Himalayan Awakening

Day 236- Our expected 10 hours bus journey to Dharamshala took a turn for the worse.... a literal turn... as in a wrong turn, in the wrong direction, which wrongly added an additional painful 7 hours to the trip. An extra 7 hours of winding mountain roads. In the end it took us 17 hours to get to our destination and it affected us all in some way or another. We were exhausted. Mike and a few others had a go on the floor in hopes of finding some rest and reprieve from the bumps. Mike being travel savvy and plentifully lazy, started this trend an hour into the trip and weathered most of the storm snoozing. His spot became a sanctuary for a few others near the end of the trip. 

                          

  

We checked into our simple but cozy mountainside room at Hotel Sky Pie and rested up for a day that was still far from over. Our hotel was tucked into the foot of the Himalayan mountains, making the snow capped peaks just a snow balls throw away. 

As part of the Breathe in Life trip, a  four day yoga course was booked for our stay in Dharamshala. We had to push back the start time of our first day's class but we were all excited to get our bodies moving after our long journey. We had a fresh shower, dressed in our best yoga garb and headed to the studio. 

             

As you can see below, I was feeling extra strong. Just kidding, I was actually feeling kind of weak... 

                  

We were signed up for the course at the Himalayan Iyengar Center in Dharamkot, just a 10 minute walk up the hill from our home. In short, Iyengar yoga does 'less for longer' with more attention given to the details and body alignment of each posture. This attention to detail is supported with strong theory as well as an assortment of blocks and cushions, to ensure that each psoture is done to perfection. We were anxious to get started and got even more excited when we saw the studio that we would call home for our four, 3 hour a day sessions.

It was like being alone in your elementary gym and we freely climbed on the walls and played with all the equipment. However, just like elementary, we all stopped as soon as our teacher came in the room and bashfully returned to our mats. This was our first introduction to the strong personality that would be our teacher for the next four days. 

This first class set the stage for what would be an amazing week of yoga. The teacher, Leona, was meticulous, strict, yet funny and her knowledge of her craft was quickly apparent. Mike and I both quickly decided that we really liked her and her no nonsense attitude towards yoga. 

We got home late to some hot food and a cold room with toasty blankets. At night the mountian air cooled quickly and we were all happy to warm up with our layers of sweaters, wool socks and wool blankets.

Day 237- We all woke up refreshed and ready for a great day in the himalayas. It started off with a quick tour of the nearby town of Mcleod Ganj, to get acquainted with our new surroundings. This area wasn't hard to love and I was already planning my next visit. Dharamshala sits high up in the himalayas at 1500 meters and is home to many exiled Tibetans as well as the Dalai Lama. The city is quiet and the most serene place we'd visited so far in India. Narrow streets linked one area to another and the now local Tibetan's made us feel very welcome with their smiles. 

Our first sight was the large prayer wheel that sits at the center of the market area. We each took a spin around the wheel with an intention (prayer) in mind to start our day. This is a common practice for the locals who live here. 

Next stop was the Tibetan Museum. 

The Tibetan museum is dedicated to informing visitors of the past and ongoing genocide that is occurring in Tibet. This was another of many sobering experiences that Mike and I have come into contact with along our journey and was no less impactful than our visit to Cambodia or Vietnam. In an attempt to assimilate Tibet into China, the Chinese government have methodically been removing any remanence of traditional Tibet. The country of Tibet no longer exists and any remaining Tibetans are being stripped of their culture and spiritual rights under the new rule of China. In fact, it was recently confirmed that the Chinese government seized the child successor of the world famous Dalai Lama in order to ensure that he is educated in a manor that is deemed acceptable to China. This is not an issue that is widely advertised in Western society causing many Tibetans to resort to extreme forms of protest in an attempt to bring the world's attention to their cause. So far one hundred and forty three Tibetans have resorted to self-immolation (lighting ones self on fire) in hopes of building public awareness of the cultural genocide that is still occurring today. This was another experience that left us ashamed that we are so uneducated to the world injustice. This is not a piece of history to be viewed from afar. This is one of many that, previously, I had found myself disregarding as unrelated to my life. I believe it is the responsibility of all society to inform themselves of the injustice in the world and pressure those committing these acts to cease and desist. I am a supporter of the Tibetan's cause and support the freedom of all of those working to maintain their culture. 

