First, don't use Canadian-Prairie standards when judging the time it takes to drive 250km by bus.
Now I know.
I also know just how "creative" the creative driving here can be. We had an excellent time comparing the tune and duration of horn honks as the typical bumper "sticker" is PLEASE HONK (when passing) and I am quite sure most disregard the latter... the best way to compensate is to play a little game called "Use this Honk as a pitch pipe and try and sing along" (when the horn blast is shorter, of course) or, simply "Dance Off" (for longer honks). All in all it was an interesting ride.
I must admit that like my fellow passengers (about 30 of us in the YTT 200 program and then a few others in the way of staff and drivers) liked the Fresh Banana stop, the Roasted Peanut stop and the Half-Way There stop. The little garden restaurant would have had me at "no honking" but it went further and amazed more. There was a small "Chickens of the World" Exhibit - which is exactly as it sounds: about 10 chickens in cages (with majestic and impressive plumage, no doubt) and their respective countries of origin. THEN there were the lovely English signs reminding us not to take glasses on the stone patio and to "Treasure Cleanliness." I would have been done then but as we were snacking on Chai Masala, deep fried tofu, deep fried cauliflower and deep fried leaves (yes, leaves) some monkeys (that we learned later are the "grouchy" type) peeked out of the trees and off the roof to try and join us. Sweet! (and no, I didn't take a picture.)
After the 6.5 hours required to go the distance from Delhi to Rishikesh we arrived (close to) the Ashram. Since the bus couldn't turn down the tiny road properly it just let us off and we walked the last "block."
Since then things have been great. I don't have much time right now to share more but I hope to add a few more posts this week before the YTT 200 course "officially" begins. They call the first three days "jet lag days" and we've got a tour of the neighbourhood, two yoga classes a day, delicious food and a hike to a nearby waterfall all before Sunday! So far so... great!
p.s. in the first 3 hours... the cow count was approximately 310. The cow count is officially terminated.
Now I know.
I also know just how "creative" the creative driving here can be. We had an excellent time comparing the tune and duration of horn honks as the typical bumper "sticker" is PLEASE HONK (when passing) and I am quite sure most disregard the latter... the best way to compensate is to play a little game called "Use this Honk as a pitch pipe and try and sing along" (when the horn blast is shorter, of course) or, simply "Dance Off" (for longer honks). All in all it was an interesting ride.
I must admit that like my fellow passengers (about 30 of us in the YTT 200 program and then a few others in the way of staff and drivers) liked the Fresh Banana stop, the Roasted Peanut stop and the Half-Way There stop. The little garden restaurant would have had me at "no honking" but it went further and amazed more. There was a small "Chickens of the World" Exhibit - which is exactly as it sounds: about 10 chickens in cages (with majestic and impressive plumage, no doubt) and their respective countries of origin. THEN there were the lovely English signs reminding us not to take glasses on the stone patio and to "Treasure Cleanliness." I would have been done then but as we were snacking on Chai Masala, deep fried tofu, deep fried cauliflower and deep fried leaves (yes, leaves) some monkeys (that we learned later are the "grouchy" type) peeked out of the trees and off the roof to try and join us. Sweet! (and no, I didn't take a picture.)
After the 6.5 hours required to go the distance from Delhi to Rishikesh we arrived (close to) the Ashram. Since the bus couldn't turn down the tiny road properly it just let us off and we walked the last "block."
Since then things have been great. I don't have much time right now to share more but I hope to add a few more posts this week before the YTT 200 course "officially" begins. They call the first three days "jet lag days" and we've got a tour of the neighbourhood, two yoga classes a day, delicious food and a hike to a nearby waterfall all before Sunday! So far so... great!
p.s. in the first 3 hours... the cow count was approximately 310. The cow count is officially terminated.
This sounds so cool Lyndia! Do you know what kind of leaf was deep fried to make the deep fried leaves?
ReplyDeleteAnd would it be wishful thinking to hope for some photos in upcoming blog posts? I'm so curious to see the pictures!
I propose the following subtitle for this entry: The every day way to your creative destination!
It sounds like you had an interesting bus ride! I bet you missed the middle aged Hungarian man taking his shirt on and off.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear everything is going great so far. Enjoy your weekend and good luck with the official start of the course.