The Yoga classes in the mountains were great and so was the teacher! It was a type of yoga I had never done before; in fact, I had never even heard of it until I saw it on the sign... but it was fantastic. It concentrates on opening all of your chakras and wow... do you ever feel fantastic after class...lighter, cleaner and just all around great!
The studio...if you didn't know what it was (which I hadn't up until
this point) you would think it was just a big tarpaulin tent...however when you went inside it was this cute little studio with a few mats and felt laid out on a cement floor. Shawls hanging along the wall to give it some colour and
one side completely open to the beautiful mountain view... it was the perfect place.
We did this for a few mornings and then went for a nice brunch as I was always hungry afterward ... of course.
Our last morning we sat with our wonderful teacher in his garden, drinking tea with mint pulled fresh from his garden. We talked about life and yoga enjoying the moment with an incredible view of the mountains... life is good.
I took an overnight bus to Delhi...and it was a shitty bus!!! First I had to walk from the hostel up the rocky road (no, not the ice cream), in the dark to get a cab...thank goodness the guy from the hostel carried my backpack and guided the way because I would still be there lost and crying hahaha.
The bus...well...let''s just say it wasn't my best bus experience in all the years I have traveled...however I did meet some awesome people so it has a bonus side...plus I got a story out of it ... another bonus.
I usually spend more money on a bus for comfort but the hostel could only book with this company and I wasn't walking down to Macleodganj until the next day and that's when I wanted my ticket for so I decided to go with it.
It was a pure traveler bus...I saw people from the meditation course and other I hadn't seen before. It was just a bunch of travelers so it meant the bus wasn't full and I had an empty seat next to me...score...this means I could stretch out and get a better nights sleep. WRONG!!! The bus was so bumpy... it had no shock absorber's so it bounced and shook. I was getting a big motion sick and the girl a few rows up was vomiting into a plastic bag.... it was cold with her window open but it felt good and helped me feel better. I think she puked the better part of the trip.
We bounced all night...at one point I saw my computer bag in the middle of the isle along with my shoes. My tea holder went flying out of my hands and I couldn't find it but the guy in front of me handed it back. The seats were silky so when I found a decent position I would just slide right out of it. Bumps had us flying out of our seat... so a sleep ... even a decent sleep seemed very far out of my reach for the night.
We did however arrive two hours early.... let me explain. In India you are usually on time, or late but never early.... so... he was driving like a speed demon... just like our driver to Taj Mahal... trust me you can feel it in a bus especially when it's bumby. I didn't mind though it cut our drive from 12 hours to 10 hours. The guys at the hostel were great...they woke up and let us check in which was great.
I met two others on the bus. Kirsten and Benny. Benny had been talking about staying at a guest house which was close to where we were. It was $3 a night but I would've paid $3 just to not stay there. There was mold absorbed into the white walls, the communal toilet had old cigarettes on the floor and I didn't even want to have a look at the shower. The bed room looked a bit like a jail cell. Benny stayed there but bought new sheets and blankets and Kirsten stayed with me at the hostel.
It was nice day we went for lunch and dinner.... I booked my bus for the next day..... I did another cheap one because it wasn't an overnight trip and then went to bed.
I caught my 7:30am bus the next morning and was on my way to Delhi to meet up with James (met him in Delhi when I first arrived). Just like last time, he was the first face I saw when I entered the hostel. We had drinks that night...well, we had to buy them under-the-table as it was a dry day. I felt the beer the next morning (and the cigarettes - I know, I know) but I wasn't bad...and we were off to Jaipur.
Our bus trip was 6 hours. James had booked our bus and went expensive so we had a nice bus... well not the nicest I have had but at least nicer than my overnight bus. We arrived in Jaipur around 5, hopped in a tuk-tuk and went to the hostel. We went for dinner with one of our roommates to a restaurant just up the road from the hostel that the owner had recommended. It doesn't look like much from inside or outside but of course the food was great!
The next morning I was up early to do my yoga practice and our roommate joined me, and while we were practicing two other girls asked if they could have a class with me the next morning. I of course said yes but ended up sleeping in so it didn't happen.