Next door to the museum is a Tibetan Monastery, also known as the Dalai Lama's home away from home.   

Another prayer wheel on the inside of the complex. 

After the temple we set out to find some food and we had no problem achieving this task. Some fresh sweets and authentic Tibetan momos satisfied our hunger. 

Before long it was time for our second class at the Iyengar studio. The grounds of the studio made for the perfect center to get centered. 

I made like a tree and posed. 

As a part of our daily asanas (postures), we had to remember which props we'd used from the previous day to help support us. We all had to laugh when we saw the castle that Mike had built for himself in order to properly get into Suptavirasana. Mike assured our instructor that in his engineering opinion his support system was structurally sound. You can imagine her relief. Worst part, was that he needed to recreate it every day. Poor Mike. Apparently we are never too old to build a fort.

Here's the rest of the room in their postures while Jordan places mini bean bags on everyone's eyes. 

After a solid 3 hours of intense detail oriented yoga, we headed home, explored the area near our hotel in Bhagsu and had another early night.

Day 238- We had an early start for yoga and it made for a great begining to our day. These guys passed us while on our way to Yoga practice.

After yoga, Mike, Melissa (leader), Chris and I went to Magic Tree for some delicious coffee and porridge. Yup, I took a picture of my porridge... it's just so darn good. Plus I think that handsome waiter might have been sending me signals. 

Three hours went by with ease as we spoke of relationships and the work and compromise that are necessary to make a relationship successful. We already knew how much we enjoyed their company but this easy conversation made us realize how much we really had in common. 

For the rest of the afternoon, Mike hung out with Jeff, while Melissa, (non leader) (not that she couldn't be a leader but she's just not the leader) Lindsay and I went shopping in Mcleod Ganj. Later on in the evening we met up with Mike, Melissa (leader) Jeff and Jordan to enjoy some local deserts and tea at a cafe with a beautiful view. 

Love the indian prayer flags.

Nothing better than a happy Dalai Lama. 

On our walk home, while I was taking a group selfie, I had a near miss with a tuk tuk and it's written all over my face. I wonder if more people get killed while taking selfies by tuk tuks than shark attacks each year? Click this link to learn more- http://time.com/4257429/selfie-deaths/ 

The night ended with a movie in the tv room of the hotel with teas, beers and Super Troopers on the screen. 

Day 239- It was our last day of yoga and we were lucky enough to finish off the course with the highly prestiged 'Kings pose'. The benefits of the pose are so numerous that we bought ourselves a rope for our home to practice as much as we desire. Not too mention it's super fun to hang upside down.

We ended the class with a delicious cinnamon bun hug (ask me and I'll show you sometime) for our amazing teacher and a fantastic experience. 

Mike and I took the rest of the afternoon to hang out, just the two of us, which we felt like we hadn't done much of since joining the group... Well Mike most likely didn't notice but I just can't get enough of him. We returned to the little cafe, with the good view, for an afternoon tea just as rain began to fall. Before we knew it, we were caught in a wicked rain storm and we had a front row seat. 

Hail?! Well I haven't seen that in a while.

I even managed to capture the complimenting light show. 

We were not the only ones taking cover from the storm and we were lucky enough to share a table with a Tibetan monk who was learning english. We enjoyed the storm with some great company and even had the pleasure of teaching him some new english words...one of them was 'hail'. Once the rain let up we caught a cab home and joined our group for a delightful dinner. 

Day 240- An early start had us geared up and ready for a hike up Mount Triund. After spending so many days looking at the beautiful snow capped mountains in the distance, it was time we saw them up close. 

Our four trustee guides were energized for a day in the mountains.

The landscape was beautiful and there was no shortage of camera worthy moments. 

                     

We were ecstatic to see, feel and touch snow for the first time in 8 months.  

