Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu

We arrived in Mamallapuram not really expecting much.. and it was a good job. I think it must have been a really nice place maybe about 10-15 years ago - a small fishing village on quite a long beach. As it's not too far from Pondicherri which was the capital of French India,  alot of tourists come here including a large amount of French, but  curiously the tourists are much older than you see in other places - mostly wrinkly hippies that I suppose must have been coming here for years. I really want to find out.. The reason I'm puzzled about why all these people come here is that it's a bit of a hole. I mean OK it has supposedly the most photographed temple in India - though 250 rupees to get in is alot for us so we managed to get a nice pic from over the fence - but apart from that, the beach is full of rubbish, smells like a sewer (apparently the fisherman refuse to stop using it as their toilet) and is jam packed full of tourist shops trying to find the most original soundbite to entice you into their shop, such as 'hello, would you like to waste your time in my shop?' It would be nice if you were free to just have a wander around the shops hassle-free, but unfortunately it's not like that in India. Actually, having said that, we did find a supermarket! First one I've found in India - though it is called 'Something Special? Try Again'.

 I hate to admit it, but there are definitely some things I'm getting fed up with in India. A couple of Finnish friends, Joni and Hanne, that we hung out with alot on - yes you've guessed it - Om Beach a few weeks ago - just happened to be staying in our guest house but they were leaving the day after we arrived. They were flying to Singapore and we were a teensy bit jealous that weren't also moving on. We've been here for exactly four months yesterday, and it's my fourth time in India and I think Angel's seventh - so we do love India, but there's only so much you can take I think.

A few people so far have said that they wish they'd stayed longer in the west side and maybe just not bothered with Tamil Nadu on the East side, and I'm inclined to agree.

One more thing that Joni said, was that he thought there were more mosquitoes here than anywhere else in India. That seems to have induced some kind of mozzie paranoia in Angel. Usually I am his repellent, because they flock to my sweet flesh and leave him smug and bite-free, but since he was bitten a couple of times here, he's on a mozzie-killing rampage! Everytime he swats one, he says 'well that's one less to worry about!'. He even woke me up last night by swatting one on my leg!

Tomorrow we're going to take a day trip 3 hours each way on a local bus to Pondicherri to see the French quarter and my priority is to hopefully get some nice croissants and baguettes! - That is, if I've recovered by then.. I was a bit ill again today, but think I caught it in time with the magic yellow pills that Angel prescribes me - travelling with a medical expert definitely has it's uses.. though I'm not sure if my doctor back home would have recommended me to eat chilli beef and egg fried rice for dinner - that Angel ordered in a street dhaba and made me help him with!

Looking forward to Thailand now.. looove the food there! So many people we've met along the way are also headed there in the next month or so, so we might bump into a few of them along the way.  

Madurai, Tamil Nadu

We arrived in Madurai after taking a couple of government buses from .. It was a city like many others in India, sprawling, dirty and noisy but this one was nit just noisy, it was deafening- horns beeping everywhere were so loud that they actually hurt the ears! We weren't sure whether we'd become too used to the quiet at the ashram or whether it really was much louder than usual, but actually someone told us later that they had thought exactly the same and that Madurai seemed not to adhere to the normal rules of decibels!

We had planned to spend two nights in the city and our train wasn't until after ten on the third night, but it seemed like much too long once we realized that the only famous thing about Madurai was its temple. We visited the temple the first day, and it was pretty impressive. We were trying to feel the good vibes of the place until that is, we got into a fight with a guy on the door of the temple museum. He started yelling at us (and I mean yelling) because we had bought a ticket only for the museum and not for the temple, even though they were separate, so Angel yelled back but it didn't help him to let us in. Shanty shanty man! Sometimes people get really wound up if you don't follow the rules to the letter here. - It happened somewhere before that the person on the desk sold us the ticket but then we were yelled out later on... So to calm down, we found the meditation hall and did a bit of positive thinking to help dispel the shock.

The best thing about Madurai was probably the Gandhi museum which was very well put together, even though there was ALOT of reading involved! It told the whole story of colonization by the British and the Indian resistance later led by Gandhi. It even had Gandhi's bloody dhoti that he was wearing when he shuffled off his mortal coil!

I think that was it for our cultural journey in Madurai but we did find out via Facebook that Kristina and Karl (German friends from Gokarna) were staying in an ashram about 45 mins out of the city, so, on the last day, we took a local bus out into the countryside to visit them.
They were staying in a Sivananda ashram which was all small structures with palm leaf rooves and far prettier and more tranquil than the ashram we stayed at.  They'd been there for two weeks and they'd just happened to skive off a lecture when we showed up and surprised them. They left Gokarna to go to an  interview fior a volunteer job, the day we arrived but really regretted it when they ended up in a cold place with no real restaurants at Christmas. we missed them at our Christmas parties on the beach but it was really nice to catch up again at the ashram.

Next stop the beach at Mamallapuram...

