Tea Time

Sixteen hours of twists and turns, bumpy barely there roads and very sick passengers FINALLY brought us to the gateway of India! An overnight stay on the border and then another 5 or so hours on bumpy windy roads delivered our sleepy heads to Darjeeling, and oh, the journey was so worth it! This seems to be the softest landing that we could have had into India. The bustling, yet peaceful all the same, hillside town, is tucked into a valley at the foothills of the Himalayas. Out our frosty hotel window one can cast their eyes upon Khangchendzonga, India's highest mountain and the worlds third. On a foggy day, there is only a gray void where the valley should be. An extremely fortunate day and you may even catch a glimpse of Everest! The tea is delectably fresh, Darjeeling Golden Tips smelling so fine. Warms our noses on these quite chilly nights and the food!...ugh the food! It's a vegetarians paradise. So many new flavors both delight and confuse my palette. The fire of culinary inspiration is burning brighter each day. I can't wait to have a kitchen of my own to experiment in again.

We were a month too early to witness the first tea flush of the season, usually occurring at the end of March but were able to catch a little insight into the production and dedicated work that goes into one cup of tea. Did you know that only women harvest the tea leaves? The harvest of the top leaves (which is all that they pick for tea) works thru a hierarchy of age. The oldest women work closest to the factory. It tends to be less steep here and the shortest walk back when their baskets are laden with buds. The youngest women, ages 16-17, work the farthest and steepest away and most likely over the course of their lives, will move closer and closer to the factory until retirement in their mid-late 60's. A life dedicated to one task...a introspection to have over your next cup of tea.

Darjeeling is an apparent mix of many cultures. Geographically it lies near the borders of Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet. Walking through the streets one can see this confluence in the faces of those living here. A people as diverse as the landscape and culture. A Tibetan Buddhist Temple shares the same breath of incense as does a Hindu Shiva Temple. It is a synergy that I expect to find through he breadth of India and yet I don't dare make assumptions as I have already learned not to assume anything of India. The moment you try to label her, she will spin your head around...

Farewell for now Nepal

Kathmandu finally released it's grasp on us; the exodus was not an easy one though. It seemed for a time, that the more effort we put into moving forward the harder we were jostled back. A bus ride to Pokhara was cancelled due to a strike. A quick 30 minute plane ride turned into a 16 hour bus ride... Thankfully we had a beautiful place to land each time we returned to Kathmandu. "The Traveller's Home Nepal was just that. Nestled in a back street behind all the hustle and bustle of the tourist ghetto, was our quiet and sunny sanctuary of a guesthouse. It was a refuge for our travel weary souls and our cups run abundantly over now that we have the memories of art, laughter, full bellies and new souls in our rich lives.

I feel rejuvenated by the spirited energy that was around us. It may sound funny but it's all to easy to loose perspective on the 'soul' of traveling when you are right in the thick of it. Sometimes it feels like your main mission is to just get from one town to the next. To hear others speak of where they came from, or where they are going next, always tends to make your mind wander along with theirs rather than being fully immersed in what surrounds you presently. The sensory pleasures offer subtle smells of spices when you turn a corner, gracious smiles from the vendors as you shake off their pleas, the sound of music from an open window tucked down an alley. - These are the reasons to travel - to remind yourself that every moment is an opportunity for supreme contentment. For gratitude. For expanding love...

Mountain Prayers

Namaste
I honor the place within you where the entire Universe resides; I honor the place within you of love, of light, of truth, of peace; I honor the place within you, where, when you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
Namaste



There is only one path in and the same path out. For five days we followed each others footsteps up and into the Himalayas. To the highest elevation any of us had ever been, let alone walked into. My body was pushed to greater limits than I can conjure in recent memory. My sleep was heavy, relying on solar rhythms. I had time to think... a lot....about everything.... It seems like we don't give ourselves the chance often enough, to just be. To walk simply and leave the clutter of our minds behind on the trail.

For three days we walked up, into thinner air and more desolate plains. Every few hours we would come across a small teahouse where we would be welcomed in to have tea or a small bite and rest our weary feet. Catering to Trekkers is the main source of income for the people of the mountains. Often times if you eat both dinner and breakfast with them, you will be able to stay for free. Such is mountain hospitality - warm and beautiful. About mid-day on day three, we reached the pinnacle of our trek, a 4800 meter peak (14440 feet). I fell short by about 500 feet due to slight elevation sickness and a persistent head cold, but I feel nonetheless accomplished. It has only served as a model for what my body is capable of and of how much farther it can go. Waking up to the most stunning landscape out of our window we started our descent on day 4.

The following day we were back in the small town which began our journey, no worse for wear but not the same people we were at the start. Having space to breath, to consciously give thanks and praise to our bodies and our incredible earth and to let time slip into step with our feet, you cannot help but allow it to shift who you are inside.

Yoodle lay he hoo...

And away we go into the Himalayas! I'll be swinging my arms and spinning in circles just like Julie Andrews (except in Nepal and without the nun outfit!) Tomorrow morning we leave bright and early for a 7 day trek into the Langtang Region. I look forward to fresh air, quiet mornings, simple thoughts and many moments of gratitude. Until then... Namaste

ShivaRatri

My mind cannot wrap itself around what just took place. Words cannot do justice to the mass devotion of which we took part in. I try to harmonize myself with the pilgrims around me but this experience is unlike anything I have or likely ever will experience again. Even writing these words is a labor. My eyes are strained from not blinking all day for fear of missing a moment and now they struggle to stay open as my third eye fights them to process, on a higher level, all that we were witness to...

On the 13th of 14th day, when the moon begins to wane, in the Hindu month of Phalgun (February-March) hundreds of thousands of Hindus pilgrimage to Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu - one of the largest Shiva temples in the world. Shiva, the destroyer or transformer God, was married to Parvati on this day.The devotees flock here to collectively worship in the grace of Shiva. It is believed that "He who utters the Names of Shiva during Shivaratri, with perfect devotion and concentration, is freed from all sins. He reaches the abode of Shiva and lives there happily. He is liberated from the wheel of births and deaths." Barefoot and bleary eyed, they line up at dawn, if not the night before and wait. As we walked around, unblinking and jaws agape, there was no end for the line into the temple in sight. As the day wore on, the temple grounds and streets surrounding were turned into a Holy Hindu festival. Tents had been erected for singing and dancing. Vendors lined the streets selling every imaginable item. Inside Temple grounds, rows upon rows of Tikka givers were happy to adorn worshippers with blessings and Holi powder on their third eyes. Hundreds of thousand of devotees, all there for the same purpose...

Sadhus, Hindu Holy men, hold Shiva in particular high favor. For many of them, Pashupati is a pilgrimage that is made every year. From one man, we learned that he had travelled on foot from India, taking about two weeks to reach Nepal. This is not something he will do but once in his life, as a Muslim may Mecca. But for these men, Pashupati IS Mecca. They will journey here again and again. They sleep near the temple in makeshift camps for the days leading up to the festival, givings thanks in their own ways to Shiva and then upon the Holy day, they line the river and take over the small surrounding shrines. They set up alters, offer Tikka's and blessings, indulge in particular medicinals which are legal on this day only and then pose for pictures. Asking in return, of course, for a small donation.

It will take some time to process all that we have been witness to. Perhaps as long as it takes for the Sadhu to walk the same path back to India. In the meantime... Om Namah Shivaya