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Published: April 18th 2009
We arrived by bus to Trivandrum after a hellish day of trying to actually board one. In India, there are usually 2 types of buses. One is air conditioned, assigned seating, and comfortable and clean. These buses are usually very expensive, and not a great option for those on a budget. The other type of bus is an old, beat up, dirty, and utterly chaotic local bus. These buses have no assigned seating, and rarely even get the chance to stop before locals are stampeding on. This system, as hard as it is already, is compounded by the fact that the destinations are only written in Hindi on most buses, or the English part is too low in the window to be seen. Add the fact that we each have 2 bags on, it is over 36 degrees out, and we just can’t get on a bus in time before every conceivable inch of space to fit us and our luggage is full, this all comes together to make a memorable morning.
Finally we get to our destination after 5 glorious hours of Trevor snuggling with a big local man, and Erin squished into the window. The best part about
road traffic in India is that your life flashes in front of you all the time. We would like to know what Indians consider a "close call"!!!
Trivandrum is the capital city of the state of Kerala. It is big, and very busy. It does however have lots of accommodation near the train and bus stations. There is also lots of food and shopping nearby.
Trivandrum was just a pit stop before we embarked on our travel to Neyyar Dam, and on to our yoga ashram. We boarded another bus, and in a few short hours we are arriving in this sleepy little town built at the base of a dam. This dam provided water to the irrigation canals downstream. One of the first things we noticed about this region is that it is frigging hot!! High 30's all the time. This makes the area insanely dry for months of the year. Thankfully the dam makes a nice, clean lake in the mountains. This comes in handy when there is no ocean around.
Our trip to the southernmost reaches of India was to visit the famous Shivananda yoga ashram. This place has a very strict daily routine. Wake
up at 5:20 am, go to a chanting sat-sang, and morning lecture. Then you can talk while having morning tea. Then you have 1.5 hrs of yoga. Brunch, in silence.....and then clean for an hour. 2 hours free time, then a lecture, then another 1.5 yoga lesson. Then its dinner....once again in silence. After dinner it is time for another 2 hour session of chanting and a lecture and ready for bed. Lights out at 10:30 pm. And repeat for as many days as you can handle it.
As soon as we arrived at the bus stop near the ashram, Trevor asks where we can get beer and a smoke. An auto rickshaw driver takes us to a hotel where we drink 2 large beers, and Trevor has one last smoke before being dropped off and checked in.
Our experience at the ashram has been good overall. We have enjoyed the yoga, and the surroundings were beautiful, but after 1 week, we checked out. Trevor really had a problem with the bland food. We also both didn’t really enjoy the prayer and worship time, chanting and the spiritual aspect. We were aware that there would be some, but
not multiple, mandatory sessions a day. We had our fill, and left the ashram taking good from our experience. We loved the yoga and met some amazing people from all over the world.
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