:: LINKS::

Here is a list of the places that I stayed in around India and Thailand as well as some other recommendations on things to do, yoga teachers, and things to see.

::INDIA::
Mumbai: Bentley's Hotel 17 Oliver Rd, Colaba +9122871846 bentleyshotel@hotmail.com http://www.bentleyshotel.com/

Arambol, GOA: Hotel Ave Maria H.No 22 Modlo Vaddo +918322242974

Kochi, KERALA: Maple Regency Hotel and Residence XL/1511 Cannon Shed Road +914842371711 mapleregency@airtelmail.in

Kumili, KERALA: Hotel Ambadi Junction Thekkady Bypass Road +91 4869224617, 211015 sureshgreenview@yahoo.com

Trivandrum, KERALA: Greenland Lodge Thampanoor +912328114, +912323485

Delhi: (close to airport) Hotel Eurostar A-27/1 Road No. 1 Mahipalpur Extn. http://www.hoteleurostar.in/ hoteleurostar@hotmail.com

Varanasi, UTTER PRADESH: Alka Hotel/Teerth Guest House D.8/9 Kalika Gali (find them through the Alka at Meer Ghat)

Jaisalmer, RAJASTHAN: Hotel Haveli +919982098489, +912992252552 jsm_issac@yahoo.co.in

Pushkar, RAJASTHAN: Hotel Marudhar Kapaleshwas Road (near camel fairground) +911452772415

Jaipur, RAJASTHAN: Umaid Mahal C-20B/2 Bihari Marg, Bani Park +911412201952 http://www.umaidmahal.com/ reservation@umaidmahal.com

::THAILAND::

Bangkok: At Home Guest House 117 Tanao Road, Phanakorn +6622814056 athome117@hotmail.com

Big Blue, Kho Phangan: Haad Yuan beach, +66(086) 470 2625

Chiang Mai: VIP Guesthouse

::YOGA::

Sivanada Yoga Ashram, Neyyar Dam (Trivandrum) India http://www.sivananda.org/ndam/

Wild Rose Yoga and Sauna, Chiang Mai, Thailand http://www.wildrosesauna.com/

Namo Yoga Centre, Chiang Mai, Thailand http://www.namochiangmai.com/

Blooming Lotus Yoga, Ko Phangan, Thailand http://www.bloominglotus.ca/

::OTHERS:::

Ethos Vegetarian Restaurant, Bangkok http://www.ethosnet.biz/

Omelet Shop Near clock Tower, Jodphur, India (yummmmmy...the cook goes through 8000 eggs a day!)


Babaji Shivanada: YOUTUBE http://www.youtube.com/watchv=Ta1cZYXMShl


Swami Naganath: YOUTUBE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzm3hsKD11k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHJuCE7luwM

Water Valley Tour (Keralan Tourism) +914842371761/2369811 touristdesk@satyam.net.in

"A Taste from Heaven" Veggie Restaurant + Ecotours, Chiang Mai, Thailand 237-239 Thapae Rd. Tel: +6653208803 http://www.taste4heaven.com/

Haad Yuan

I'm here on Haad Yuen beach on Kho Phangan and I'm having an alright time. Thailand is not what I expected it to be. I'm still missing India like mad and having a hard time just chilling on the beach. I'm not really a "relaxer" per se so that may be part of the problem, but I also feel like I am spinning my wheels here and just burning time. I am having anxiety about coming home...I'm really nervous about leaving this trip behind and getting back to life. I have realized so many things about my life back in Vancouver and I am honestly more confused about where I am in my life now that I have been away. I've been feeling awfully lonely and down here, and even started crying in yoga class this morning. The teacher played a track from this album "Sacred Chants of Devi" that had Reena played for me the night before I left to come on my adventure. The song is a beautiful and haunting track regardless but it brought back the excitement and wonder of going away and I felt like I hit a wall. I broke down and started crying, secretly of course...it's hot and muggy enough for me to disguise my tears as beads of sweat. I'm really got to put my nose to the grindstone and figure out a way for me to get to London. I'm just putting it out there, and I have faith it will all work out. I need a change so bad.