The next day we planned a city tour...the tuk-tuk driver had given us his number so I had messaged him with a list of places we wanted to go and he said okay for a very good price - $20.
We went to the Amber fort - we don't know anything about it really because we didn't get a guide but I took some awesome pictures. There were elephants there. I cried when I saw them. The elephants are beaten and treated horribly. It is always female elephants because they are less aggressive than the males. They are painted to look colourful and fun. People pay to sit in the basket on top and ride them. Elephants look like they have a strong stable back but they don't. They walk slowly and sadly, you can literally feel how sad they are as they walk through the crowd and the people on top smiling and laughing because they are riding an elephant.
Their trunks are white down the center. In order to get the paint off they are scrubbed with rocks resulting in their trunks fading. It's really awful how animals are treated in many countries around the world, it's heart breaking... they have literally broken these animals just for a joy ride...it's awful.
We went to the Floating Palace. From my understanding a man of stature - a long time ago built it for his wife. She wanted place to hangout so he built her a house out in the middle of the water. There used to be tours out to it however, there are crocodiles in the water and a few years ago a tourist ... well, I'm sure I don't have to continue the story. It wasn't a happy ending so they stopped the tours.
We went to some step wells. Back in the day, the people used to get their water from step wells. They would take buckets and go down to the water line. They are really beautiful and still in good condition... the one we were at reminded me of the scene in Labyrinth.
We visited the Monkey Temple which was my favourite. When you enter the area it doesn't smell great, there are lots of dog and the people, I think they live there, its not the nicest looking place. And, of course, there are monkeys, everywhere. There are so many, even on the walk up they are on the road and the stone wall that lines the road. They still make me nervous, I'm always afraid they are going to attack even though I know they are used to humans. The red faced ones are the aggressive ones and unfortunately these are the most common. You just have to walk slowly and don't make I contact or smile at them, then you will be in trouble.
We got blessed at the top and then went and looked out at Jaipur from the top.
Jaipur is a pretty city. The buildings are bigger and in better shape than the places I have been to in India. The streets are cleaner along with the buildings... it seems richer and you can see it in everything...though of course it is still polluted...you can see it sitting over the city. We stood there looking out for I don't know how long. I watched kids on their rooftops fly their kites and twirl around. It was really calming watching the city and listening to the far off sounds of the car horns and other city sounds.
We drove through the Pink city... all the buildings in the city are...well...pink! Rajasthan (the state we are in) has cities of different colours, and Jaipur has the Pink City.
I had been very clear with our driver that we just wanted to go to the places on our list and that we didn't want to be taken to any places where he would get commission ... he was offended and said he was not like that ... but.... lol. He made up excuses, the restaurant we wanted to go to was too far so he took us to a really good place that he knew about.... it was awesome ... but already against what I had told him. I wanted to go to a market and look at jewelry as Jaipur is known for it's amazing jewelry. "Nope, there are no markets like that, they won't be authentic I can take you to a factory!" We told him to just take us back to the hostel.... he had said okay the night before.... ah well, next time. Yes there will be a next time, I'm going back, I will explain that next.
The next day I was going on a tour with the owner of the hostel. He runs his own NGO. He has an after school program for children, and classes for women to get educated....here they learn how to read, write, and do mathematics. They also learn how to sew. He gets organic cotton and left over material from companies that are going to throw away their scraps. Then the women make clothing and other things...one being all the bed linens for the hostel. He also takes designs from Pinterest and they make the clothing and sell it. Some girls who have visited the hostel before have started their own Etsy business with their clothing. I even bought a few things myself that they made to fit me and had it for me within 4 hours. One of the women now runs her own business and can do her own books!
The people he helps are from the slum areas of Jaipur. He has three day cares where the children range from 3-6 or 7. He sings with them and teaches them English.
