10 Farewell High-Fives

Good bye India. Today I start my journey home and have a flight to catch (with a 10 day stop over in Germany, of course - yipee!). However, I wanted to make a final (FINAL) post to re-cap Lyndia's India and high-five all I have loved, loathed and learned. I keep having ideas for lists pop into my head so... here is a list of the 10 Lists (so 11 lists in total?)

1. India-isms I'll Miss

2. India-isms I won't

3. Energetic Events of Powerful Personal Significance

4. Straight-Up Unexpected Sights

5. Most Memorable Quotes (from Others)

6. Stupidest Questions (byMe)

7. Food!

8. Photos I Took

9. Photos I Juuuust Missed:

10. Unbelievably Grateful for...

1. India-isms I'll Miss

a) walking-trains of sari-clad women    b) year-round growing season that provides vibrant greens & flowers

c) chai on every corner!                       d) 25 cents for a day's worth of produce

e) sunrise chants, songs and calls-to-prayer.

2. India-isms I won't

a) endless advertising overload      b) shouting as normal-volume

c) walking on-guard of potential poop underfoot      d) bucket-bathing

e) children with permanent dirt stained skin and teary eyes pulling at my pant leg and pleading for rupees.

3. Energetic Events of Powerful Personal Significance

a) moments on the serene beaches of the Ganga    b) feet soaking meditation in the pool of the Golden Temple

c) breathing in the prana of the Rishikesh hills         d) playing Holi in front of the Rosebowl

e) early morning Chakra-chanting                       ... f) Vishnodevi hike & all of Mcleod Ganj!

4. Straight-Up Unexpected

a) Hawks soaring over Delhi rooftops at breakfast    b) Hare Krishna Temple dance party

c) (as mentioned) seeing the Dalai Lama    d) (caution TMI (too much information) here) learning the fine art, uh science of bidet-style toilet-ing...
e) finding seats on the Hemkunt Express to Jammu (story coming soon)

5. Most Memorable Quotes (from Others)

a) "Ma'am? For how long should we hold this asana to attain Enlightenment?" - Doon yoga student.    

b) "Now I want to show you something Not in Lonely Planet, okay?" - awesome guide in Amritsar (story coming soon)

c) "For 13,000 Canadian dollars, can you take me to Canada with you?" - husband of a woman in the Ladies Waiting Room at a train station.

d) "Eat whatever you want. Do whatever you want. You are still young. You are fine." -Dr. Aurora as a summary of my first-ever Ayurvedic assessment

e) "If you aren't laughing four or five times a day you're not living, only breathing" - Yogi Vishvketu

6. Stupidest Questions (by Me)

a) "What do you call those little, tiny, baby mangoes?" A: Yes! Mangoes.

b) "Then how do you say "excuse me" with respect to someone younger than you?" A: Excuse me.

c) "Why is it called Chakarta Gate?" A: Because it's on Chakarta Road.

d) "Oh! What's happening at that village with all the fair rides and people? Is it a festival? Does it happen often?" A: It's a village fair. Usually once a year. (Me: Ah, just like at home...)

e) On seeing a black bear on a hill as pointed out by the driver. "Whoa! That's cool! Is it very common to see those here?" A: Umm, yes. That is the zoo.

7. Food!

a) parantha b) shahi paneer  c) malai kofta  d) Mystery grain porridge e) Chai! & Mithai! (trans. tea & sweets...but I already knew that)

8. Photos I Took (5 or more... of MANY more)

(see next post)

9. Photos I Juuuust Missed

(see next next post)

10. Unbelievably Grateful for...

a)...the ability to feel calm and one-ness in the chaos of an uncontrolled line of Ladies buying train tickets (story coming soon)

b) ...the month of hospitality at #83 Veejay Park in Dehradun!!

c) ...my Yoga Family who accommodated and understood my silence and self-relationship development

d) ...the nick-of-time guidance and spontaneous friendships!

e) ...a myriad of instances of clarity, confidence and connectedness in my own life

& f) ...poems, energy, flowing water, sunrise-skies, songs and colours, direction, dreams, advice and inspiration that I'll carry the rest of my life.