So the crazy thing is about this beach is that it is full of Vancouvites! The yoga teacher knows me from Beats Without Borders events (she has seen me dance a few times) and in the class I ran into 2 girls I used to party with waaaay back in the day when I was young and crazy (I'm still crazy but not that kind of crazy). The girls are Stacy and Shania (Tezra- Kirsten's friend Stacy). There was another girl in the class from the Drive so that was really funny to see her as well. Turns out that Haad Yuen is the beach to go to! I'm happy to have found Stacy and Shania. We are having a nice time eating loads of yummy food, drinking lots of shakes (pineapple & mint, coconut, and watermelon are my favorites) and of course our daily yoga class. It's been a nice distraction for my overactive mind. They are both moving home to Vancouver after 4 years of being away living in Japan. Stacy has been travelling for one and a half years now and I had just missed her at the Sivanada yoga ashram when I was there by 1 week. Strange.

I've been spending my days pretty much the same...getting up for yoga, eating with the class afterwards at the Bamboo restaurant, going for a swim, reading, watching movies at my bungalow and eating and reading some more. I'm not used to being this chill and I think that is one of the reasons that I am losing my mind! I'm struggling to keep my mood uplifted- I know I sound so melodramatic- but I am having alot of conflicting and confusing thoughts. It's hard being here in paradise and not being able to totally appreciate this beauty. I'm trying to stay present but my mind is a million miles away. Thailand is a good place to get away to but it's not really an experience nor an adventure...and that's the way I like to travel. I have run into more tourists here on this beach than I have in all my travels in India...and I go to sleep listening to banging house music. I miss the jangle of the temples of India in the morning, and the singsong intonation of Hindi.

I had my hair cut by this London hairdresser as my hair was in a dire need to get sorted out. He cut my hair really punky and I suddenly have baby bangs again ("Sweet ones darling") so I am coping with how to style my hair! Especially in this humidity....my hair has gone huge and corkscrewy! I hope the bangs grow out before I return...I look like I am 19 years old again (but with 10 yrs experience lol).

I'm gonna stay here till Sunday- till the end of my yoga pass- and I think that I'll fly to the north to go to Chiang Mai. A couple I met in Munnar (Leeanne and Mike) will be going north on the 1st of April and want to meet me there so I think I will. It'll be nice to have some company and they are hilarious Brits who will keep me laughing for sure. They are coming from spending 2 months in Africa so it will be great to hear their experience.

So I'm off to bed...good night. xoxoxox

Crash, boom, BANG!