He had done all of this in 4 years with no support from the government. Everything he makes goes back into each project and whatever little money is left over goes towards his other project. A school. There is a building that he wants to buy and fix up so he can have the children from all 3 day cares bused to one school. He take everything and gives it back to others... his wife teaching the women to sew and his 8 year old daughter helping where she can. He buys all the schools supplies, gets used clothing, purchases sewing machines whenever he can. He has no sponsors or government funding. He doesn't have a website as he doesn't want to become famous, he just wants to help others as best he can. He is an incredible man and very inspiring. So inspiring I am going back for 10 days. I will be in the day cares, 3 days at each. I will be teaching the little ones English through games and songs. He is not a teacher so I want to give him a template and some ideas for the classroom! Also, a dream of mine for a long time has been to start a school in the slums of India and teach English voluntarily. When I walked in to the little day care I thought, this is literally my dream. The kids were just amazing, excited to learn, my heart melted and I was almost brought to tears. Right then I knew I needed to stay. I couldn't walk away from something like this. So after talking to the owner I am going back for 10 days to work with the little ones and I will also be doing morning yoga classes at the hostel for free room and board. I am so excited!!! This is literally a dream come true!
There was a really nice Dutch couple on the tour and we ended up going to a bar with them that night. The owner took us, had a small sip of tequila and left. We had a few drinks before they called last call at 11:45pm.
While we sat enjoying our drinks we were invited by our neighbouring table to join in a celebration where they fed us cake.
Our cab ride home called us cheaters because he went the wrong way. Here, you get a set price before you take a cab... but in this case it was an Uber. He got turned around and then wanted more money and called us cheaters.
First however, its a couple other cities with James before we split off for 12 days and then I am meeting him in Goa. Yesterday we took a short 3 hour bus ride to Pushkar. We took a sleeper bus - though we were in seats - and they are pretty awesome so I am going to take one back to Jaipur so I can sleep and have my own little space.
Again, our driver - this time being a tuk-tuk driver - tried getting more money out of us. He took us to the wrong place and then when he dropped us off asked for more money because he went to the wrong place saying "you only told me what place you wanted to go after we went to the wrong one." Clearly I didn't I wouldn't give the wrong name of a hostel for fun. Ughh... man, I'm having to be tough here and its giving me bad vibes in my soul but sometimes you really need to be stern.....pfft.
Today and tomorrow we are going to explore....we are waiting for our Dutch friends to arrive as they are joining us here and we are also meeting up with a friend we met in Delhi.
More adventures await.
- My Beautiful Life -
The studio...if you didn't know what it was (which I hadn't up untilthis point) you would think it was just a big tarpaulin tent...however when you went inside it was this cute little studio with a few mats and felt laid out on a cement floor. Shawls hanging along the wall to give it some colour and
one side completely open to the beautiful mountain view... it was the perfect place.
We did this for a few mornings and then went for a nice brunch as I was always hungry afterward ... of course.
Our last morning we sat with our wonderful teacher in his garden, drinking tea with mint pulled fresh from his garden. We talked about life and yoga enjoying the moment with an incredible view of the mountains... life is good.
I took an overnight bus to Delhi...and it was a shitty bus!!! First I had to walk from the hostel up the rocky road (no, not the ice cream), in the dark to get a cab...thank goodness the guy from the hostel carried my backpack and guided the way because I would still be there lost and crying hahaha.
The bus...well...let''s just say it wasn't my best bus experience in all the years I have traveled...however I did meet some awesome people so it has a bonus side...plus I got a story out of it ... another bonus.
I usually spend more money on a bus for comfort but the hostel could only book with this company and I wasn't walking down to Macleodganj until the next day and that's when I wanted my ticket for so I decided to go with it.
It was a pure traveler bus...I saw people from the meditation course and other I hadn't seen before. It was just a bunch of travelers so it meant the bus wasn't full and I had an empty seat next to me...score...this means I could stretch out and get a better nights sleep. WRONG!!! The bus was so bumpy... it had no shock absorber's so it bounced and shook. I was getting a big motion sick and the girl a few rows up was vomiting into a plastic bag.... it was cold with her window open but it felt good and helped me feel better. I think she puked the better part of the trip.
We bounced all night...at one point I saw my computer bag in the middle of the isle along with my shoes. My tea holder went flying out of my hands and I couldn't find it but the guy in front of me handed it back. The seats were silky so when I found a decent position I would just slide right out of it. Bumps had us flying out of our seat... so a sleep ... even a decent sleep seemed very far out of my reach for the night.
