A Week's Worth of Catching Up

March 22-23, Tuesday - Wednesday

The big news of today was Mr. Warren Buffett (the third richest men in the world) arrived at the Bangalore airport shortly after I did and I was able to record his reception as he arrived in the main concourse. There were two dancers in traditional Karnataka dress who performed for him. I have a video which I probably not so spectacular. The noteworthy part is that Mr. Buffet and his entourage positioned themselves directly in front of me for a photo shoot. I could have put my hand on his shoulder so it probably looks like I'm part of the entourage. So if anyone wants to Google "Warren Buffet Bangalore Airport" and see if I'm standing behind him in one of those photos.

I had forgotten what a long ride it was from the Cochin airport to Fort Cochin. It was an hour and a half of night driving in India. This activity is not for the faint of heart. First off everyone drives just as crazy at night as they do during the day. It is very difficult to see as most streets are either dimly lit or no lit at all. The trucks and cars have various degrees of working lights. Some not at all, some have front lights but no rear lights. Some trucks have running lights and some don't, same is true for front and rear lights. Then there's the motorcycles which most working lights but bicyclist have no lights anywhere. Many people drive with the high beam lights on all the time so these oncoming vehicles on add to the degree of difficulty of driving at night. Horn blowing is the national pastime and at night flashing your high beams on and off adds to the dexterity of the driver. My driver must have flashed his high beans on and off the entire one and a half hours ride. Just the clicking was enough to pluck one's nerves. All of this and add in that most roads are in need of serious repair make for one harrowing night driving experience.

After a night's rest at the Delight home stay I departed Cochin for a couple days stay at the Green Palm home stay in the backwaters. Fortunately there were six people from France traveling from the Green Palm to Cochin so I was able to catch a ride back in and shiny new air conditioned version of India's SUV. He dropped me off directly across from the home stay where I caught the public canoe across the canal. My plans are to do as little as possible.

My afternoon was spent watching the residents go about their lives in the back waters of Kerala. Afternoon bathing and washing dishes along side the canal are activities most observed. The women bath fully clothed, the men wrap a thin oversized towel around them and the little kids are naked.

I did take a short walk Wednesday afternoon and encountered a young boy squatting over a rock crushing a bag of crackers with a rock. I asked him what he was doing. He looked up and said "Playing." The closest item that resembles a toy are bicycles but they are used for transportation. The world cricket matches are going on right now and it is huge over here. I've seen kids playing cricket, some have an actual cricket bat and ball, but some use a ball that's just a bunch of string held together somehow and the cricket bat is made from a palm prawn. All the kids I've met here in the back waters have been very friendly, very well mannered, love to talk to Westerners, and really love to have their photo taken. All speak Hindi, Malayalum, and English. Some speak better English than others.

March 24, Thursday

Ate breakfast at 8 and talked to Thomas until 9. Sat under the shade of the boat dock until noon watching the water taxi cross from bank to bank and watched boats of various shapes and sizes move up and down the canal. Ate lunch at 1, took a nap around 3, tea time at 4, took another nap around 5, ate dinner at 8, went to bed at 10. Pretty much what I was looking to do.

March 25, Friday

Met back up with Heather, Genny, Yurie, and Shauna at the boat dock for a second house boat adventure around 2 pm. It was pretty much the same as the other house boat adventure so I won't repeat.

March 26, Saturday

We were dropped off at the dock of the Green Palm home stay around 10 am. I moved back into my same room of Wednesday and Thursday night. Not much to report as we stayed close to the air conditioning. I did take quite a few pictures of the wonderful family and their workers that have taken such good care and have fed up such wonderful food the past few days.

I do have one story to tell. I had thought how nice it would be to be able to give those boys had a real cricket bat and ball to play with. One of the young boys whom I met that was playing cricket with the palm stem and tattered ball, was named Sandeep. He was particularly polite and endearing. During the house boat cruise Friday night we stopped at a local village which happened to have a toy store. I bought a nice wooden cricket bat and four balls for Sandeep. The next day, I thought that I would just walk down to where he was playing and would give him the bat and balls. As it turned out he lived across the canal so it looked like I would be leaving the bat and ball with Manu at the guest house and he would see to it that Sandeep got the gift. Well, just after 7 pm I look up and saw Sandeep is crossing the canal in the taxi. As he approached, I told him to meet me at the dock and that I had something for him. He beamed when he saw the wooden cricket bat and the balls. To put it mildly, he was overjoyed. He said that this was my bat and that he would take care of it forever. He even had me autograph it for him. It was a nice feeling to do something like that for such a fine young man. I have pictures of him crossing the canal in the taxi, bat in hand. It was a nice story to tell.

Tomorrow we leave for Cochin. I've already been there three times but for the new group it will be their first visit. There's plenty to see and do there. Plus they have a internet cafe and the wifi is 30 rupees for an hour (that's less than a dollar) so I can catch you up on my travels.

Hap-py Ho-li!

Happy Holi Gang! It's the springtime festival in India, where we throw powdered paint on one another...this is a tradition that's normally celebrated in the north of India for the first day of spring, but we did our own celebration at the ashram today, featuring Bollywood music and oodles of color being thrown on everyone's faces, arms, and in each other's hair, until your friends are no longer recognizeable to you = g o o d t i m e s ! We then proceeded to dance our booties off on a dance floor made of cow dung (what else?), and then hopped in the lake where a crocodile was recently sighted (always a li'l element of danger to keep things real) to rinse off.

Whew!

Tomorrow I leave the ashram at 2am to fetch Yurie and Shauna at the airport, and Day One of the 3AC Tour (read: Get Down 'n' Dirty) begins.

Yip Yip!

March 19-20, Saturday-Sunday

March 19-20, Saturday-Sunday

Jonathan showed up while I was eating breakfast this morning. Last time I saw him was October last year so it was good to see him again. He needed to pick up a pair of thai pants at a local tailor so I hitched a ride on the back of his 250cc Honda motorcycle. The driver is required to wear a helmet but not the passenger(s). So off I went, breaking every motorcycle safety principle I've practiced, never ride without a helmet and and certainly not wearing flip flops. It was all I had. I held my video camera in my right hand and held on the the bar behind the rear seat and recorded the ride to the tailor. With all the traffic you never really get going that fast anyway.