I'm sitting in a cyber cafe at my bungalow in the most FANTASTIC storm ever...waves of rain washing down, ear splitting thunder above my head and incredible flashes of lightening illuminating the entire sea! Incredible!
I have arrived on Kho Phangan today after a fairly easy journey from Bangkok. I caught the night bus and managed to get a little bit of rest on the bus...I had 2 seats to myself so I twisted myself up sideways and caught some shut eye. We stopped at 24 hour Thai food extravaganza...it was brillantly lighted with hot pink and mint green fluroscent lights. a shrill woman barking orders over the super loud speaker system, and the craziest assortment of food I have ever seen. I was right out of it so I didn't take any pictures...but if I stop at a place like this on my way back believe me I will!
I caught a high powered catamaran to Kho Phangan which took about 3 hours. I passed out for most of the trip, but awoke when we arrived on Kho Tao to see the chunky island dressed in emerald palm trees and white sand. I arrived on Kho Phangan and immediately was addressed by a Hare Krishna spreading his love of Krishna...I must have something written all over my soul or something! I gave him 50 B for his book on Karma-Yoga and caught a minibus to Haad Rin (the infamous Full Moon Party beach) so that I could catch a boat to Haad Yuen. I met a girl named Lucy on the bus who lives here on Kho Phangan -actually at the yoga centre The Sanctuary. Lucy convinced me to go right to The Sanctuary and check out the beach there. So I went to that beach and checked into a dorm room at the Sanctuary. As I was getting out of the boat I ran into a Vancouver Yoga Teacher at the Sanctuary doing a teachers training course! It really is a small world isn't it!
The Sanctuary is a really beautiful spot but it was a bit too high-end hippy resort-y for my liking. The restaurant had gorgeous (but expensive) food, so I splashed out on a lentil burger which was music to my lips. I ended up walking the steep pathway through the jungle to Haad Yuan- the beach that Sarah had recommended inititally and found it was much more to my liking. So I booked a room at the Big Blue Bungalow, trekked back to the Sanctuary, packed up all my stuff, and trekked back to the Big Blue. This was all done between 2:30 & 3:30 in 37C heat. and I forgot to reapply my sunscreen after my post- meal swim. I have very burned shoulders and a rather Rudolph looking nose...alas my quick dosing of SPF 40 didn't help much.
I met a really strange Israeli fellow (who I think was gay) who took a real liking to me, so much so that he tried to climb into my hammock with me. I felt rather uncomfortable OBVIOUSLY so I fled as soon as I could claiming that I was being bitten by mossies (which I was...they are as big as birds here). This fellow is named Asher, and I'm hoping to avoid him at all costs...he seems like a real wierdo! But this beach is TINY and very unpopulated so unless I hide out in my bungalow all day or leave the beach I'm sure I'll be seeing lots of him. He seems like the real man about town...I hope he's just extra gay and friendly, not creepy and lecherous! LOL
I'm starting yoga tomorrow morning so I'm quite excited. I'm not really one to sit and relax much on the beach so I need some activity besides shopping (which there isn't much of here thankfully) and eating (yikes...I really need the yoga to stop me from eating so much!). Staring at the endless sea is lovely and all but I cannot spent 10 days doing that. I may head into town Haad Rin in a few days to check out the scene there, but I'll wait till after the Black Moon party to do so.
I had a fab dinner at my bungalow and watched the movie "Old School" there. The Big Blue shows 2 movies a night, so that will be a good way to ease into bedtime..seeing as I lost my beloved book "A New Earth" somewhere between Bangkok and here. Oh Ashley. Typical!
The rain has now eased off so I guess I will mosey back to my bunglaow and hunker down for the night. I'm going to get up early and wander the beach a bit before all the rest of the other people get their yoga grooves on.
Mom and dad- so sorry to hear about Alf :( but hopefully he's in peace now. Send gramma my love.
xoxoxox

"Why do we do this?" "Because we are yogis!!"

The above Q & A came from our KRIYA (yogic cleansing) class yesterday when the teacher demonstrated putting a thin rubber catheter up one nostril, down her sinus cavity, and out through her mouth. She then pulled it back and forth while the rest of us groaned and squealed!! I had no problem with the netty pot though as I have used it before and own a pot at home. But many other students have never used it before so there were loads of giggles and pictures being taken of the teapot up in the nostril!
Welcome to Sivanada Yoga Ashram!
So I am on my 4th day here and I am loving it. It is really challenging and we are kept extremely busy the whole time we are awake (5:20 am - 10:30 pm) but strangely I am not tired. It takes me a few minutes to get going in the when the gong goes off but once I get into the main hall (Siva Hall) with all of the other people and the sky is still dark I feel totally energized. The day is set up like this:
5:20 am: Wake up bell
6-7:30 am: Satsang (meditation, chanting, lecture)
7:30am: TEA TIME!!! (most awaited moment of the day!!)
8 - 10 am: Yoga Class
10am: Brunch
11am: Karma Yoga (Picked up leaves from the lawn yesterday...today toilets!!)
12:30pm: Coaching class (optional...but really necessary if you have any questions or need assitance with asanas)
1:30: Tea time with fruit
2pm: Lecture
3:30 - 5:30pm: Yoga
6pm: Dinner
8pm: Satsang

