Holy Cow!

Incredible India:
Vibrant, Spicy, Holy & Stinky

The destination I've had my eye on for so long that the Lonely Planet I carry looks like a collector's addition, the new one having come out last year.

After postponing my flight from Africa, I was ready to be here. I was also relieved and excited when my friend Olly, whom I'd met on Fanny, decided he needed some extra spice before starting his career.

Traversing the streets that look like they haven't changed for centuries we set out to collect experiences and this is what we came up with:

Together we:
-sweat out kilos of weight (who decided women should cover up from head to toe in the hottest country on the planet)
-battled fierce touts (& children who clung to our legs as they sat on our feet)
-climbed unsurpassed stairs (forget temples, they put us on the seventh floor!)
-got in numerous fights with strangers (over the price of a rickshaw)
-were violently stoned and molested (by a pack of 8 year olds when we became lost)
-slept 7 nights without paying (6 night trains or buses, 1 room was too hot to justify)
-spent 3 days in the Thar Desert with our trusted steeds (or camels)
-won numerous golden tickets!! (all Cadbury's are wrapped in Willy Wonka-esque foil)
-bathed in the holy Ganga (the shower pumped water straight from the river leaving what looked like a sand dune)
-visited the greatest monument to love (the Taj Majal)
-learned how to feed a nation (or the tiny Indian family who taught us how to cook. Don't worry Mrs. Chatur, they've got nothing on you!)
-found the cutest fixer-upper should we move to India (a dilapidated monsoon palace in Udaipur...waiting for them to put it on the market)
-celebrated 10 days dancing, singing and dunking statues of an elephant-man-god in lakes (self-explanatory)
-learned that Cressida is the better cards player of the two (thank you very much)
-and were successful in avoiding Delhi Belly for 3 whole weeks (to have our smug smiles wiped straight off our faces for the disastrous and comical last week).

To put it simply, Olly and I had a blast trying to figure out one of the most alive and chaotic places I've ever known.

Thanks Olly for helping test out the waters, even if they made you sick, and making all of the awkward, uncomfortable, delicious and colourful experiences truly laughable and beautiful.

(now what about that Stella?)

************************************************************************

And then I left the country without crossing any borders. Dharamsala, in the foothills of the Himalaya is the home of the 14th Dalai Lama and many Tibetan refugees and exiles. Atop a mtn and amongst the clouds--it is the most peaceful and calming place I've been on this trip. Perfect after a month in India! As I mentioned before, I feel that something powerful led me to this place and just in time to hear His Holiness speak.

The teachings were ethereal. Sitting in a sea of red-clothed monks, chanting mantras and prostrating to His Holiness--I've never felt so much love and compassion is a room full of strangers. This is saying a lot considering that the group sponsoring the teaching were from Taiwan, making the Chinese over 40% of the attendees. The very same people responsible for the violent over-taking of Tibet that took over 1.2 million lives were invited to India to learn about love. The Dalai Lama welcomed them, his "enemies" reminding everyone how we were family and even telling a couple of communist jokes.

Surreal and moving it's difficult to say how this experience might influence my life and personal relationships for years to come. I walk away feeling very lucky and light.

There are many lessons I learned during the teachings, the simplest and most important being the foundation of Buddhism:
Try your hardest to help others.
If you cannot help others, then do not harm them.

I leave Dharamsala now, knowing it's too soon but another once in a lifetime opportunity awaits. I've been accepted to study Vipassana Meditation in Lucknow for a 10 day intensive course: no speaking or eye contact and at least 10 hours of daily concentrated meditation, starting at 4AM. I'll let you know at what degree of sanity I'll reemerge into the world!

Love you all, as always.