Today starts the Holi Festival. It is celebrated the day after the first full moon in March. Holi got it's name from the festival of colors by Lord Krishna, who liked to play pranks on the village girls by drenching them in water and colors. The festival marks the end of winter and the abundance of the upcoming spring harvest. This is one of those festival days that they smear or splatter various color powder all over themselves and every one else who happens along. Before I left the hotel this morning I was warned that the locals particularly love getting the Westerners so I knew before the day was done I'd be targeted. Another rite of passage in India.

After the tailor we headed to a hole in the wall restaurant for lunch. We ordered thali which is the same type of food Heather and I ate at the aurvedic restaurant a few weeks ago on our first trip to Kochin. Before the restaurnat we stopped at a small store for water. I approached a group of young men for a picture. They had been celebrating Holi as they were covered in all colors of powder. After a picture or two they enjoyed very much smearing blue powder all over my face and had particular joy in smearing it in my goatee and mustache. I have a picture. I had to take a shower to get all of the blue out.

I was joined later in the evening by Jonathan, Natasha, and Amber. Natasha and Amber are students at Jonathan's shala. They are both from San Diego and I met them once before when Leela and I went to the Mystic Kava Coffee bar in North Park for a yoga practice taught by Jonathan. We all went to the Maharaja's Palace to see it lit up by some 60,000 white light bulbs. We got there just in time to watch them go out. I did get a couple of pictures before the blackout. They only light it up for 30 minutes as I'm sure the electric bill is pricey.

Got my properly washed clothes back this morning. The simplicity of clean clothes.

The weather here in Mysore is a lot like SD. Very pleasant temperatures and low humidity. What a contrast as I went from sweating while doing absolutely nothing, to my skin feeling all dried out. I'll take it though, as I return to the heat and humidity of Kerala on Tuesday evening.

Jonathan picked me up this Sunday morning and we're at a coffee shop that has free wifi, so with the free wifi I'll send this out.

Friday, March 18

Friday, March 18

I have left my traveling partner, Heather, for a solo venture to Mysore (where I am now writing this). I have watched and learned much from this veteran India traveler and feel I am now prepared to go it alone. My friend Jonathan Patriarca from San Diego is in Mysore teaching at his Bheemashakti yoga center until the first of April. My plans are to stay in Mysore and visit with Jonathan until the 22nd of March. Heather is going back to the ashram for the next three days and then head into Trivandrum to meet the next three members of the second half of our India experience. She'll then return to the ashram with the three in tow for another three days. Heather is happiest at the ashram. Jen headed back home to San Diego today with a carry on full of mine and Heather's India souvenirs. Thanks Jen for lightening my load these final couple of weeks.

The ride from the hotel to the airport was a harrowing ride with this very young taxi driver. Fortunately the street were pretty deserted at 06:30 am but there were times he must have hit 50 mph on streets sparsely lined with people, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, dogs, and a few goats (of course he was dialing and talking on his cell phone). I have learned it does no good to tell them to slow down that you're not in a hurry. It's in their DNA to haul ass and pass everyone ahead of them. I just sat there with no seat belt and knew he would deliver me safely to the airport.

At the airport this morning the Trivandrum I met this young lady from Berlin. She had been in India for four months and was returning home. She told me she had only planned to stay at the Sivananda Ashram for a few days but ended up staying there long enough to complete their Yoga Teacher Training program. She had never practiced yoga before she came to the ashram. How these past four months have changed this young lady forever. She hopes to start teaching yoga and hopefully one day open her own studio.

The Royal Orchid Metropole is an 120 year old colonial structure that was built by the Maharaja of Mysore to entertain foreign guests. I feel like Ernest Hemingway looking out over the courtyard between the two wings of the building. There are rattan chairs and wooden tables sitting on the brick patio, a huge mango tree that extends over the second story and the Indian staff dressed in their black pants, white collarless shirts, and purple aprons with arms folded behind them waiting for me to glance their way to provide me with immediate service. I doubt Mr. Hemingway was using an iPad and a wireless keyboard but I'm sure he would have had they been available. I've been sitting here catching up on my writing for the past couple of hours and enjoying what is some delightfully enjoyable weather. It must be ten degrees cooler here and the humidity is much lower as I've gotten farther inland away from the sea. It will be a nice recharge for my system until I return for the final two weeks in the oven of India.

I've gotten pretty good at washing my clothes in the sink of every hotel from Trivandrum to Mumbai. But the hand washing with bar soap hasn't really gotten the clothes clean or the odors removed. At present, have three shirts and two pair of pants. Two of my shirts and the other pair of pants are getting a proper washing from the hotels laundry services, which means I'll be wearing my remaining pants and shirt all of today and tomorrow. Socks and underwear can be easily washed in the sink. Actually, it's been too hot to wear either of these items so they've stayed pretty clean in my backpack. TMI.

I just ordered my first beer in three weeks. They've had Kingfisher beer at most of the places we've been but I hear they put glycerin in it and Heather says they put formaldehyde in it so I've avoided it. The only other beer they have is Budweiser so what the hell. Budweiser delivered and it tastes pretty good.

March 14-17, Monday - Thursday

March 14-17, Monday - Thursday

After a 07:30 am meditation and yoga practice we enjoyed a late breakfast with two young men and a young lady from Germany. They were headed to Varkala from where we just came. Our plan was to enjoy the day around Cochin. Our tour guide Heather directed us to one of the local bicycle rentals where we rented three bicycles that looked similar to the Wicked Witch of the West bicycle complete with baskets (well Heather's and Jen had one anyway). So off we set out to Jew Town (that's the name) during the hottest part of the day. Besides the heat it really was the best way to cover a lot of ground and really see the streets and goings on. We lasted a couple hours and headed back to the comfort of our air conditioned rooms.

