Back in SF

Mark met me at SFO with a huge bouquet of flowers. He is awesome.

I showered as soon as I got in. I stank.

Now we are hanging out at home. Will probably lay low for the next few days.

Will upload videos and photos for you to see. -Noa

final day in Mumbai

I made it to Mumbai. Lisa and Gary have been awesome hosts. I am glad that I can help run errands with them. Doing last minute shopping with final rupees.
My flight is at 3am tonight so I will head to the airport at around midnight.

Will update more when we get back from the latest shopping trip.

Lessons of Attachment

In Yoga, there is a lot of discussion of attachment. Attachment to ideas, feelings, memories. While travelling in India there are constant lessons on attachment. You think you are heading to point A? Sorry, road is closed. You think you are going to Temple B? Sorry, Temple closed to non-Hindus. You want to be on the train by Time C? Sorry, the train is running 3 hours late. You thought we agreed on price D? Sorry, that was when I thought you meant something else. More rupees please.

Today I woke up, took a rickshaw to the bus. It took an extra hour to get out of Kanyakumari because traffic simply stoppped for about half an hour. Traffic cannot flow when there is a single lane. So until enough complaints and a few police officers stepped in, we just stood still. The driver seemed pretty jovial about it all. Eventually I got to Trivandrum an hour late. I quickly caught a rickshaw, trying to avoid being swallowed up by the sea of rickshaw drivers that descended upon me as soon as I got off the bus. I had 45 minutes until my flight was supposed to take off. I thought: Okay, I will make this flight. We're off. But where to? The frickin' gas station! He looked at me and said "Petrol". I thought, okay at least we won't run out of gas on the way. We were on the way.
When we get here, he tries to get more money out of me, telling me that he thought we were going to the international terminal which is closer to town. I told him domestic and that I was flying to Mumbai very clearly. I kindly told him that we agreed on 100 rupees and walked away.

At the airport...
Last time I checked into my domestic flight to Goa a week ago, the person behind the desk forgot to return my computer print-out of my e-ticket. I tried to get into the airport today with just a passport, but instead needed to go to a desk. I wanted to do the print-out yesterday but the hotel wasn't very helpful and the internet place with the bad keyboard didn't have a printer.
So I'm at the airport and of course the printer is broken. He prints from a different printer.

Get in and guess what? My flight is delayed for another 2 hours. Hopefully I will make it to Bombay today. I am looking forward to meeting Becky P's sister with whom I am staying for my last night in India.

At least the prices at the airport are reasonable. A chai tea here is 10 rupees. At the airport in Bombay it is 60 rupees. Ridiculous.

But I really enjoyed my bus rides here. The scenery is beautiful in the south. Passing rice paddies and palm trees with mountains in the background. I was lucky to get a seat. Because I took long rides, I boarded early and got the single seat up next to the driver. I could put my huge backpack there and just relax.

Okay, hopefully I will make it to Mumbai today. If not, I am ready to dis-attach from that idea and look for a hotel room for the night. I can fly to Mumbai anytime in the next 12 hours. My flight back to SF is in 36 hours. I will hold on to that idea for just a little bit longer.

Love from India -Noa

Kanyakumari

I made it. My final destination. Kanyakumari. Took the bus from amma's ashram and got here 6 hours later. Ate something at the hotel. Went to Vivekananda Memorial and saw the Indian " Statue of Liberty"
Then experienced a cool temple where the men need to take their shirts off in order to enter

Was hot and stuffy> now will go shower and hydrate and rest> i leave for airport to mumbai tomorrow>

this keyboard is annoying>>>>>

Last day at Amma's

Tomorrow I leave Amma's Ashram. It has been a great experience here. I would love to come back but when it is sunny. I hate the rain. Walking around in flip-flops in the mud is icky.

This morning there was prayer/meditation from 5am until 6:30am. Then chai tea. Then I went to yoga from 7:30 until 8:30 with a groovy lady called Davika. She is American and taught a nice iyengar yoga class. She was also my tour guide yesterday.
Then breakfast. Indian breakfast is free but I went for the Western food. I had a couple fried eggs and toasted cornbread. Yum.
Then I did a little shopping in the gift shop here. I bought a couple bars of Ashram chocolate to share with my friends. I feel bad that I am not bringing home gifts for everyone. So I apologize in advance. However, if there is something you REALLY want from India, please let me know and I will try and make it happen over the next couple of days. After shopping there was lunch but because there is only outdoor seating I just bought a cookie and a pb cupcake and went for a walk. As I was walking a crow tried to take the food from my hand. Now I have a scratch from the bird. Annoying.

I am enroute to the Ayurveda College but wanted to check in with everyone before continuing on the road.

When I get back to the Ashram I will get a Masala Dosa for 15 rupees. What is up with dosas being so expensive in SF?

I leave for Kanyakumari tomorrow early morning. Hopefully I will get there in 6 hours or less....

Lots of love -Noa

Amma's Ashram

Made it to Amritapuri's. I like it here. It is super calm. My room is simple but has a nice breeze on the 9th floor. I took a 3 hour bus ride to get here. It was pretty comfortable -- in some ways the opposite of my train experience.

I have 4 minutes until the internet office closes. Soon I have a tour of the ashram. I have all day tomorrow here and then I head down to Kanyakumari in two days.

Ommmmm.

Cochin

Arrived safely. Went to Jew Town. Off to see a Kathakali dance performance. Will write more later.