I <3 You India. I <3 You.

What the (Taj Ma)hal?!

Today I took on Agra. And 'sensation over-load' might be an accurate description. Instead of regaling you with a long prose piece I made my single goal (besides seeing the Taj itself) as making three observations per hour of this adventure and using them as "poetry notes." As such, here are the (first draft) hourly-poems I crafted about my excursion:

4:00-5:00am

today felt ripe for a double dose

of anti malarial pills

as if they'd bring me stamina.

Along with addition to the morning routine

of sunscreen,

purple t-shirt the only thing clean.

My room with a view

of the early morning market

shops closed

guarded by owners sleeping on their rooftops.

5:00-6:00am

frightened at the first corner

by the motorcycle ghost

but found comfort in barren morning bazaar.

Walk to the once-daunting train station

Mystery cyclist dismounts to escort me

then vanishes into the dark crowds.

6:00-7:00am

Too early young foreign lad?

His platform vomit.

My platform mantras.

Captured

by the dedicated-to-authenticity

Japanese couple

each with a video cam.

7:00-8:00am

Bhopal Stbdi departed on time

Coach 8 seats me backward

Chair 74 treats me kind.

As neighbour no. 75 inspects newspaper adverts

with such intensity they must predict his life.

Ripened wheat fields blow past us

Tea is served.

Tea is removed.

Making room for two rifle-toting guards

to sweep through.

8:00-9:00am

Free in First Class?

Breakfast toast, red jam

that is not Red Jam.

A bite of contentment at Kosi Kala

to the no-charge song of Hindi PSAs

with all the money I just saved

I'll buy myself three extra photo-opts.

9:00-10:00am

Your wrinkled arm

her block-print sari

trying to tell me a story between the train seats.

A tale cut-off by the HindustanTimes

and chair 84-occupant snores and sleeps

as we race past people-blurs whom I'll never meet -

Express train

where passenger 12 insists on standing.

10:00-11:00am

Disembark from my chauffeured A/C chariot

for which I bartered well.

Agra-guide with grandkids

cuts long-lines and 

takes copious well-poised portraits of me

in front of towering domes

empty minarets

"The Taj has lots of angles"

and stories of marble inlaid with precious stone.

Most unforgettably told 

by the baby in the security line

who punched me in the left eye.

11:00a-12:00p

Shopping sprees well-planned

not by me.

Mosaic demos, local jewels

Cottage industries explained.

All my guides get kick-backs

every time I contribute

to the web of Agra-tourism

12:00-1:00pm

Solo dining at a table-for-four

 beside one likewise table

accentuates the Lonely Luncheon

delivered with delicious food.

Where napkin wrapped fresh-lime-soda

sliver serving dishes

don't come cheap.

Next time omit the private butler and

stock the soap in the bathroom!

The punjabi hip-hop was nice though,

it took up at least one empty-plate-space.

1:00-2:00pm

with the Yamuna river trickle

inexalted Taj-face

hanging as my backdrop

I'm the tourist making faces

for (the kinds behind) the camera

who already thought me strange-

might as well make their tale worth telling.

2:00-3:00pm (at Agra Fort)

  Rosewater fountain in the Jasmine Palace

Kashmir-imported garden soil for vineyard grapes.

You'll know you're Daddy's Favourite

when he renovates your room in marble.

3:00-4:00pm

After ticket-counter chaos

in the safer (?) Ladies' Line

preserving queue integrity

with English arguments and backpack barriers

To secure my second ticket

for a train I'll never board

and earn my questionable seat

on the Train Station floor.

"A/C Here" sign is fallacious

when the power is on Strike.

Dazed by smells and flies and unnamed spills beside me

as my skin is liquified.

4:00-5:00pm

A free pass to be invisible 

 at the product-less cafe.

Its empty tables. Empty chairs.

Brief respite for this tired traveler.

Until there's eight freeloaders at my table

the unsavoury seven watch me 

as they buzz and fly.

Waiting in the dark

for a milkshake

or a cold drink

or just the power supply.

5:00-6:00pm

At the same sweltering snack-bar

my tour guide finds me:

a final lesson, last farewell.