We did however arrive two hours early.... let me explain. In India you are usually on time, or late but never early.... so... he was driving like a speed demon... just like our driver to Taj Mahal... trust me you can feel it in a bus especially when it's bumby. I didn't mind though it cut our drive from 12 hours to 10 hours. The guys at the hostel were great...they woke up and let us check in which was great.
I met two others on the bus. Kirsten and Benny. Benny had been talking about staying at a guest house which was close to where we were. It was $3 a night but I would've paid $3 just to not stay there. There was mold absorbed into the white walls, the communal toilet had old cigarettes on the floor and I didn't even want to have a look at the shower. The bed room looked a bit like a jail cell. Benny stayed there but bought new sheets and blankets and Kirsten stayed with me at the hostel.
It was nice day we went for lunch and dinner.... I booked my bus for the next day..... I did another cheap one because it wasn't an overnight trip and then went to bed.
I caught my 7:30am bus the next morning and was on my way to Delhi to meet up with James (met him in Delhi when I first arrived). Just like last time, he was the first face I saw when I entered the hostel. We had drinks that night...well, we had to buy them under-the-table as it was a dry day. I felt the beer the next morning (and the cigarettes - I know, I know) but I wasn't bad...and we were off to Jaipur.
Our bus trip was 6 hours. James had booked our bus and went expensive so we had a nice bus... well not the nicest I have had but at least nicer than my overnight bus. We arrived in Jaipur around 5, hopped in a tuk-tuk and went to the hostel. We went for dinner with one of our roommates to a restaurant just up the road from the hostel that the owner had recommended. It doesn't look like much from inside or outside but of course the food was great!
The next morning I was up early to do my yoga practice and our roommate joined me, and while we were practicing two other girls asked if they could have a class with me the next morning. I of course said yes but ended up sleeping in so it didn't happen.
The next day we planned a city tour...the tuk-tuk driver had given us his number so I had messaged him with a list of places we wanted to go and he said okay for a very good price - $20.
We went to the Amber fort - we don't know anything about it really because we didn't get a guide but I took some awesome pictures. There were elephants there. I cried when I saw them. The elephants are beaten and treated horribly. It is always female elephants because they are less aggressive than the males. They are painted to look colourful and fun. People pay to sit in the basket on top and ride them. Elephants look like they have a strong stable back but they don't. They walk slowly and sadly, you can literally feel how sad they are as they walk through the crowd and the people on top smiling and laughing because they are riding an elephant.Their trunks are white down the center. In order to get the paint off they are scrubbed with rocks resulting in their trunks fading. It's really awful how animals are treated in many countries around the world, it's heart breaking... they have literally broken these animals just for a joy ride...it's awful.
We went to the Floating Palace. From my understanding a man of stature - a long time ago built it for his wife. She wanted place to hangout so he built her a house out in the middle of the water. There used to be tours out to it however, there are crocodiles in the water and a few years ago a tourist ... well, I'm sure I don't have to continue the story. It wasn't a happy ending so they stopped the tours.
We went to some step wells. Back in the day, the people used to get their water from step wells. They would take buckets and go down to the water line. They are really beautiful and still in good condition... the one we were at reminded me of the scene in Labyrinth.
We visited the Monkey Temple which was my favourite. When you enter the area it doesn't smell great, there are lots of dog and the people, I think they live there, its not the nicest looking place. And, of course, there are monkeys, everywhere. There are so many, even on the walk up they are on the road and the stone wall that lines the road. They still make me nervous, I'm always afraid they are going to attack even though I know they are used to humans. The red faced ones are the aggressive ones and unfortunately these are the most common. You just have to walk slowly and don't make I contact or smile at them, then you will be in trouble.
We got blessed at the top and then went and looked out at Jaipur from the top.
Jaipur is a pretty city. The buildings are bigger and in better shape than the places I have been to in India. The streets are cleaner along with the buildings... it seems richer and you can see it in everything...though of course it is still polluted...you can see it sitting over the city. We stood there looking out for I don't know how long. I watched kids on their rooftops fly their kites and twirl around. It was really calming watching the city and listening to the far off sounds of the car horns and other city sounds.