Many hard working horses passed us on the trail carrying supplies and food to the single hut settlements on the top of the mountain. 

The hike was fairly easy with a minor incline the whole way up and it took us around two hours to make it to the top. And when we did, the view was spectacular. 

Mike, Chris and Jeff taking it all in. 

The clouds rolled in pretty quickly but we all embraced the cool, misty air that accompanied it and we bundled up in our sweaters and jackets.

Our walk up the mountain was also made cuter with the presence of a dog who joined us the whole way up. He made his rounds from group to group but in the end he snuggled in for a family photo with Melissa, Jeff, Jordan and I.

There was a little restaurant at the top that was stitched together with scraps of metal, plastic, wood and rock. Who would have guessed that they would make some of the best chai and dahl of the trip so far.

Everyone was in great spirits and the hike had us all feeling alive and well. 

We made our way down the mountain and the air began to get colder and colder on our descent. 

We could feel little droplets of rain but we figured we could make it down and escape any sort of bad weather... This idea didn't last very long at all. Before we knew it, a storm had rolled into the mountainside and we took shelter from the painful hail at a conveniently placed chai shop half way down the mountain. The beautiful part of the situation was the fact that this intense storm didn't dampen anyones spirit. We had such a great group of people that we all just welcomed the storm as an additive to our experience. 

You can see the literal sheets of rain coming down in the valley. It was a powerful display of nature. 

Once the hail let up we all made a run for it. All who was left was Mike, Jeff, Kailie and myself. Jeff wasn't wearing proper shoes for the weather so his feet were frozen and it was as if he was walking barefoot in the snow. As we ran down the mountain we were all aware of the amount of hail that had fallen and feared our ability to make it home in one piece. Once at the bottom, we went into a restaurant shack and asked them to call us a taxi to take us the rest of the way down the mountain and back to our hotel. One of the locals informed us that we'd have to walk because the taxis couldn't get up the steep mountain roads with the slippery hail. At this point we were starting to see the suffering in Jeff's face and we knew his feet were in trouble. We had walked for around five minutes when we were offered a ride from a Canadian-Indian with an SUV. We were relieved and accepted the offer with little thought. With his first break of the tires, the wheels slid and we saw ourselves a foot away from the cliff on our left hand side. We trusted our gut instincts and exited the vehicle, figuring we'd be more safe walking along the narrow mountain road than driving. Not more than ten minutes later, we were reunited with the SUV as it blocked our path due to a 180 degree spin it had taken on the snowy single lane road. We helped push it back into position and Mike and I said a silent prayer, thankful for our decision minutes earlier. We stopped and took turns rubbing and blowing hot hair on Jeff's feet, trying to bring feeling back to his poor souls. We conquered the rest of the road with a slow jog until we got far enough down that the snow had melted and a cab drove us back to our home. I can't describe how amazing our shower was upon our return... hot... and as long as you wanted, which is not common in India. 

We reunited with the group and were happy to see that everyone else made it home safely, each with a story of their own journey down the mountain. All in all, we agreed that it was one of our best experiences of the trip. Maybe not the the cold feet but the mountain and storm were incredible. 

We cozied in for another movie night. Watched Billy Madison and drank hot tea until the night was old. 

Day 241- After a solid and well deserved rest, we packed up for our departure out of Dharamshala. Jeff was staying to complete another Iyengar course and we were definitely sad to say goodbye. 

We were leaving two unforgettable things behind. Jeff, who was a stepping stone in our personal growth and Dharamshala, the charming himalayan city that tested our balance and our will. Looking forward to seeing both again. 

We were all a little nervous about another road journey after our incoming bus ride but we settled into our vehicles and prepared for our drive back to Delhi. Just as our luck would have it, Dharamshala left us with a beautiful parting gift.... the first day with a clear sky to see the amazing himalayan mountains. 

Our journey back to Delhi was quite easy and actually ended up being a lot of fun. Mike got a much needed dose of some juicy girl talk and Laura recited the entire Bridesmaids movie word for word and with perfect immitations. 

This would be a piece of cake.