Late afternoon we returned our bicycles and headed to the local fish market and the area where the famous Chinese fishing nets are located. I'll do my best to describe the operation of the fishing nets. The center support is a huge A frame that serves as a pivot point (think swing set). The support the goes between the two A frames supports the fishing net on one end and a group of hanging boulders that are roped together on the other. There are four or five separate ropes each with six or seven boulders attached. The poles that connect to the fishing net and the boulders are lashed together at either end to form an upside-down V shape. When the fishing net is in the water the boulders are suspended above the fishing platform. When they want to raise the fishing net out of the water, four or five guys just pull down on the ropes and with the weight of the boulders the fishing net is lifted from the water. So any fish they catch are the ones that just happen to be swimming by the moment the fishing net is raised up. The whole apparatus is huge. If my description is clear as mud then please Google it.

We departed Cochin for Allepey on Tuesday morning a bit after 09:00 am to catch our departing house boat at 11:30 am. We requested a cab with A/C but about half way through the trip we all concluded that it was cooler with the windows rolled down.

We were dropped off at the "finishing point." This is where the Kerala snake boat races finish. In this case the boats are manned by up to 120 men. I just got this out of one of color brochures from a man working at the pavilion. It is also were our house boat picked us up to start our "backwaters" experience. The backwaters are 650 square miles of man-made islands and canals. They've built up the canals over many years by digging mud from the canal floor and piling it up on the banks. They've also built concrete and stone walls along side the banks to hold back the water. There are pathways along side the edge of the canals and homes and small shops have been built sometimes within a few feet of the waters edge while some larger homes are set back 20 to 30 feet. We paddled around one of these islands and it took us about two hours. This might give you an idea as to how big these islands are. The water pretty much stays at the same level year round except once a year they let in the salt water from the ocean to flush out the backwaters. It also flushes out all the trash as well. I haven't done so but I hear Google Earth shows these canals really well.

About 100 feet back from the water's edge begin the rice fields which are below the water level of the canal. They have gates that they raise when they need to water the fields. They get two rice yields each year so each takes 4 months and they let the field lay fallow the other 4 months. The backwaters are the "rice bowl" of India. Coconuts are also a very important commodity for the locals. In addition to the milk and the edible part coconut, then also use the outer shell for jewelry and bowls, they've combined rubber from the local rubber trees and coconut fibers to make some very nice doormats. The fibers are also used as stuffing for mattresses (no wonder the beds here are so hard). They also use the palm prawns for roofing material (but many homes now use red brick tile). The hard branch part of the palm prawn is used for fire material. Coconut palms start producing in 45 days and with coconut palms everywhere you can harvest somewhere most every day. Banana trees start producing in a little over a year and once the single bunch is harvested the tree is cut down. One single banana tree produced a number of offshoots so the banana population thrives here also.

Anyway, back to the house boat. These house boats have become big business for the backwaters. Our boat had two full bedroom complete with toilet/shower and air conditioning. There was a sitting area on the front deck with a couple nice padded chairs to relax in and a small dining table with four chairs and an area with a small flat screen tv. There was a covered upper deck but it was too hot to sit up there. In the back was a small galley where our food was prepared. We were taken care of by three men, Shrijoo, Fasil, and Joseph. We spent the next 20 hours or so slowly cruising the backwater canals. We tied up near a shady row of palms trees for lunch and then later in the afternoon we stopped at a very small local market where I bought two huge prawns and six smaller prawns which were cooked for our dinner. Around 5:30 pm we stopped for the evening and departed the boat for a walk along the canal. Not far down the path a young lady of 17 invited the three of us into her backyard to enjoy the sunset. We were soon joined by her entire family. I wish I could include pictures along with these writings because my words cannot describe the beauty of the people and of their back water surroundings. Back to the boat for dinner and then to bed. As it has been throughout these past almost four weeks it was hot that evening but a quick start of the boat's generator and the air conditioning came to life and provided a most restful nights sleep. From my cabin window I looked East over the palm trees reflecting in the still canal waters during the night. The full moon was about a week away so there was enough moonlight to illuminate the surroundings. I got up before sunrise to watch the backwaters come to life. There were many varieties of birds and waterfowl flying over the length of canal where we were docked. I must have seen a hundred birds fly by in the 20 minutes I stood on the top deck. Then the water taxi's filled with commuters appeared and then boats towing two large canoes each filled with people going to work. Larger working boats and a couple of small canoe's with two men passed by. I have video of this all with the sun coming up in the background which I hope will capture them moment. A quick breakfast of a masala omelet and the second half of a fresh pineapple left over from the previous evening and we were off to slowly cruise the canals until we were dropped off at our home stay around 9:30 am. It must have been laundry day as many women and a few men were washing (beating) their clothes against the rocks along side the shoreline. I believe the women who do this for a living are called dobi wallas. Heather says if you have an article of clothing you want broken in just give it to at dobi walla.

We spent the next 24 hours at the Green Palm home stay in the village of Chennamkary. Our gracious host Thomas greeted us on the dock as we departed our house boat. My plans are to return there next week for a two days and just enjoy doing absolutely nothing on Wednesday and Thursday, rejoin Heather on Friday for yet another house boat cruise and then enjoy one final night at the Green Palm. The Green Palm is built on one of those man made islands I described about with the canal in the front and the rice fields in the back. At 5:30 pm Thomas took us for a walk and talk around his neighborhood for a very educational glimpse of life in the backwaters. Much of what he told us I have already mentioned above.

We departed the next morning for Trivandrum. A rickshaw was called to pick us up at 10:00 am. He arrived promptly and awaited across the canal to take us to the train station. But first had to cross the canal on a small canoe/taxi which picked us up at Thomas' dock and delivered us dry and safely to the opposite shore. There were seven of us on this water taxi which in my estimation was plenty. Thomas said you could get 18 Indians in that same boat.

