Darjeeling and into Sikkim

Hello Everybody,

Our travels have brought us to Darjeeling, and into Sikkim.

Darjeeling, as the name suggests, is the epicenter of Darjeeling tea. It's a town in the far NE corner of India, and is high up in the mountains.

As a result of its altitude, it's pretty darned cold. The long underwear, hats and gloves are getting used, again!

Yesterday we visited a tea plantation, and the Darjeeling tea here is amazing. We have purchased many packages for friends and relatives.

Within sight are some of the highest peaks of the Himalayas. In the attached picture, you'll see some peaks that are just a little lower than Everest - about 25,000 feet in elevation. Imagine the highest peaks of Colorado - and these mountains are almost twice that high. It kind of boggles the mind the scope of the Himalayas.

Today we made the trek into Sikkim. The Indian state of Sikkim is often compared to the country of Bhutan. It is very mountainous, and the Tibetan and Nepali influence is palpable.

We visited the Buddhist monastery of Rumtek, which is the headquarters of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. It was very peaceful meditating in the monastery of HH the 17th Karmapa.

Tomorrow we'll amble our way back to Darjeeling to do some more scouting. We'll keep you posted with what we find.

Best Wishes,

Scott, Pema and Alicia

Coffee Plantation

Hi to all my family and friends,

Friday brought us to a tour of a coffee plant and plantation.  

We traveled about an hour to an actual plantation itself.  What a beautiful, quiet place, deep in the forest.  The plantation is owned and run by a gentleman and his son. They typically do not give tours, but did just for us.  He also allowed us to tour his beautiful home which was a huge plantation house and served us some of their very own coffee, truly delicious.  The plantation sat on 40 acres where they grow mostly Arabica and Robusta coffee, but also some oranges, and to make use of space, peppercorns as well.  Peppercorns grow on vines up the sides of the trees in little pods.  Coffee takes about 10 months to grow from flowering to harvest.  All the harvesting at this particular plantation is done by hand.  We were able to observe the harvesting in progress and try it ourselves.  The beans (or cherries) are removed from the branches by twisting the beans off with your hands onto tarps laying under the coffee tree.  Once the beans are harvested, they are spread out onto concrete slabs for drying 15-20 days, stirring occasionally to ensure even drying.  It is then sent to the coffee plant.

The coffee plant is where the coffee cherries are hulled by machines or by hand to remove any extra parchment or pulp. It is then sorted by grade and bagged in gunny sacks to be sold to the coffee buyers. 

This plantation did not sell any coffee, but we were able to buy some coffee and spices grown in this region on our way back into town.  

After a long bus ride, we are now in Bangalore.  A full afternoon is planned with a walking tour of old town Bangalore which should prove very interesting, before we start our long journey home late tonight.   I hope to post one more time when I arrive home.

Until then....love to all!

Linda

Sent from my iPad

Elephants

Hello to everyone,

One of the most fun days yet was visiting the Dubare Elephant Camp, located about a 1/2 hour bus ride from Veeraboome Tourist Village where we were staying.  This camp is located on an island on the River Kaveri.  The River Kaveri is popular for swimming and fishing and with it being a holiday for them, there were a lot of people having a fun in the water that day.   The elephant camp was originally started to train elephants for working and to segregate the troublemakers.  Now it is basically a tourist attraction.  We started out by having a short boat ride to the island, where we were greeted by our guides for the day.  Nearby, elephants were being led in for feeding and washing.  After a brief history of the camp and the agenda for the day, we walked towards the river where some of elephants were already enjoying their morning bath.  Some of our group waded into the river and were able to actually scrub the elephants.  Not sure who enjoyed it more, the ones doing the scrubbing or the elephants themselves.  Next we were taken to the feeding area where we were able to feed the elephants hay and to actually touch them.  For a lot of us, hugging an elephant was the highlight of the day.  A short ride on the elephant was the also a big hit.  It is truly amazing that an animal that size can walk so quietly.  The day also included a guided walk thru the forest and along the river, and a boat ride on the river.  The boat was interesting as it was primitive, round shaped, and made out of woven reeds and grasses called a coracle.  We ended the tour with a delicious buffet lunch served from the camp kitchen.  The day at the elephant camp is one that I am sure many of us will remember for a long time.  

Thursday, Deb and I ventured into some of the nearby towns for some shopping.  Being "old pros now" we even haggled prices with the tuk tuk drivers.  We had a fun day leisurely shopping and finished the afternoon with a delicious meal of vegetable refried rice and momo's at Dawa's Restrauant.  

Our time is winding down here, only a couple more left.  A few more exciting things to do before we leave, stay tuned!!!!

Linda

Bylakuppe and Coorg

Hi to all,

Almost every day we start the day out with an outside yoga session.  Since that is one of the best ways to practice your breathe and stretch the muscles and the mind, it was thought it was a good idea to share the benefits of yoga.  We traveled back to the Sera Mey monastery, where several monks were willing to try yoga.  With the help of an interpreter, Mr. Scott talked to each monk that was interested, suggested several specific poses that may help their specific ailment, and then one of the yoga instructors showed the monk the pose(s) that might help.  The monks were in the middle of exams, so there were not a whole lot of them, but is was a wonderful experience none the less.  

