Nancy - Rishikesh India
I arrived in Delhi at 9pm Wednesday night, scouted out the yellow "yoga family" sign from the mass of drivers waiting at the exit gate and checked into the moth bally hotel not far from the airport.
In the morning I met the group of yogis-to-be in the hotel restaurant, 34 girls from various parts of Canada, US and Japan and 1 guy from Italy. We met our instructor Yogi Vishvketu who greeted all of us with a warm welcome and contagious giggle. After breakfast we climbed on the bus for the journey to Rishikesh (might I add his is all at 6am)
The drive took us through Delhi, which was exactly what I had imagined.. with soft Pujabi music playing on the speakers, the red sun rising over the smoggy sky line, cars honking, cows grazing on the side of the road, horse drawn carriages, scooters, bonfires, shanty towns, kids in uniform heading to school and shop keepers beginning their day, muddy garbage filled rivers, stray dogs rummaging for food.. It was my first moment of aw.. with a big smile on my face I thought "oh my god, I'm in India!!! and I LOVE IT!"
We arrived in Rishikesh around 2pm and checked into the Ashram. We were greeted by an elderly woman (Vishva's mother) who dabbed a bindi on each of our foreheads and strung a flower necklace around our necks. Me and my roommate Sara were given a room on the non-picturesque side of the building. It's quite dungeon like actually and very cold. We did a thorough scrub down of the room and have high hopes of re-decorating. Today at the market we are going to buy shawls for the wall and incense to make it a bit more homey.
At 4pm we had our first yoga class. It was a relaxing class full of much needed hip stretching after all the sitting. Due to a power outage and the jet lag we were all in bed by 8pm.
Today we woke at 5:30 for 6am yoga class, breakfast then a tour of the city. Finally I have found reliable internet! Not sure when I'll be back.. but I'm here, I'm safe and I'm happy!
Till next time..
I arrived in Delhi at 9pm Wednesday night, scouted out the yellow "yoga family" sign from the mass of drivers waiting at the exit gate and checked into the moth bally hotel not far from the airport.
In the morning I met the group of yogis-to-be in the hotel restaurant, 34 girls from various parts of Canada, US and Japan and 1 guy from Italy. We met our instructor Yogi Vishvketu who greeted all of us with a warm welcome and contagious giggle. After breakfast we climbed on the bus for the journey to Rishikesh (might I add his is all at 6am)
The drive took us through Delhi, which was exactly what I had imagined.. with soft Pujabi music playing on the speakers, the red sun rising over the smoggy sky line, cars honking, cows grazing on the side of the road, horse drawn carriages, scooters, bonfires, shanty towns, kids in uniform heading to school and shop keepers beginning their day, muddy garbage filled rivers, stray dogs rummaging for food.. It was my first moment of aw.. with a big smile on my face I thought "oh my god, I'm in India!!! and I LOVE IT!"
We arrived in Rishikesh around 2pm and checked into the Ashram. We were greeted by an elderly woman (Vishva's mother) who dabbed a bindi on each of our foreheads and strung a flower necklace around our necks. Me and my roommate Sara were given a room on the non-picturesque side of the building. It's quite dungeon like actually and very cold. We did a thorough scrub down of the room and have high hopes of re-decorating. Today at the market we are going to buy shawls for the wall and incense to make it a bit more homey.
At 4pm we had our first yoga class. It was a relaxing class full of much needed hip stretching after all the sitting. Due to a power outage and the jet lag we were all in bed by 8pm.
Today we woke at 5:30 for 6am yoga class, breakfast then a tour of the city. Finally I have found reliable internet! Not sure when I'll be back.. but I'm here, I'm safe and I'm happy!
Till next time..
sounds exciting! nancy, remember my emails don't get through to your address--how can I contact you? pam
ReplyDeleteWow... I couldn't stop reading. I am incaptivated by your posts.. This is such an inspiring experience and I want to thank you for sharing that with everyone. I hope you enjoy every moment of it, just remeber to keep your head up no matter what happens and absorb as much from this trip as you can - I mean, when else are you going to come to India again and get mentorship from real, authentic yogis?? You are going to get some golden knowledge.. I m jelous
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