Stretching, spirituality and saying goodbyes...

---

Hello those of you still finding time to track my endless movements!

I am writing to you from the home of the Dalai Lama...Dharamsala up in the picturesque mountains! I have covered quite a lot of ground since my last entry which has meant some serious train journies. Being in confined spaces has induced some interesting and amusing situations largely due to our train delirum, or as we like to say...going "insane in the train brain!". Sally and i have now managed to tally up 15 train journies! Most of which we have treated ourselves to the luxury of 3rd AC(carriages with air conditioning and pillows and blankets for bed time!) However to make it down to chennai from kerala we and the other gappers endured a 12hour-ish journey in sleeper class. Now, no air-conditioning, plus the humidity and heat of south india, plus a dose of too much travelling tiredness made for i reckon my most amusing journey. Events included, Tom somehow managing to fall into a tray of curry whilst trying to hide spider man style behind felix on the wall of the train behind his seat?! and then Felix proceeding to acquire a curried bum by sitting perfectly in what remained of the mess Tom had made! At least such strange events help while away the hours!

After our few days in Chennai, Tom, Sally and I went and faced our mamouth 40hr train ride up to Varanasi. We arrived with our saneity just about still intact and met up with the others who had all flown in a day previously. After cooling down in the pool of their hotel we all decided to make the move to Shanti Guest house, which was hidden away in the maze of back alleys coming off the ghats. It was an incredibly hot and sweaty journey hiking our backpacks through midday heat.
After recovering and freshening up we headed out that evening down to the ghats to watch the evening puja which is a ceremony where prayers and offerings are made to the gods and people can put flowers into the ganges. (kinda the hindu equivalent to mass). It was really amazing, very colourful and had an awesome atmosphere and was great for sitting back, taking it all in, drinking chai out of clay cups and people watching! We went again a few nights later and had great fun befriending and playing with some of the cheeky kids trying to sell us stuff.

The next morning we somehow managed to haul ourselves out of bed at 4:30am to for a sunrise boat ride down the ganges. It was beautiful seeing the sun rise and watching all the locals go about their morning rituals from bathing, to swimming lessons, to prayers, yoga, doing the washing! Sadly that afternnon it was time for our first round of goodbyes as Megan and Charlotte were heading off in an attempt to get to darjeeling. It was strange to see the first lot of our little family break away and unfortunately only a few days later we had to say goodbye to the boys as they were heading up north. Which left just us me, Sally and tess, aka "the angels!" (we kept having the unoriginal statement that we were like charlie's angels whilst travelling!)
As a whole, despite the goodbyes i had an awesome time in Varanasi. In spite of the very sticky heat and thus our permanent state of extreme sweaty-ness...mmmm the place had lovely feeling to it. We were constantly getting lost in the maze of back alleys, having to dodge the crazy motorbikes, cyclists, cows and the occasional funeral processions but being by the holy ganges and the life that surrounds it was really interesting. A city of two sides...tranquil and spiritual... but still India, bustling and fustrating!

Our next stop was to head up into the hills of the north, a welcome escape from the stiffling heat of the south. We arrived in Risikesh for a week of relaxation. It was great to have a change of scenery and it almost felt as though we had arrived in a different country with such a cooler climate and being surrounded by the beautiful mountains and greenery. We went for a walk up to a waterfall which had some beautiful views and also went white water rafting down the ganges...twice! Unexpectedly, but a very pleasant surprise, Felix, his sister Meg and Tom appeared in Risikesh two days after we arrived, so we went rafting with them again. We got to body surf through one of the rapids...loads of fun but VERY cold! We also jumped off a cliff and and climbed up a waterful, all loads of fun! We passed the rest of our time in Risikesh doing some yoga and easily settling into the chilled out spiritual vibe! We all got our palms read...which was interesting. Apparently i can find it hard to focus and make decisions, have a soft heart, make friends easily...will have 3 kids!(i hope not!) and should live far from home and near water...i guess we'll have to see how that goes!

It is now down to just the two of us, as sally and i said our last farewells to Tess in Risikesh and are now even further up in the mountains of Dharamsala. The place has a wonderful vibe and the views across the mountain valleys are incredible...we can even see snow capped mountains. It is the 20year anniversary of Tiannamen square massacre today and there was a cool candle light procession through town yesterday. The Miss Tibet contest is also being held here in the next few days which should be fun and apparently the Dalai Lama himself might be making an appearence up here shortly...although i think unfortunately we may just miss him.

Our next stop is Amritsar and then all the way down to heat and humidity of Mumbai. My time in India is fast disappearing. I'm still needless to say loving every minute of the travellers existance and feel very settled in my current nomadic lifestyle! :P No worries though...i still havent' "found myself"! I think i'm far to scattered for such a revelation!

much love xxxx

---