Agra pyramid-scheme education

that now I'm mixed up in.

For my information,

if his compensation

could be quoted as "200"

he explained with gratitude,

he'd avoid a reprimand &

could take home the cash in-hand

I had paid to him  

and not his over-seeing boss-dude.

6:00-7:00pm

Eating figs in relative-silence to pass the time but

Platform 2 has conversation:

family values and bank exams.

Until I board in the Second-Class cram

I never anticipated.

"Seats 6" holds 10.

but a reservation saves me

(plus my sex and novelty).

So I'm pried in W-55

as centre-attraction- soon too see

just how boring I can be:

sipping water, gazing outside

wedged in hip-to-hip, knee-to-knee.

7:00-8:00pm

Cool outside circulation now humid

turns to rain, 

soaks my window-side

provokes a train-wide chanting cry

when we try

to close the window.

The ventilated Train-Wash.

8:00-9:00pm

Just as I found comfort and the perfect scheme

to be friendly, to be me

all co-seat-dwellers exit our fair train.

Mathura Junction is their stop.

Spaces quickly turn-over

company changes face and name

forcing me to re-plot and wait

to share my cookies.

9:00-10:00pm

First attempt failed

all the coconut treats still mine.

But I have time.

When the hoarse voiced chai-walla comes 'round

he brings me success:

I produce the cookies

and the Indian chaps've got the rest.

10:00-11:00pm

 A photo-shoot requested

by new, live, Facebook friends

professing the Internet is perfect

for linking people 'round the world, both ends.

With the train's REAL late arrival

my eyes are tired...

but my smile still sends.

11:59pm (seriously, to the minute)

this Princess of Endless Journeys

is back at the Prince Palace Hotel,

the nick of time

to avoid turning into a squash of some kind... 

as I'm sure you can assume these were actually finished/posted the next day but let's just pretend I had the capacity to do it all in 24 hours.

And, of course, photo-proof of the Taj-visit (with many MANY others poses too):

Lyndia & SpongeBob storm the Taj

The Silly-Face from "Hours 1-2pm"

photos and poetry property of LyndiaP April 2011

Next Door to the Prince...

...Hotel is an Internet station. So I'm gonna post again today too. I really can't bare to let this India blog go.



Most critical point of the day? As confirmed by a palm reader: I am lucky. Yep. I agree.

1) on the bus from Mcleod Ganj it was my aisle counterpart, not me, who got motion sick. Luckily he spoke enough English to get me to switch seats with him urgently so the vomit went out the window instead of in the aisle. *shudder*

2) BEFORE getting on the bus in Mcleod Ganj I was happily cafe hopping and decided to try a new street... and ran into a friend from my hometown. Seriously! I knew she was in India but not in THAT restaurant, on THAT street, for only 2 hours and on my LAST DAY in Mcleod Ganj! Amazing. Thanks for seeing me Nicole! :D

3) Got off the bus in Delhi and was not, as was previously guaranteed when the ticket was purchased, in Old Delhi at the affiliated tourist office. She was in Somewhere, Delhi. Yeah. Not the good luck part. BUT the bus driver associate-guy was fixing up to take me to the right place (in a likely over-priced cab) when a co-bus rider asked if I needed to share a cab with him. It seemed a bit easier since he actually had a location in mind that was central and safe instead of my hope that the place I was being recommended to me was either of those things. So it all panned out and I got a hotel room at The Prince at 8am... and the fellow who helped me? Is actually from Ireland. Galway, Ireland. Like... the place I am going to do my Masters' Degree Ireland. Yeah. What are the chances??

So he showed me around the area today a bit - a great breakfast place, some bazaar-lessons, we struggled to the National Museum via the super clean/efficient un-Indian feeling Delhi Metro (and then a rickshaw since I didn't quite get the stop right) and then pre-dinner palm readings in a book store. Authentic, I know. But a BOOK STORE! And I was told I was lucky and the Golden Times of my life are just about to begin! So I say bring it on life. BRING. IT. ON. (however, I also want to say "I called it." Since I think on my other blog... I posted something just along those lines...nope, it was just a Facebook status: I will be winning the Gold Medal in Life this year. Now it's verified (by the book-shop palm reader).