The three hour train ride to Trivandrum took almost four and on this train we had to pleasure to share our compartment with a number of cockroaches that crawled around and on us during the ride. Ah, Incredible India.

first class, check. 3AC, on deck...

just dropped jen in a rickshaw this morning and away she goes back to the land of clement weather and big bananas...mike departed for mysore for a brief sojourn to visit a buddy and to relax first class style, before he meets back with the 3AC tour in a few days. as for me...i'm kicking around with 3 days at the ashram before the 3AC folks start to show up.

i'm looking forward to getting on a local bus to be among my people, and settling into the comfort that a routine offers at the ashram, even if the routine does include a 5am wake up bell ;)

i'm also making my travel plans for the ten days i have after the 3 ac tour, which was going to include tromping about in india proper, but it looks like i'm heading back up to the mountains of dharamsala once more, as it's the only place that will be less than 100 degrees in the entire country, which sounds like a great reason to me!

i was looking into transport options - a train, an authentic indian experience of 20 hours, only $12 ticket. waiting list for the train, however, is 37 people. and the airplane option of only 2 hours, $60, no waiting list. looks like i'm gonna have to pull the gringo card for this one ;)

conversation with the boy sitting next to me on the train

on this 5 (or so:) hour train ride, i found myself talking to an indian boy sitting next to me, who was forlornly musing about his mother's cooking, which he wouldn't have for another 65 hours (his train ride significantly longer), and he said he was lonely...as he was travelling with 4 of his classmates i asked him:

you're lonely even though you were travelling with friends?

him: yes, friends are not like family. nothing is like family. i miss them very much.



me: how long have you been away from home?

him: 7 days

me: how old are you aashish?

him: 31.



and there you have it: a 31-year old male who is homesick after one week away from his mother's cooking and misses his family like crazy. of course i do miss my family and my mama's cooking...but living 2500 away from my parents and travelling out of the continent for over two months must just seem like utter nonsense to these people.

wouldn't be india w/o the contrast... :)

March 11-13, Friday-Sunday

March 11-13, Friday-Sunday

Varkala take two. We arrived Varkala Friday afternoon after a two hour taxi ride from the ashram. Heather was in the first stages of a bout of "Delhi belly." So far Jen and I have survived the trip with the anti-diarrhea pills still in the blister pack (we intend to keep it that way). Heather spent Saturday morning to afternoon close to the hotel, so Jen and I walked the beach and negotiated with the store keepers along the cliff path.

At dinner Saturday night I told Heather and Jen that I always kept my toothbrush in it's case at night (not sure how we got on this topic). Jen didn't say anything at the time but was thinking that I was perhaps a bit too cautious or maybe paranoid. Jen and Heather left for the hotel and I stayed behind to talk to Leela on Skype. While walking back to the hotel I meet Jen coming out of a small grocery store with a brand new toothbrush in hand. As it turned out when she got back to the hotel a big cockroach had taken a liking to the bristles of her toothbrush. The damsel in distress did manage to find a brave Indian gentleman who gently pinched the antenna of the cockroach between his fingers and released it unharmed outside. I probably would have smashed it like I did to the one I woke up to in my bathroom at the spa in Kovalum. Guess it's pays to be a bit cautious or maybe paranoid sometimes.

Next time I hear someone in SD complain about the heat I'll give them typical day in south India. Pretty much the only time your not dripping sweat and your clothes aren't sticking to your body are the nine or so hours after you've taken a shower and are inside your air conditioned hotel room for the evening. Otherwise it's 85+ degrees everyday and there's enough humidity to make your clothes totally stick your skin. After three weeks you just get used to it (kinda). Nice to know in three weeks from tomorrow (Monday) I'll be back in beautiful SD.

We did practice yoga for the three mornings we were at Varkala. The hotel has a second floor restaurant that overlooks the sea. Fortunately, the restaurant isn't being used so the somewhat dirty floor made a good yoga studio with a beautiful view of palm trees and waves crashing on the beach.

There was a local temple festival about a half hour's walk from the hotel. So Saturday afternoon we trekked to the Devi temple just in time to witness a pre-marriage ceremony. We watched them pour rice from one container to another and then again to another container to symbolize good blessings for the marriage. We were allowed to go inside the temple (men are required to take off their shirts which I really enjoyed not having it stick to me for a few minutes) and watch the puja (fire ceremony). There were four men playing drums (very loudly) and one man playing a small set of cymbals. And the ceremony also included an elephant. He stood just in front of the entrance to the temple. The elephant's was adorned with what looks like a gold shield outlined in red, green, and brown that started on the bridge of his trunk (just below where his tusks started) and extended a couple of feet above the crown of his head. There was a Brahmin priest sitting on the elephant and another (his owner/trainer) sitting on the ground near his front right leg. While we were in Trivandrum, Rajesh told us not to go looking for temple festivals as they would find us.

Babu (our taxi driver who drove us from Varkala to Trivandrum) showed up again and provided our transportation on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. He was asked to take us to a local village where no white people were. On our way to the train station he took us down this dirt road not a half mile from the main street. He drove for maybe a quarter mile and stopped. There were small cinder block looking homes many with palm prawn roofs on both sides of the street. Right in front of the car was a woman washing clothes on a rock next to a water faucet. I was a bit apprehensive to get out of the car and told Heather "you go first." We were immediately surrounded by twenty or more boys and girls whose ages ranged from two to twelve. "photo, photo, photo!" they yelled. So there we stood taking picture after picture of all these beautiful brown boys and girls. After every picture we took we had to show it to them. I took a couple of videos which they really enjoyed. There was a young man who spoke really good english who told me that what we were doing was a very special thing for most of these children. He said that most of the younger children had never left their village and had thus never seen a white person. Towards the end a couple of older men showed up and wanted to take me down the street with them but at that point we had to go. We were thanked for taking the time to come and visit and provide these children with morning that many will never forget. Neither will Heather, Jen, and myself. We said goodbye to Babu as he dropped us off at the train station.