After a great lunch at the restaurant at Sera Mey, we made a stop at the Tibeten Home for the Aged and Disabled.  Patrice did a wonderful job teaching the residents a chair yoga class.  I think they were so happy to see us, that one of the residents did a song and dance for us.  He was a delightful older man, and so happy to be alive I think.  After the yoga session, they were served tea.  I thought we were going to help by walking around and pouring it for them.  That's not how that works there.  The residents came back in with their thermos, and the kitchen helper filled them with a funnel.  Those that could not make it back to get their own, tea was served to them.  I'm sure every wrinkle and gray hair could tell us a story.  They also loved having their picture taken, and had a huge smile when we were able to actually show the picture to them.  I hope that we made their day, like they made mine.

Tuesday was a free day to do what we wanted.  Six of us got a driver for the day, took a drive to Coorg.  Coorg is the land of coffee and spices.  First stop was at Madikeri Fort, a 19th century fort.  

Second stop was the Raji's Seat, which is a panoramic view of the green valleys and hills of Coorg.  It is considered one of south India's most scenic locations.  We had a fantastic lunch at a nearby hotel recommended by our driver.  Next on the agenda was Abbi Falls, which is Coorgs most popular waterfall. Everything that goes down, must come up....a lot of stairs.  We were a little concerned at first because someone we talked to at the Raji's Seat thought that since its been so dry, there might not be much water at the falls.  There was water and we thoroughly enjoyed one of God's creations.

We ended the day with a stop at a spa nearby and took a leisurely walk along the river.  It was a great way to spend our free day.

Enough for now....stay tuned, there is much more to come.  Hope it is warming up in central Wisconsin for our return trip home this weekend.

Linda

Dawa's Restrauant

Hi to all of my family and friends, 

Even though I have enjoyed everything we have done so far, I think Sunday was one of the best days of the trip so far.  We got to spend the day with Dawa's family in Bylakuppe.  Dawa is our translator and his family owns a restaurant.  They are best know for their "momo's".  Momo's are a Tibeten dumpling, something like a potsticker.  We had the privilege of working with Dawa and his family in actually making the momo's.  

The dough of just flour and water is mixed up, kneaded slightly, and set aside until the filling is ready.  We made several kinds of momo's, a vegetable, meat, and combination vegetable and meat.  The vegetables of spinach, something like watercress (dont remember the name), garlic, ginger, and onion were chopped and added to a big bowl.  Then vegetable bullion and olive oil were added and all was mixed together.  

By now the dough was ready to roll out, then cut into about 1-1/2" squares.  Each square was rolled into a ball, then rolled out to make about a 4" circle, thicker in the middle.  A heaping tablespoon or more of filling was added to the dough and then the dough was folded around it to form either a circle or a crescent.  These can then be either steamed, boiled or fried. I think some of ours were steamed or boiled.  We had this delicious meal for lunch.  

After lunch we spent the afternoon shopping, and then returned to Dawa's for entertainment and a dinner meal prepared by his family.  The entertainment was a young Tibeten singer and also some of the elderly Tibeten women singing and dancing.  We also discovered that Dawa is quite talented as well, singing and dancing along with the elderly women.  It certainly was a fabulous performance by them, and they seemed to love doing it as well.  The dinner was by far, hands down, the best I had here in India.  They prepared so many different dishes, and one was better than the next.  As luck would have it, the power went out in the restaurant, and we ate by candlelight, how cool is that?  I was so grateful to have been a part of that wonderful experience with Dawa and his family, they are truly extraordinary people and I thank them for their hospitality. 

Stayed tuned, more to tell you about later.....

Linda

Sent from my iPad

Bylakuppe

Hi from South India,

Whew, that last few days have been a whirlwind.  We left Mysore early Friday morning and made a stop at Chamundi Hills to watch the sunrise.  Unfortunately, it was too foggy to see the sunrise, but we did have a short yoga class led by our one and only, Mr. Scott.  Chamundi Hills are one of the most sacred hills in South India. According to legend, it is named after the Goddess Chamundeswari who killed the demon Mahishasura in a battle there. Quite the busy place, especially on Fridays which is  a holy day here and many of the people that come just to visit the temple.

From there we headed to Bylakuppe, where we are now staying.  Bylakuppe is comprised of two Tibetan refugee settlements that has now grown into a full-fledged town housing the largest Tibetan population outside of Dharmasala in India.

We are staying at a place called Veerabhoomi Tourist Village.  We are sleeping in adobe style cottages,  a bit rustic but charming none the less.  The staff here is very accommodating, which I'm sure is hard at times with the personalities of  29 individual people.  Seeing the stars and hearing the crickets at night, and hearing the roosters crowing in the morning during yoga class is true country living.