Tomorrow: Agra. Strike that. Eight Hours: Agra!

Letting Go Again

After moderately successful meditation this morning to silence my mind I am sending one last blog post from Mcleod Ganj. I had really hoped to post another short story but that doesn't seem likely. Today I've got a full day of packing up my room at Snow Heights and lugging my backpack around until 6pm when my bus leaves for Delhi. The plan is to be minimalistic with movement so it's possible I will cocoon in to a computer terminal but I think I'd rather do some cafe hopping. I've got some great books to read (a library of choices!) and I'm sure I could even finish off another story in handwritten form. The cafe hopping will be slightly essential since last night I paid a visit to the Moonlight Thali for tea and take-out and only this morning realized I didn't pay for my tea(s). I can't leave with that kind of bad karma! Plus the place was really cute & friendly! Oh and had THE BEST take out bags in the world (you'll have to wait for the photo because I am not ruining the surprise with a description).

Tonight I sleep on the bus and tomorrow I sleep my first of three nights in Delhi. For those of you worried I was going to skip out on the Wonder of the World I have also secured a train ticket to Agra to see the Taj Mahal on the 17th. That leaves me 48 hours to explore Delhi (excluding sleep-time) and about 8.5 hours to wander Agra. I was also convinced to take the "Tourist Train" for one direction of the journey - which is, apparently, even better than "First Class" - fancy seats, a good view and even food and tea service. Fine. One way - in the morning, when I can actually see stuff. For the way back I insisted on the cheaper seats. Classic frugal Lyndia style.

I hope I can post once more in Delhi after I check out the Taj Mahal but who knows what the Flow will deliver. I have had such a wonderful trip and can't believe the India portion is so close to over. I'm certainly sad but I feel so lucky to have experienced all I have. Would I do it all over again? Yes! (Well everything I blogged about and stories I've written but not shared - there were some instances of um... uncertainty, I should say, that might make my loved ones a bit nervous and some of those I would not chose to re-do, except I know they all turned out alright!)

Without a doubt this has been a Journey of A Lifetime! My heart-felt thanks and E-love to all of you who have been reading along, commenting or emailing me about the adventures. It makes it all way more worth while to know people are out there reading what I've written and caring what I do :)

Sunrise From Snow Heights

p.s. even though it doesn't fit with the blog-name I will also add any Deutchland-adventures I have time to post as well. I'll be back in Canada by, about, May 1st (if I don't change my ticket or something... and I'm thinking about it).

Delhi Day!

I saw myself here a while back - a welcoming, sensory over load in the most serene way. Something yellow. Something green and the sunlight and the sliding doors... the placard help by the assistant of my soon-to-be-yoga-teacher. Confused? Sure. Amazed? Most certainly.

After all my flights (4 to be exact) I arrived almost 30 minutes early. Early!

So far I've already learned:

the driving-lanes mean nothing - true.
the proliferation of cows - true (saw six in five minutes)
the warmth - true! (it's 17 degrees Celsius)
the chaos at the airport? No longer true... or I magically missed it. It was very clean and orderly. Some of the hallways were almost eerily empty.
the smell I'd been warned about? Also not true. Sounds like things are off to a good start!

The hotel is fine too. I met one of the other yoga students (who was on the same flight from London) and we introduced ourselves, took the car together to the hotel and became roommate. And I thought Facebook was the quickest way to find roommates... and now: 1 room, 1 key... 1 bed. Yes, well... nice to meet you. Oh well. The shower and possibility of sleeping not in an airplane seat or airport chair is quite a treat after 36 hours.

So that's it. Here I am. I am here. I have had several moments of inner escatic joy and blinding fear (usually in quick succession) but the trip itself? Pretty much perfect!

p.s. during my 6.5 hour wait in Munich I was interviewed and photographed by a woman from a local newspaper doing a piece about the travelers in the Munich airport; where they are from; what they are doing and why they like Munich. Yep, I'm pretty much famous now.

Oh and Happy Republic Day India. :)