We drove through the Pink city... all the buildings in the city are...well...pink! Rajasthan (the state we are in) has cities of different colours, and Jaipur has the Pink City.
I had been very clear with our driver that we just wanted to go to the places on our list and that we didn't want to be taken to any places where he would get commission ... he was offended and said he was not like that ... but.... lol. He made up excuses, the restaurant we wanted to go to was too far so he took us to a really good place that he knew about.... it was awesome ... but already against what I had told him. I wanted to go to a market and look at jewelry as Jaipur is known for it's amazing jewelry. "Nope, there are no markets like that, they won't be authentic I can take you to a factory!" We told him to just take us back to the hostel.... he had said okay the night before.... ah well, next time. Yes there will be a next time, I'm going back, I will explain that next.
The next day I was going on a tour with the owner of the hostel. He runs his own NGO. He has an after school program for children, and classes for women to get educated....here they learn how to read, write, and do mathematics. They also learn how to sew. He gets organic cotton and left over material from companies that are going to throw away their scraps. Then the women make clothing and other things...one being all the bed linens for the hostel. He also takes designs from Pinterest and they make the clothing and sell it. Some girls who have visited the hostel before have started their own Etsy business with their clothing. I even bought a few things myself that they made to fit me and had it for me within 4 hours. One of the women now runs her own business and can do her own books!
The people he helps are from the slum areas of Jaipur. He has three day cares where the children range from 3-6 or 7. He sings with them and teaches them English.
He had done all of this in 4 years with no support from the government. Everything he makes goes back into each project and whatever little money is left over goes towards his other project. A school. There is a building that he wants to buy and fix up so he can have the children from all 3 day cares bused to one school. He take everything and gives it back to others... his wife teaching the women to sew and his 8 year old daughter helping where she can. He buys all the schools supplies, gets used clothing, purchases sewing machines whenever he can. He has no sponsors or government funding. He doesn't have a website as he doesn't want to become famous, he just wants to help others as best he can. He is an incredible man and very inspiring. So inspiring I am going back for 10 days. I will be in the day cares, 3 days at each. I will be teaching the little ones English through games and songs. He is not a teacher so I want to give him a template and some ideas for the classroom! Also, a dream of mine for a long time has been to start a school in the slums of India and teach English voluntarily. When I walked in to the little day care I thought, this is literally my dream. The kids were just amazing, excited to learn, my heart melted and I was almost brought to tears. Right then I knew I needed to stay. I couldn't walk away from something like this. So after talking to the owner I am going back for 10 days to work with the little ones and I will also be doing morning yoga classes at the hostel for free room and board. I am so excited!!! This is literally a dream come true!There was a really nice Dutch couple on the tour and we ended up going to a bar with them that night. The owner took us, had a small sip of tequila and left. We had a few drinks before they called last call at 11:45pm.
While we sat enjoying our drinks we were invited by our neighbouring table to join in a celebration where they fed us cake.
Our cab ride home called us cheaters because he went the wrong way. Here, you get a set price before you take a cab... but in this case it was an Uber. He got turned around and then wanted more money and called us cheaters.
First however, its a couple other cities with James before we split off for 12 days and then I am meeting him in Goa. Yesterday we took a short 3 hour bus ride to Pushkar. We took a sleeper bus - though we were in seats - and they are pretty awesome so I am going to take one back to Jaipur so I can sleep and have my own little space.
Again, our driver - this time being a tuk-tuk driver - tried getting more money out of us. He took us to the wrong place and then when he dropped us off asked for more money because he went to the wrong place saying "you only told me what place you wanted to go after we went to the wrong one." Clearly I didn't I wouldn't give the wrong name of a hostel for fun. Ughh... man, I'm having to be tough here and its giving me bad vibes in my soul but sometimes you really need to be stern.....pfft.
Today and tomorrow we are going to explore....we are waiting for our Dutch friends to arrive as they are joining us here and we are also meeting up with a friend we met in Delhi.
More adventures await.
- My Beautiful Life -
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