My Indian Travels
Day 1
From the UK to Delhi 15 years after my first visit…
Adventure Time
It’s time for an adventure, and when an adventure is on the horizon, Mother India always calls to me.
I’m here on my third ever visit to India, this time I’m heading to Rishikesh, nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas and classed as the “yoga capital of the world”. I’m here for a month, beginning my trip on retreat with The London Meditation Centre.
We are heading to Parmarth Niketan Ashram together for a two week stay and the remainder of the time I’m hoping to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, and then spend a week on a study course learning about Ayurveda’s approach to stress management.
On Monday, I will travel with the group on the incredible Indian railway for 5 1/2 hours north of Delhi. It’s an experience in itself, through the cities and the Indian countryside. Just the thought of it brings up memories of my first tour here almost fifteen years ago.
The smell of the rain in the streets of Delhi today as I landed also took me right back to my first visit here in 2008. That was pre iphone era!* Back then it was a lonely planet guide, a backpack and a lot of hope and good faith.
Young and Enthusiastic
I was twenty-four back then, young and enthusiastic not really phased that mobile phones abroad were a no-go, there were no accessible online booking systems, mobile phones were basic, roaming, well that wasn’t happening and certainly no trip-advisor review sites to curate my trip.
It was literally a case of read the guide, plan a route, ask around and use my intuition. Looking back I had an innate trust in what I was doing and a faith that everything would be ok…(despite discovering on day 3 that a page in my passport had been torn out by the hotel!)
It really did feel like such an adventure back then, there was a sense of being out there on your own, doing your thing. Completely untethered. As a young, single white woman travelling solo in India, I was aware of a magical, curious energy that pervaded each encounter during my trip. My expectations of India were based on pictures and stories from friends; meaning every meeting was a new discovery, every corner something new to explore. My senses were exploding with excitement. India was alive and vibrant, everything was so beautifully unexpected.
There was this one occasion I’d travelled to Amritsar to visit the Golden Temple and to watch the India-Pakistan border closing ceremony. I’d had such a great day but the truth is not every choice I made was a wise one. For my accommodation that day, I’d elected for budget despite my intuition and ended up fleeing from my hostel in the middle of the night after unsolicited knocks at my door. (Back then it was not recommended as safe for women go out after dark.). My heart was racing, I quickly stuffed my things in my backpack and ran to the nearest hotel! There is always someone kind to help here but I vowed to trust my intuition next time!
Reflection & Gratitude
In contrast to all that good faith, so many of my trips today are carefully curated through recommendations and review sites and although that can be fun I have to admit that it definitely creates a degree of expectation that wouldn’t otherwise be there.
As I write this, I’m feeling nostalgic and I can’t help feeling that the spontaneity and adventure of travel pre iphone will ever be the same. That particular sense of exploration has evolved and I feel so grateful to cherish my special memories and experiences from India fifteen years ago.
Today, I am fortunate to return and see India through a whole new lens. I feel like I’m coming back full circle, now a yoga teacher with my own spiritual practice… fifteen years ago that was only a flickering flame of curiosity and now a fully fledged fire of continuous practice that I am humbled to call my work. Perhaps it was my destiny all along.
Tomorrow is my Delhi day tour, I cant wait to share with you the full spectrum of colour that India has to offer!
I’ll keep you posted each time there is a new update. For now, over and out!
Namaste.
* “pre iphone” is just a line in the sand for me, a time marker, its not good or bad just an observation.
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