The train ride from Varkala was similar to the ride from Thrissur to Varkala last week. The train was pulling out of the station as we boarded so we jumped in the first door available. We ended up in a sleeper car so it was somewhat more closed in with small compartment of six fold up/down bunks. We sat in a compartment with four young men who worked for an Indian telecommunications company. They were on a fifty-six hour ride to Lucknow. It made our four hour train ride seem inconsequential. As the ride progressed and passengers came and went two older Indian ladies sat across from us so the ride became more cozy. There were a few times during the ride that we just stopped along the track and "enjoyed" the heat of the day. One of the young men wrote this in Heather's book "We are Indians, we believe in ATITHI DEVO BHAV, which means Our Guests Are Our God."

After a four hour plus train ride and a bone jarring rickshaw ride from the train station we arrived back at the Hotel Delight in Cochin. Dinner at a local restaurant and a stop at a market for water and biscuits and we are in for the night. There's something comforting about coming back to someplace you've been before.

Monday-Wednesday, March 7-9

Monday-Wednesday, March 7-9

Beach at Kovalum

We weren't disappointed by getting up before sunrise to go to the beach and watch an event that has been played out for most likely hundreds of years. It took us awhile to figure out what was going on but what we saw was not watching the previous evenings boats return with their catch. There were two groups of twenty men maybe 200 yards apart on the beach and one boat with maybe five men in it that worked one fishing net. The net was put in the water maybe a half mile offshore. The very large row boat retrieved one end of the line attached to the net and brought it ashore to one group of men. The boat crew then went to retrieve the other end of the line attached to the other side of the net while the first group of men started pulling in the net. So the net basically formed a bit of a "U" shape. Eventually the other group of men got the other end of the line and they started pulling. These guys must have pulled for easily over an hour before the small floats keeping the top of the net on top of the water could be seen. At the center was one big float to which one guy had been hanging to for the whole time. I guess he marked the center of the net. What they pulled in were hundreds of tiny silver and blue fish about two inches long. I guess they dry them and sell them. They put the fish in these large metal bowls and dumped them on the beach where a group of women in colorful beautiful saris were waiting. The women then put them into another large metal bowl and placing them on top of their heads walked off the beach. I have at least an hour's worth of video of the event. While I was videoing the event one of the men monitored me to join in pulling in the net. So I did. You start at the front of the rope near the water's edge and hold on to one section of the rope and then walk while pulling until you are at guy whose sitting on the beach coiling the rope. You then let go of the line and then walk back to the front and pull again. I made five or six rotations until my hands started feeling the wet nylon rope. It was heavy hard work. None of these guys wore gloves and they were all solidly built as one would expect if you did this every day. None of these spoke a word of English.

We said our goodbyes and heading for breakfast and then a checkout and then a forty-five minute ride to the Ashram.

March 8-10, Tuesday-Thursday

March 8-10, Tuesday - Thursday

The Sivananda Yoga Ashram

At this writing we've been at the ashram for two and a half days and will leave tomorrow to head back to Varkala. It has been an enjoyable and enlightening experience. The ashram was established in 1978 by Swami Vishnu-devananda (1927-1993) and is dedicated to the practice and dissemination of yoga as taught by his guru Swami Sivananda (1887-1963).

The Basic Ashram Schedule:

05:20 am Wake up bell

06:00 am Group meditation, chanting, talk

07:30 am Tea time

08:00 am Yoga Class

10:00 am Vegetarian meal

11:00 am Karma yoga (volunteer work)

12:30 pm Coaching Class (optional)

01:30 pm Tea time

02:00 pm Lecture

03:30 pm Yoga

06:00 pm Vegetarian meal

08:00 pm Group mediation, chanting, talk

10:30 pm Lights out

This pretty much sums up life at the ashram. There is a mixed group of people staying here. There is a large group going through yoga teacher training. They are easily identified by their white pants and yellow t-shirts. The rest are considered on a yoga vacation. That would be us. I'd say most are in their early twenties, with a few 30's and 40's and only a couple my age. Those not wearing white pants and t-shirts dress like a yogi or yogini with the girls wearing billowy brightly colored pants and the guys wearing below the knee yoga pants. Lots of hippie looking but very nice people. They are from all over the world.

The yoga classes are much different than those in SD. They practice pretty much that same routine in each class so you can learn 11 basic asanas or poses. It makes remembering a basic yoga routine or practice easy. In addition to the 11 asanas there are two types of breathing exercises practiced and lots of resting postures (savasana) interspersed between the 11 asanas. It's a good system but I'll be glad to get back to my mixture of classes at the studio.

The two dining experiences are well just that. They roll out these long narrow straw mats that form four long lines the entire length of the dining room. You walk in single file and sit on the straw mat on the floor in front of a plate of already served food. They request you eat in silence. You eat with your fingers unless you brought a spoon with you from home (which I did). You sit across from each other and get to watch people eating with their fingers. As you sit and eat there are people who walk between the mats with large pails and buckets of food for anyone who wants seconds or thirds. All the meals were vegetarian and all tasted pretty good. They tend to give four or five selections for the brunch meal and only two selections for dinner. After dinner you wash your large metal divided plate and metal cup.

They held a neti pot, nose flossing, and tongue scraping class in the courtyard the first day. For those who don't know what a neti pot is, it's a small pitcher like pot that holds about a cup of water (warm) to which you mix a bit of salt. You place the spout in one nostril and pour the water in until it comes out the other nostril. You then repeat the opposite nostril. So they had someone talk and another guy demo the neti pot. The nose flossing (not going there) demo was interesting. You use a small sterile piece of rubber the size of a catheter and push it into one nostril and hope it comes out the other nostril and not down your throat or into your brain. He actually got it to come out the other nostril so at this point you floss you nostrils like you would your teeth. I didn't see the tongue scraper demo but plan on using a toothbrush for that.

The morning and evening group meditation, chanting, and talks were interesting. They are held in a large open air room. Each is started with a half hour meditation, followed by a call and response type of singing or chanting, and then a talk from the director of the ashram or a presentation (evening only). I couldn't get comfortable enough to come close to doing any meditating. Sitting up on a rolled up yoga mat and a part of another yoga mat to cushion my feet and ankles from the concrete just didn't afford the padding I needed. Plus it was hot, hot, hot.

