Before leaving for my trip almost everyone asked the same question with a sense of concern, "are you traveling alone?" While I set out alone, my time has been mostly spent with fellow travelers, all coming along just at the right time. Having another westerner around to barter for the taxi ride, problem solve through the bureaucratic conundrum of train tickets, and just to sit and watch it all go by has been a delightful blessing. Karen and I arrived at the Ashram on the same day, and bonded like super glue. While getting hugs from Amma and being blasted by her unconditional Love was powerfully shaking things up, after the sixth day we both needed a little R & R. To the beach!
Lesson number one, NEVER miss your stop on an Indian train. Just one stop earlier would have saved us a 2 hour rickshaw ride back to the idyllic beach town of Varkala. Of course we made the most of it and chanted the whole way with our crazy French magician friend as a ladies bodyguard. Swimming in the Arabian Sea was pure medicine for me heart and soul. Warm, life giving, forgiving, cleansing, and absolutely beautiful. We found a hotel for $5 a night equipped with more comforts than our Ashram penthouse could compare with, like a real bed. We lapped it up along with 3 mango lassies a day. Every night the towns electricity shut off until the generators could get started, so dinner was eaten by candle light on the sea cliffs.
Absolute highlights: Going to a Kathakali (traditional south Indian dance) performance, buying Indian Ganesh bling off of local kids, helping an illiterate jeweler from Ladakh write a letter, and being healed by the sea.
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