October 28-30, 2015 Getting to this antiquated hill station is no easy task. Having been in India for over 3 weeks now, I fully understand the traffic (total insanity) and the roads (completely unmaintained) but did not anticipate these two factors hosting a 2-way thoroughfare on a single-lane road going up the side of a … Continue reading Darjeeling, More than Tea – India
October 26 & 27, 2015 Early morning, before all the street vendors have set up, I walk through the quiet village on my way to breakfast, pausing to sit on one of the stairwells leading down to the river, smelling the subtle incense that permeates the air. At this hour, the river is a surprising … Continue reading Namaste, My Friend – Rishikesh Part 2 – India
October 24 & 25, 2015 Situated in the foothills of the Himalayas and built along either side of the sacred Ganges river near its source, Rishikesh has a beautiful intensity that is entirely unlike every other place I've been so far. While still densely populated, the chaos is severely dialed down, letting the natural beauty … Continue reading Om Namaha Shiva – Rishikesh Part 1 – India
October 22-24, 2015 My very first impression of this Capitol city is - it's so clean! And green! And there are road signs! Yes, there are still a ton of people and the traffic is still insane by US standards, but it's notably less chaotic than Mumbai... and thank god for that. I arrived in … Continue reading Two Days in Delhi
The incomparable Taj Mahal. Most of these photos are the stereotypical shots everyone takes, and that is unavoidable... but I assure you there is not a single thing about this iconic structure that is typical. Forget all the facts and figures about how long it took to build the Taj Mahal, the number of people … Continue reading The One, The Only…
October 18-21, 2015 I will admit, I've been a little stressed since I arrived in India. Bombay was super intense and although I absolutely loved my time at the caves in Aurangabad, the logistics of traveling from place to place has been difficult. And of course there was my time at Vipassana.... wonderfully transformative, but … Continue reading Gorgeous Goa (and getting there.)
October 7-18, 2015 Impermanence. Have be you ever really stopped to consider just how temporary every incarnation of life is? From the moment of our conception, we are an ever-evolving, never-resting cluster of cells... perpetually changing, growing, multiplying, degenerating and regenerating... not one cell ever staying the same. Day to day, the change is imperceptible, … Continue reading Vipassana Meditation Center – Nasik, India
Tues, Oct 6 After such a wondrous experience at Ellora I wondered if the wow factor at Ajanta might be a little less so in comparison, but that was nowhere near the case. Gigantic monasteries hand-carved into a mountainside could never be anything less than breath-taking. The setting at Ajanta is, in many ways, more … Continue reading The Ajanta Caves
Monday, Oct 5 Today, India redeemed itself to me in the form of the Ellora Caves. If I had to leave today, I would do so knowing I had the privilege of walking back through history and glimpsing something magical... and that is a very special gift indeed. Nothing can really prepare you for things … Continue reading Exquisite Ellora
I guess it's partially because I'm an American and did not grow up surrounded by this kind of poverty (and partially because I am an incredibly sensitive soul) that I find the magnitude of the poor in India so shocking and I just cannot shake the feeling of heartache it leaves in me. I cannot … Continue reading Unshakeable Thoughts on the Poverty
The Wanderlusting Files 