Then there is karma yoga, which is basically volunteering to assist with chores around the ashram. Heather and Jen volunteered for kitchen duty and I volunteered to roll out the large (5' and 40') straw mats which people sit on during the group meditation and chanting sessions. I also volunteered that last night to help clean the dining hall after dinner where I ended up mopping the floor with six or seven other people. It didn't take long.

There is a lion park across the lake from the ashram and many times during the day you can hear them mating. At least that's what Heather says is going on and I have to believe her given the roaring, and moaning and groaning and then the sighing at the end. Pretty crazy to be sitting in morning meditation and hear that sound in the background. The birds around the ashram were beautiful and unlike any birds I've seen before. There were birds everywhere and most of them were pretty large about the size of the big stellar jays in SD. There were of course the very large crows just like those in SD. The birds along with the lions made for a real jungle environment.

I started this last night at the ashram and am finishing it tonight as we are now back in Varkala. On the ride from the ashram to Varkala there were many things we saw along the road I could write about but I'll only mention two. The first were a group of six men trying to balance a very large chunk of rock (I guess it was a 12 inches thick, 18 inches long and a 15 inches wide) on the top of the head of this man. No doubt this boulder easily weighed 200 pounds and no doubt he was either barefoot or wearing sandals. Think of the worst road in Tijuana and he was going to walk down this road with a 200 pound rock balanced on his head. The other was this man herding his very large elephant down one of the national highways in India. This section of national highway was a two lane road with a yellow stripe down the middle.

Sunday, March 6

Sunday, March 6

We met at the #1 yoga hall at 8 am to attend a scheduled yoga class. There was no one there at 8:10, so Heather led Jen and I through a nice practice. After the practice we read the note on the board stating that the class was to be held at the #2 yoga hall. Oh well. Sweaty from the class we headed straight to breakfast. After a brief time getting our daily dose of the internet we took a walk around the "neighborhood." Not far down the road we stopped in a local tailor shop and I had him make me a jubba. It's a cotton short sleeve shirt with no collar three buttons neck to mid chest and a bit longer than a t-shirt. He made the shirt in a little over two hours and it cost me $13. Heather picked out a nice pale orange material. It will be a nice addition to my wardrobe as all I brought with me were t-shirts.

Speaking of my wardrobe, so far, I've lightened my backpack by leaving/donating three t-shirts, two pair of Prana pants (bought on sale), four pair of socks, and one long sleeve t-shirt to various hotel staff along the way. Practicing non-attachment.

The resort we are staying in has been built in a jungle along the coast. It is a dense lush jungle filled with palm and mango trees, all nature of beautiful smaller plants many adorned with red, yellow, and white flowers. Orchids are happy here. Birds are really happy here as are the geckos. I am amazed how few bugs (specifically mosquitoes) there are here. At dinner tonight there was a kathakali performance, which is a traditional Kerala performance between a man and a woman. The costumes are very ornate and the man's face is painted a bright green. Google it. Anyway they had these bright lights on the performers but there were only a couple of bugs flying around. Hopefully they're using an ayurvedic approach to pest control.

So far the food along the way has all be fresh, delicious, and not spicy at all. I'm a total wimp when it comes to spicy foods. I brought a 96 pack of Tums and I haven't taken one. Oh yeah, I poured out half the bottle last week so I down to 48. I'm getting used to room temperature showers. At the last hotel didn't know I needed to flip a switch 20 minutes before I wanted to get in the shower, so three showers there were without hot water. At the resort they have the same switch system for heating water, but the water heater is the size on one you'd have in an RV so the hot water doesn't last long. So I just pretty much dive in. The days here have been hot and not so humid but humid nonetheless, so that makes taking a room temperature shower feel pretty good.

I have a really nice room here at the spa. Only problem is the head of my bed face is against the wall and the elderly German couple next door also have the head of their bed opposite mine. The wall must be a piece of wood because I can hear every snort and cough. It really sounds like they're in the room with me. Weird. Thankfully I brought earplugs with me.

We walked to the beach tonight to watch the fishermen shove off in their boats for a nights fishing. There boats are maybe 30 feet long and five feet wide at the center and like everything in India are brightly painted. When I say shove off...well, they really do. They use these large wooden rollers about four feet wide and as thick as a telephone pole to roll them through the sand to the shore. Once they get them to the edge of the surf they wait for a big swell and three or four push like hell. Once in the water they all jump in and a couple of guys grab the oars and, once again, paddle like hell to keep the bow pointed out to sea, while the guy in the back is trying to start two 9.9 hp motors as quickly as possible before a big swell comes and capsizes the boat or pushes them back on the beach. It was quite a spectacle as maybe fifty boats were put to sea this evening. They travel offshore about 40 miles and fish all night. They return around 4 am the next day but sit off shore until around 6 am when they start coming ashore with the nights catch. We're getting up early to watch them when they arrive. Should be quite an event to witness at sunrise. Having said that off to the room temperature shower I go.

Saturday, March 5

Saturday, March 5

Heather and I returned to the yoga studio for a 6:30am class. The studio's swami (like a monk) taught the class. The first fifteen minutes was a lesson on yoga philosophy where the swami explained the difference between Arian and Dravidian yoga. Arian yoga is pretty much what I've been practicing. He briefly explained Dravidian yoga by holding up his right hand and said the little finger represents good physical condition of the body, the ring finger represents positive emotional self, the middle finger for continued intellectual practice, the index finger represents maintaining intuition, and the thumb a spiritual practice. He said we were experiencing an ancient form of yoga. The class he taught was similar to the previous evenings class only we did not do any jumping jacks or running around during this class. We'll practice the Arian style at the ashram later this week.

The Swami also explained the three colors often seen on the forehead of many of the Hindu's. These are placed on the forehead while worshiping at the temple. The brown horizontal color represents the sandlewood used in the funeral pyre, the red color represents the fire, and the grey color represents the ash of the fire. They are all a reminder that we're on this earth for a fleeting time - carpe diem!