We spent the day on Saturday visiting the Sera Je Monastery, a huge Buddhist Monastery with a significant student population.  We were given a tour by one of the higher level Buddhist and then invited to stay for tea where he answered any questions we had.  After the tour there we stopped at the Namdroling Temple, also known as the Golden Temple.  This is the most famous monastery in the region.  It is home to nearly 5000 monks and nuns.

We then visited the Tsogyal Shedrub Dargyeling Nunnery.  This is a Buddhist Nunnery where almost 400 nuns study and practice.  They were gracious enough to  allow us to observe them while reciting text out loud.

After the monastery and nunnery visits, some headed off to visit a Tibetan doctor, some headed to see a Tibetan tailor and some went to the Indian tailor. For extremely reasonable prices your can bring them your material, and they will sew you an outfit and have it finished within the next couple days.

The local people here are so friendly and always ask where we are from.  When you tell them "America", they smile and say "Obama" or "very cold".  They love to have their picture taken and then to see the picture.  Every morning from the bus we can see the kids, all dressed in uniforms walking along side the roads, heading off to school.  The people here have so little, but certainly seem to be very happy with what they do have.  Not uncommon to see their cows and goats tethered in the front yard right next to the front door of the house.  Some houses are painted the usual India style in very colorful colors, if they are painted at all.  The shop owners keep their shops open many hours every day of the week, except on Holy Days.  Most people do not have refrigerators, but go to the local street vendors every day for their meat or vegetables to eat that day.

So much to do, so much to see, so little time..... So very much more to share...stay tuned! Don't think I can share pics until I can get home.  My roomie Deb has been nice enough to share her iPad so I could do this Blog.

Hope the weather is warming up back home, miss all of you!!  Special birthday wishes to my son Tyler, love you!

Linda

Mysore

Mysore

After a tiresome day of travel, we arrived at the President Hotel in Mysore.  The hotel staff greeted us with a special welcome for all their guests with incense, a tika (red dot on forehead), and a mala (lei of jasmine flowers).  

Bright and early the next morning we gathered for yoga session with Mr. Scott.  Imagine if you will,  outside balcony, sun just rising, birds tweeting, and Indian music playing in the background while doing yoga.  It just doesn't get any better than that.  After breakfast we gathered for a bus ride to Mysore Palace.  A huge palace, the official home of the Wodeyars, the royal family of Mysore.  It has the most beautiful halls with stained glass, paintings, and carved wood.

That afternoon, we had the opportunity to go to the Indus Valley Ayurevedic Spa.  Ayureveda mean "science of life". It is the ancient technique of natural healing.  We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and then I enjoy a total body massage (I literally got my massage with the masseuse using their feet).

Wednesday brought a yoga session in the morning at the BNS iyengar, yogi master of the Ashtanga Vinyasa practice.  Our instructor was 88 yrs old and still teaching yoga!

 My roomate Deb and I took our first tuk tuk (auto rickshaw) to the Mysore Zoo midmorning.  The vehicles here in Mysore, and I'm sure most of India are comprised of rickshaws, motorbikes, and buses.  It's a crazy ride getting around in the city with all the traffic and something everyone should experience.  Anyone that can drive here can take on any race car driver and give them a run for their money.

Later that day brought us another yoga class in the afternoon with Saraswati, the first women to ever teach men and women yoga in Mysore.  I think my muscles used up their limit that day for sure.  Both the morning and afternoon yoga sessions were probably a once in a lifetime experience for most of us.  I am so grateful for the opportunity!

Today was early yoga class with Mr. Scott, I had to work out the sore muscles I got yesterday.  An awesome walking tour of the city of Mysore.  This included a walk thru the street market.  A totally colorful and energetic place for sure.  Great photo ops there! A visit to some amazing stone carving and wood carving artists.  They are extremely talented and they do work for people all of the world.

 The rest of the evening was spent walking, shopping, and enjoying some of the sites and talking to the locals of Mysore.  They are so friendly here, and love to have their picture taken (right up my
alley). The little kids just light up when you say hi to them.   Another fun rickshaw ride back to the hotel.

Lots of pictures, haven't figured out a way to upload the yet.  Will keep trying though.  Our time in Mysore has been a truly amazing experience.

Off to bed as we have and early bus call at 5:30 to see the sunrise and long ride to Bylakuppe, the second stop on the tour.

Hope things are warming up back home!

Linda

Walking tour of Mysore

We enjoyed a walking tour of the old markets in Mysore. There were piles of fruits, vegetables and flowers.

The sights were remarkable, and the aromas otherworldly. If only photographs could capture aromas!

Tomorrow we'll practice yoga at sunrise from Chamundi Hill, then head off to Bylakuppe.

-Scott

Saraswathi, dauther of Pathabi Jois

We also took a class from Saraswathi. She does not take students for one day. However, we wrote a letter to her with an appeal that she see our group. She agreed to teach despite the rules that you must commit to a month long program and scheduled a special class at 3 pm. Some members of our group who had worked to make contact with her went earlier in the week to take a class and spend some time with her.



Here is a video on Sarashathi....

BNS Iyengar

We took classes from the renowned BNS Iyengar, Student of Pathabi Jois, and his main disciple Rakesh. Please enjoy these photos.