wildlife reserve, and we saw wild elephants walking around!

Here in Mysore the people are more pushy and less friendly, but there is a huge palace that lights up at night, so it's very beautiful. Walking around the palace and gardens, it's easy to imagine the great sultan that once lived there, parading around in long robes and with caravans of elephants. I wish I could have seen India as it was three hundred years ago!

I'm off to explore the city, so namaste!

Tropical paradise!

My time at the ashram is over, and my best friend, Mathew, met me in Mumbai a few days ago so that we can travel together for two weeks. On my way to meet him in Mumbai, the taxi I was in got pulled over three times, and one of those times we were escorted to the police station! During my hour-long wait while the driver tried to work things out with the police, I was busy thinking of ideas for breaking out of prison, since things weren't looking too good. The walls of the police station seemed to be made of a mud/cement mix (sorta crumbly) and I had a spoon in my backpack, so I figured I could just dig my way out if necessary. The police seemed to be looking for a bribe from the driver, and eventually we were sent on our way.

Now Mathew and I are in the southern state of Kerala! It's gorgeous here, with palm tree forests, bright topical flowers, beaches and backwater canals. I've seen green oranges, orange coconuts, and red bananas - fruit here is amazing. We took an 8 hour ferry from one city to another one day, and yesterday we took a small canoe-like indian fishing boat on a tour of the backwaters. The backwaters are like canals that link many cities and lakes with each other. The waters are completely smooth and peaceful, and there are villages and tiny houses all along the banks. The villagers do everything in the water - playing, bathing, cleaning dishes and laundry, and working. In the evening we saw everyone head to the banks with sticks and string - to go fishing for dinner. Banana, mango, and coconut trees line the banks and hang over the water, and cows, goats, chickens, and bicycles all share the path along the water. The rice fields are below sea-level, and there are many places you can stand on the banks and see that the backwaters and rice fields next to each other are at different levels.

Something interesting about Kerala is that they have elected a communist government, and it truly seems to be working well for the people. The people here are also very religious (they are primarily Hindu, Christian, and Muslim). Since Russian and Chinese communists were primarily atheists, I always thought that communism and religion didn't mix, but apparently they do. They call it God's Country here in Kerala, so who knows, maybe that's their secret.

A few random things from this week:

-My life flashed before my eyes when a huge truck with 5000 watt, concert-grade loudspeakers on top came up behind me and suddenly BLASTED some music. Mathew thinks I jumped 6 feet.

-All the little children wave and say hi when we pass, they're so cute!

-We were served lunch on banana leaves and ate with our hands!

-The one time Matt went barefoot his feet got chewed up by killer bugs.

-Experienced our first monsoon rains (it was so warm and amazing feeling!).

-CRAZY monkeys tried to steal Matt's soda.

-Some tuk tuk drivers literally fought each other for our business.

-Some crazy guy gave us a personal, midnight tour of a hindu temple.

-I got some Indian clothes (but I still stick out from a mile away with my neon-white skin).

Here's a link to just a few of the pictures we took this week http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathewrose/sets/72157626473162176/

I have lots of funny things to write about, but no time because we're headed up to Kochi! This is all for now! Sending love from India!

I woke up this morning seriously craving a bacon cheeseburger. Sigh...

Highlight of the week - I went back to Trimbak, where I saw a beautiful temple last week. This time, just walking down the main street, I looked up and unexpectedly saw another gorgeous temple, with totally different architecture. It was made from dark stone, pyramid shaped, with gorgeous carvings. I had no idea this tiny city has two ancient temples! It was the Indian New Years yesterday, so there were lots of people around. Some ladies outside the temple pushed some bundles of grass into my hands to feed the cows outside the temple, which was a fun experience... except that then we had to pry ourselves loose from them and all the other people begging for money. An eccentric looking monk-type old man then sang us a song with his one-stringed instrument, so we shared some food with him. It was a fun jaunt into the city, and it was nice to escape the ashram for a few hours. As it turns out, ashram life is too mellow for me.

Good news! I completed my course last night and have officially become a certified yoga instructor!!! The exams we had to pass were a little intense: 3 written tests, a 5 page essay, 2 yoga asana exams, 11 micro-lessons, and teaching 2 full lessons. It's not that much, except for the fact that it was crammed into only 3 weeks. I'm definitely going to do more yoga courses and continue my training... this is just the beginning.

Yoga has some very strange practices... we had to drink 7 glasses of salt water (on an empty stomach) and vomit it back out, all together (they say it's a cleansing process that removes toxins from your stomach, and releases negative emotions stored in your body). We also had to pour salt water in one nostril and out the other (to clear the nasal passages), and the examiner had to make sure the stream of water was flowing out of my nose smoothly... I've never had someone look up my nose and grade me on it before, haha.

I went to an Ayurvedic doctor, just because it sounded interesting. After determining my body/personality type, he gave me recommendations for healthy living. He told me to eat lots of honey, pumpkin, figs, bananas, nuts, butter, and yams (yams -> my favorite food in the world). He said that my personality type should eat lots of sweet things (hell, yeah). He also told me to get a massage and a sauna every week - the best prescription a doctor has ever given me!

I have really enjoyed some of the mantras that they have here (they're in Sanskrit, but the translations are nice). Mantras are to help us keep positive thoughts in our minds, and my favorite is the Prayer for Universal Peace:
Let the truth destroy untruth
Let the light destroy darkness
Let immortality destroy death
May all attain peace
May all attain joy
May all become complete
Let everyone be happy
I am not the creator
God is doing everything

I hope this mantra be positive for you as well! Namaste!

Now THIS is India

I'm finally getting to see the types of things I came to see!

I walked through a tiny village last week, with small dirt paths between houses made from mud and stones. Immediately I was approached by a little girl smiling and asking for a photo. Then she took me home and the whole family came out to say hi. Then I came to a group of boys playing cricket in a dirt field with homemade cricket gear, they were very excited for me to take their photos, and after a few minutes I ended up with about 30 little kids following me around and giggling at everything I did. An old woman invited me into her house to show me a baby cow that she was obviously very proud of. She asked for a photo, but first she ran to get a huge, silver bangle. She put it on her arm and very carefully adjusted it - she wanted to look her best for the picture. Her tree outside was full of chickens, and the village was so picturesque.

Today I went hiking to the top of a mountain across the valley from the ashram. On the way I passed a small hut. There were several children and a puppy sleeping right outside it, in the street - and a cow sleeping inside the house! Something seems strange with that picture...

The mountain was very steep, so there were stairs carved from stone most of the way up. At the top of the first mountain there was a lovely lake, and about a hundred cows and several herders. At the top of the second mountain, there was a small temple, dedicated to the monkey god. It was a tough hike but completely worth every sweaty step!

The HUGE event of the month was that the Guru of the Bihar School of Yoga came to visit. Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati is the guru of our school and many other places, and he is very famous in India. His guru's guru (like a lineage passed down) was the main person who brought yoga to the western world, so he's a big deal. We went and listened to him speak and got to chant mantras with him (well, me and like 300 other people). And he gave us all prayer beads and a special blessing. This was also a huge event because he rarely does public events anymore, since he's getting ready to go into seclusion (basically retire) and to focus on reaching enlightenment. Even though I didn't understand a word he said, I was thrilled that I knew several of the mantras and that I could sing along.

This week I am going to teach two full classes, so wish me luck!
Namaste!