After breakfast we packed our things and at 11:30 am we were picked up by a taxi and transported to the Somatheeram Ayurvedic Health Spa. This resort is really nice and I have to continue to remind myself that I'm still in India. One of the first things we had to do before scheduling our treatments was to meet with the resident doctor. She asked a few basic health questions, took our blood pressure, and pulse and put us down for a 6pm treatment. Each of us are going to get a massage by foot, a massage by hand, and warm oil drip to our foreheads.

Rajesh escorted me to the treatment room. It was an large open air brick building with a thatched roof. There was one small compact fluorescent tube illuminating the room. He had me undress (this time there was no loin cloth), and sit on a small stool facing an alter where a oil lamp and incense were burning. There were four parts of the massage which again consisted of using lots warm ayurvedic oils. First, sitting on the bench for a head massage, second laying face down and then face up on a large mat where he gave me a massage with his foot, then face down and then face up on a table where he massaged me with his hands, and finally the oil drip to the forehead. The entire treatment was done with great respect and felt absolutely wonderful. I have a second scheduled for tomorrow as it's part of the package. Another nice day in India.

Friday, March 4

Friday, March 4

The third member of our "First Class Tour" arrived this morning. After picking her up from the airport and dropping her backpack off at the hotel we ate lunch and headed to "The Museum." The Museum in Trivandrum contains a number of old statues of the many Hindu deities, some beautiful ivory carvings, a section on Buddhist statues, Balinese art and statues, and a small section on Asian statues. There was a yoga festival at the Museum Auditorium but after receiving directions from ten different people we never did find it so we caught a rickshaw and headed back to the hotel. The highlight of the day was a 630 pm yoga practice at a small yoga studio we discovered the previous day. There were six of us in the class. The yoga mats were a type of woven plastic, kinda like a straw mat but plastic. During the hour long class, we practiced various types of breathing exercises, laid down savasana four times, held maybe three other postures, and at the end we did jumping jacks, kicked our right foot into our left hand and then our left foot into our right hand (I actually kept kicking my right foot into my right hand and my left foot into my left hand. I finally figured it out at the end). We did the twist and finally ran around the room in a circle for a bit. Upon returning to our mats we assumed the final relaxation posture. Definitely a different yoga experience. A quick dinner and back to the hotel.

day 4 - good bye schwanky spa, hello austere ashram

we're wrapping up a super relaxing stay at the somatheeram spa, where they greeted us with fresh jasmine garlands [most intoxicating smell on the planet] and young coconut water. we got ayurvedic massages, complete with about 2 cups of ayurvedic oil, and my first ever indian foot massage. if you've conjured an image of us getting our feet massaged, think again about iNdiAn foot massage, whereupon they massage you with their feet. it's rather delightful, but i cannot say that i've ever before had a woman massage my bare chest with her foot. jen was fortunate to have a massage therapist with extremely calloused feet, so she received an exfoliation with her foot massage, no extra charge!

we did venture into the village for some shopping and rubbing elbows with the local natives. the children here have learned important words, like, "hello", "one school pen?" [not sure why they are always asking for this], and "money". who can blame them for trying, when our plane tickets alone cost more than what a typical indian household earns in a year?

today we are shoving off for the ashram, where we'll be expected to abide by a strict schedule starting with morning meditation bell at 530am. it includes 2 sessions per day of: chanting, yoga, meditation, and meals, but offers a quiet lush surrounding to deepen your yoga practice for real, not just the asanas/poses.

there are many taxi drivers vying to transport us to the ashram, but i've selected one with a jheri-curl mullet, for an amazing photo opportunity. by the way, jen googles everything, and has verified the proper spelling of the aforementioned "jheri-curl".

thank you.

First Class Tour Day One: "Always Be Happy"

Today the official First Class tour began...Mike and I only had to wait one hour outside the airport for Jen to arrive, and away we went...I thought she would need sleep and a shower, but she was ready to go so we hit the town and visited a museum with lots of cool statues of Indian deities, some shops, and then wandered around and had some chai and biscuits [pack of biscuits featuring a very cool press-on tattoo of a lion's head, mrrarrr!!]

we went to our first yoga class in india, and i never know what to expect, but we did some chanting, some lying around, about 4 yoga postures, and some breathing exercises. the instructor kept saying "be happy always, smile, your mind is your friend" . . . good instructions! the last "pose" that we did started out with running in place, running around in a circle, jumping jacks, doing the twist (even gettin' down low;), and the we dropped into savasana. unique, to say the least...i'll have to try that sequence when i get back!

tomorrow we are off to the ayurvedic spa for two days, which shouldn't be too painful - catch you on the flip side, yo ;)

Wednesday, March 2

Wednesday, March 2

Today we travel to Trivandrum to await the arrival of the third member of the First Class tour, Jen. Our plan was to take a rickshaw to the railway station and catch a 1030 train to Trivandrum. At the station the previous day we were told there was construction going on and to catch the 1030 train or wait until 1500 but not to come in between. At checkout we met Babu who had an air conditioned cab waiting outside the gate of the hotel. We negotiated 100 rupees which is about double what a richshaw would charge but I agreed to spring for the cab ride to the railway station. Once inside the cab, Babu said he would give us a ride to our hotel in Trivandrum, an hours ride, for 1000 rupees (about $20). I said let's go. Heather was happy with the turn of events. Something told me to avoid the railway station and a door to door cab ride just felt like the right call.

Once in Trivandrum we checked out a couple of hotels for the 3AC tour (refers to train sleeping with three tiers of bunks with A/C), ate lunch, and waited for Heather's friend Rajesh to arrive sometine after 4pm. They a met at the ashram we're going to in a couple of days. Rajesh is a local tour guide so Heather is using his expertise to finalize the details of both upcoming trips. The day was pretty un-eventful until we left the hotel in Rajesh's car.