Amma's ashram, Kerala

We've spent the last week or so at Amma's ashram between the backwaters of Kerala and the sea.  She's known (by people all over the world, surprisingly) as a guru who comforts people through the power of the hug! - Very unusual in India - where physical contact is not common except between men, that is!  She is literally treated like a God and people pray to her.. there are pictures of her everywhere.  You can even buy an Amma doll - in case you need a hug when she's not around.. I saw a woman walk past yesterday holding a huge doll and talking to it! - Yeah there's more than a few strange characters here that you see around from time to time. There is a guy that appears around corners or under trees who goes walking past playing a guitar or a flute like the one out of 'There's something about Mary' and always wearing only one flipflop... Or a little French girl who comes and hugs me and says 'Je t'aime' then sticks her tongue out or pushes me violently. We just gave the dog a blood test and more antibiotics and changed his drip and when we went to the ashram hospital to dispose of the sringes etc we asked a guy for directions and he just pointed to a little sign around his neck that said 'silence' - just like in the movie Eat sleep pray.  Also, just seen an English Indian boy with a perfect RP accent playing with a white Indian boy with an Indian accent who yesterday was correcting my Hindi.

It's a huge compound with pink skyscapers - well more like the type of blocks of flats you'd find in Birmingham, but in pink. In contrast, everyone wears white and although the focus is yoga and meditation, 'Amma's Way' is a middle way - basically meaning that she doesn't go in for the usual 'Vipasana' which is the really strict silent retreat where you spent 8 hours a day meditating without instruction. Amma's place is more
chilled. You can choose which classes to do. There's a swimming pool, internet cafe and even a cinema, but swimming sessions are separate for men and women.

You are also 'invited' to do seva, which is voluntary service around the ashram for one or two hours a day. When we signed up, all that was left was, for Angel to be a bin man (sorry, recyling technician) and me doing dish washing in the western kitchen. Woohoo! I managed to swap it for painting the children's library after a couple of days but our seva all changed (much to Angel's joy), when we spotted one of the cook's dogs was lying on a table in the garden surrounded by. a crowd of Indian and western nuns dressed in white.. We went to investigate and it seemed that Apu the dog had eaten some rat poison. Angel burst into action to the delight of the nuns who upon discovering that his name was Angel, in unison let out a shriek of celestial delight and then an American woman clasped her hands in joy and announced that he really was Apu's angel sent by Amma! After that, every spare moment was spent checking Apu's drip, giving him various drugs, checking on his toilet visits etc. I hope this means that I can now put veterinary assistant down on my CV! - I left the cleaning up of any poo or puke to Angel though - after all, he was the one sent by Amma to 'bring poor Apu back to life'! ;)

Amma is often away on tour, but she arrived back two days after we did so we thought we may as well stay for 'the hug'.. After a few days here we've kind of realised that there are definitely more than the usual share of nutters here! People have been obsessing about Amma coming back and when greeting each other, they ask 'how long have you been with Amma'?

Angel has finally got 'the hug', though it seems it was less a life changing experience than a hug from a friendly huggable Indian woman. I didn't bother queuing as I was determined to stay to do the meditation course the following week and Angel wasn't sure if he was going to. I got one later with Angel again when we were pushed up to the very front of a ten hour long queue or devotees - just because we were the offical veterinary team ;)  Hug was ok...


We left the ashram yesterday and it was great to be on 'the outside' again -back in India! The ashram overall was a really good experience and the first time I'd done anything like that. Now I feel like I could go to any temple or ashram and feel more a part of it rather than just a random tourist. Actually this morning we woke up early in Munar and we could hear the singing from the temple nearby and we were even thinking about going over and doing some meditation. In the end the bed was too warm and comfy! Freezing outside! Think two days will be enough of this weather - get me back to the heat!;)

Experiencia Espiritual en el Ashram de Amma. Kerala

Llevamos unos dias en un Ashram en el sur de Kerala. Es el ashram de Amma, una lider espiritual o guru que es muy famosa por toda la obra social que ha hecho y tambien por dar abrazos como consuelo a quien lo necesita. Estamos haciendo algo de meditacion y de yoga, que realmente es saludable. Ayudamos dos horas al dia en un trabajo voluntario, a mi me ha tocado ''basurero''. Nos dieron un cuarto como pareja, el resto vive en dormitorios. Hay dos cantinas, la india es gratis, o incluida en la habitacion, la occidental es super barata pero simple. El sitio es super grande, edificios super gigantes con mogollon de habitaciones, templo, carpa de actividades y una playa privada. Hoy llega Amma y ha venido mogollon de gente con ella que estaban de tour.
Esta en un sitio muy bonito, se llama Amritapuri con el mar a un lado y los lagos por detras con palmeras y demas. Vale que aun siendo esceptico como lo soy la experiencia es enriquecedora, meditacion y yoga es algo genial.
La mayoria de los seguidores de Amma son generalmente europeos o americanos de edades desde 35 a 60. Se visten de blanco entero, van de super espirituales juzgando a quien lleva menos tiempo o no viste de blanco...etc. Las conversaciones son de flipaos la verdad, no metafisica o espiritual que podria ser interesante sino de verborrea y charlataneo en la mayoria de los casos. Ademas, la mayoria ni sonrien ni son amigables.  Hay gente maja que no va a los extremos, mas en el mundo real, son con los que nos juntamos. De ellos puede uno aprender algo, del resto, camisa de fuerza, el uniforme blanco ya lo llevan.
Yo me iba a ir el Lunes despues de mi abrazo. Hannah queria quedarse unos dias mas para hacer unos cursos y me ha convencido, Vamos a hacer un curso de meditacion de tres dias. Espero que no nos transformemos en uno mas de la secta.

Algo paso en estos dias en el Ashram que lo cuento ahora que hemos terminado. De camino a la playa vimos gente alrededor de un perro que estaba muy malo. Me ofreci para ayudar y eso cambio la experiencia. He estado tratando al perro de Amma, un Labrador llamado Apoo y todas las monjas e incluso la lider espiritual estan agradecidas y no paran de venir a verme y hablar conmigo y Hannah cuando lo estoy tratando. Nos ha servido para conocer a gente y tener una experiencia que no habriamos tenido de otra manera. Nos colaron en frente de cientos de seguidores para ver y recibir el famoso darsham o abrazo de Amma y nos hicieron sitio para sentarnos a su lado en el escenario con los VIP. Con todo la experiencia ha sido buena, enriquecedora pero con los pies en la tierra.
No he puesto apenas fotos del ashram o Amma porque no estaba permitido el uso de camaras dentro del mismo.

Gokarna en Navidades

Estamos de vacaciones dentro de la grande vacacion. No viajes de 15 horas en bus, no regateos para conseguir el precio justo de la habitacion, del taxi motocarro o de la comida, nada de eso, solo relax y pasarlo bien. Creo que en total estaremos un mes aqui en Gokarna, Om beach. Este sitio es alucinante, hay 4 playas en Gokarna. Todas estan genial pero Om beach es la que mejor ambiente tiene. Tenemos una casita de bambu con una mosquitera cubriendo la cama, una bombilla y un enchufe para recargar pilas y los iPods. Hamacas fuera de la casita y el mar a unos 10 metros. El suelo de la habitacion es parte de la playa, es de arena fina, hemos puesto alfombrillas en el suelo para mantenerlo libre de arena, velas y pareos gigantes cubriendo el techo de bambu que hacen la casita mas hogareña dentro de lo que cabe. Total que estamos encantados. Hay como 10 restaurantes en la playa pero siempre vamos al mismo. Conocimos peña viajando en Hampi y en otros lados que han venido aqui para pasar las Navidades en plan reunion. Todos se quedan en Om beach y al final to Dios se conoce. Esta genial porque vamos a la playa y nos sentamos con unos o con otros, luego llega mas peña y se junta. Para comer y cenar es lo mismo, siempre grupos grandes que crecen y termina siendo una fiesta. Gente de todas nacionalidades, eso es lo que mas me gusta. Es como irse de cañas, pero todo el dia desde la mañana hasta la noche. En Nochebuena nos juntamos 31 personas a cenar. Pedimos una cena especial y decoramos las mesas etc. Fue una mezcla de menu, decoracion, bailes, brindis y costumbres de los 10 paises o mas que juntabamos. Nos lo pasamos como enanos, posiblemente ayudo el ponche de Ron que hicimos, como unos 30 litros. Al final acabamos en la playa, con una hoguera y fuegos artificiales chinos que compramos en el pueblo. La verdad cada dia y noche es una version simple de la Nochebuena, cenando con peña, bebiendo ron o cerveza y juntandonos en hogueras a la noche. 

Feliz Año Nuevo, Feliz 2011!!!!!!
Me acabo de levantar y tengo un poco de resaca. Fue una noche alucinante, de nuevo playita de tranqui durante el dia, y luego cenita en grupo grande y ron con cola hasta las 5 de la mañana. Casi de milagro pudimos celebrarla, habian puesto elecciones el 31, y no solo eso, prohibicion de alcohol dos dias por las elecciones, a quien se le ocurre? Por supuesto a los indios, simplemente no tienen sentido comun. Pero bueno, al final salio bien la cosa, compramos 5 botellas pequeñas de ron por si acaso paraban de vender si la policia se pasaba por la playa, un chico en frente de mi pillo 12, nos sobro alcohol la verdad, hoy no me encuentro muy bien pero valio la pena. Va a ser dificil empezar a viajar de nuevo, mochilas, buses, ciudades y pueblos con mogollon de gente, trafico, basura etc pero pintorescos e interesantes. De aqui vamos a Munar, en el interior de Kerala. Vamos a intentar hacer un poco de yoga y meditacion, detoxificar y aprender algo nuevo y mas saludable aprovechando que estamos en India.