Today is Shivaratri day which is the huge Hindu day of celebration. It is said that Shiva ingested a poison, but did not swallow it, that would have destroyed the world. This is why Shiva is blue. Rajesh first took us to a small Hindu temple where he explained beautifully the basic premises of the Hindu religion. As non-Hindu's we could only walk around the perimeter of the temple but were able to peer inside where we could see Hindu's praying and chanting and two musicians playing a drum and what sounded like a trumpet.

From here he took us to an ashram that is run by Swami Tattwa. The Swami runs a small ashram for fourteen young boys. Dressed in an orange, he greeted us at top of the steps of his ashram. He's 44 years old with a full black beard, shortly cropped salt and pepper hair, a beautiful smile and an infectious laugh. We talked briefly about yoga, philosophy, and meditation on the porch at a small desk which might have been his office. We were joined by his German born wife who invited us to join the Swami, staff, and the boys for dinner. From the porch we entered a room which was lined on two sides by long tables and bench seating where the boys studied. To the right was an large alter which was decorated ornately with candles, pictures of Holy men, and draped with orange chrysanthemums. We turned to the left and entered the kitchen area. The Swami sat looking at the boys and staff with Heather and I to his left. We sat on the concrete floor on small thin straw mats. In front of our mat was rectangular metal dish divided in several small sections and one large area. We were served by two of the boys. The Swami was served first, then Heather and I, then the rest. The rice was placed in the large section and three other types of cooked vegetables were placed in separate sections at the top of the dish. Finally a soup was added to the rice. Basically, you mixed it all together and did your best to eat it all with your right hand. Heather showed me a technique of using your thumb to shovel what food you were able to pick up with your fingers into your mouth. I really have no idea what I ate except for the rice. Dessert was a small portion of what tasted like a sweet rice pudding. Everything was delicious. Once dinner was finished you went outside where you washed your dish with the soapy fibers of a coconut husk. Once rinsed and dried you put it back on drying racks in the kitchen. All the plates were numbered so you put them back in their proper slot. Mine was number 50 which is the year I was born. Auspicious. We returned to the porch and chatted briefly before we left. As I was leaving I told him that I wasn't sure how to say goodbye to a Swami. He said he as just a man and added he considered himself, "A Holy Hobo." With that I shook his hand and said goodnight. It was around 8:30 pm.

Next we headed to a very large Hindu temple to witness and be part of the celebration of Shivaratri. There was a long queue to enter the temple but we just followed Rajesh and eased our way to the front of the line and into the temple, after removing our shoes of course. There were no pictures allowed and I can hardly begin to describe what I saw except to say that it looked like a sea of humanity was circling the temple. And it would go on all night. Most of the men were dressed in long pants and a collared shirt but some wore a long white cotton material wrapped around and tied at the waist which extended to the floor and naked from the waist up. Almost all women wore a beautiful sari. We circled the temple three times. On the second loop a man next to me told me to chant as I walked, "Om Shree Om Namah Shivaya, Om Nomo Om Namah Shivaya," which I did. I was given a piece of paper which I'm to write 108 times, Om Namah Shivayah go to the temple is to recieve energy from it. Heather and I certainly felt and received great energy from this night at the temple. We left, retrieved our shoes and made our way back to the hotel.

What started out as a rather uneventful day, could well be one of the best days of the trip, so far.

Tuesday, March 1

Tuesday, March 1

Yoga finally. Heather led us through a beautiful yoga practice this morning. There is a raised concrete patio at the edge of the hotel property adjoining the path along the cliff where we chose to practice. It was not only a beautifully led and enjoyed practice but adding the view of fish jumping from the Arabian Sea, the background noisy birds looking for breakfast, palm trees laden coconuts and blue skies overhead, a warm breeze and the sun rising at our backs, well it was the definition of bliss. Oh, and let me not forget the many small ants and an occasional large black ant that joined us throughout our practice. Laying in the stillness of savasana was a bit challenging with an ant crawling on you somewhere. It was still bliss nonetheless.

A full day in Varkala. The plan today is to book our railway tickets from Thrissur to Mumbai the end of the month and check out hotels when the "First Class Tour" returns late next week. On the way to the train station Heather informed me that all trains were fully booked leaving April 1 (no April's Fool). Another punch to roll with. At the station the Station Master directed us to the reservation desk where we were able to book four tickets on 31 March which means we have an extra day in Mumbai. Across the street from the railway station was a small stand selling water, cookies, candy, and what we wanted: bananas. The bananas are sold while still attached as a whole bunch. We asked the man for four. Grabbing a large knife he reached into the bunch, held a group to bananas and made his cut. Out came seven to which he said "you get seven." We hailed a rickshaw which took us to Temple Circle, which turned out to be just one big intersection. It was a short walk past the Hindu Temple and on to the beach.

I hear the beach in Varkala is the nicest in Kerala. I'm sure they're referring to the sandy part which was nice and wide and pretty clean. What they weren't referring to were the cliffs which have been used as a dumping area for all the businesses above the cliff. A bit reminiscent of Mexico. Anyway I put my feet into the warm waters of the Arabian Sea. Interesting to think while growing up on the East Coast to look East over the Atlantic and think Europe is in that direction, and now living on the West Coast to look West and think Hawaii or Asia is in that direction and now for the first time to look West and think Africa is in that direction. Just an observation. A short walk on the beach and up the stairs to the top of the cliffs to a nice restaurant that has free wifi. We ended up eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and breakfast there. The food was excellent.

There is large fishing community in Varkala and at night you can see the fishing boats dotting the horizon with their lights across almost the entire horizon. The must be hundreds. A large variety of freshly caught whole fish, shrimp, crabs, and lobsters are displayed on ice along the walking path in front of a number of restaurants. Some of the fish are so large that they cut you off a filet of any size you want and cook it for you. I had king fish for lunch and large jumbo shrimp for dinner while Heather enjoyed her vegetarian fare.

We're returning to Varkala so I'll write more about the shopping available there at that time. I will say the bargaining is expected.