I'm def. feeling all the activity and the yoga is quite intense. 4+ hours a day really works the body, and as much as I am feeling sore I am also getting stronger. The Ashram is a very interesting place, and is full of international men and women. There is a group from Iran of Muslin (fully in hijab!!) women who don't speak any English, loads of Indians, Japanese and Chinese studenst, a bunch of Christians from Europe and all the other usuals: Ozzies, Israelies, and other Westerners. There is a Teachers Training course happening right now, and man they are getting WORKED! They did a series of 108 Sun Salutations yesterday...we just did 6 and I was sweating! The first night I arrived I felt very strange and a bit lonely. I walked in to the dining hall to the Swami singing Hare Krishna and everyone sitting on the floor clapping their hands with MUCHO GUSTO and tried desperately not to think of my father's parting words to me: " Don't join a crazy cult in the ashram!!". LOL. It's not like that at all, and many of the chants and bhajans we sing include Buddha, Mohammad, Allah, and Jesus. It's non-deominational for the most part, but does have Hindu overtones. The Siva hall, where we take our satsang is a huge open air hall with a massive golden OM at the end above the statues of Swami Sivanada and Swami Vishnu-Devandaaya. Candles are placed around the statues of the swamis and also on the Dancing Shiva, Ganesh, (and another one that I can't tell). The walls have a massive painting of each main deity and goddess (Siva, Ganesh, Vishnu, Durga, Laksmi, Kali etc) and I often look at them during the Kirtan as they are so beautifully painted. I'm OM-ing and OM NAMAH SIVAYA-ing more than i ever have in my whole life- everything opens with a triple OM and closes with a OM. If you want to greet someone or excuse yourself, you do it with a quick OM. It took me a while to get into it...instead of saying "Hi" its "OM". I felt a bit silly at first but now its all part of the routine.
The ashram is located in a tiny area of Trivandrum called Neyyar Dam and sits above a lake, where there are crocodiles!! Across from us is a lion sanctuary and you can always hear them roaring...especially now as they are in heat and are really randy. The Swami explained that all the roaring is them "communicating" with each other...but we all know differently!
The people here are really nice and I've become close with 2 girls, one 19 year old beauty from Holland called Suze and another wonderful lassie from Scotland called Kim. I share a dorm with Suze (and 17 other girls...) and I met Kim on her first day in the afternoon yoga class. It's been really nice spending time and getting to know them.
The food is alright...the brunch is better than the dinner and there is usually more of it. There is no sugar, garlic, or onions on site though so the food tends to taste a bit bland. We all sit on the floor in rows and eat off tiffin trays with our right hand. Food is quite plentiful though so you can get really full. We only have 2 meals a day, and I'm really not that hungry (which is a surprise to you I'm sure as you know how much I can eat!!). There is a Health Hut on site but it is open funny hours. Kim, Suze, and I have escaped today to "town" for internet, chocolate, and crisps purposes! Have a lecture this afternoon on Aryuvedic Eating so I'm really excited about that.
We had an amazing walk this morning with the Ashram...a walking silent meditation. We got up at 5 and at 5:30am headed up this mountain (treacherous at parts...eeek) to sit and meditate as the sun came up over the surrounding mountains. I mainly just sat and took in the incredible view. I felt really happy and at peace. Got some photos of the sun coming up and will post them soon. हद अ ग्रेट निघत
Last night at Satsang we had a special performance from a local Kalaripayattu martial arts troupe. It has been said that Kalaripayattu is the first martial art ever and that all other forms performed when India was under British Rule. But since the Independence of India it has made a strong comeback. The warriors train from 5 - 7 am and 5:30 - 9 pm everyday and demonstrate amazing flexibility, precision, strength, mental control, and courage. I took some video footage and hope to upload it onto Youtube so stay tuned for the link. The guys were quite fit and handsome (a nice sight for our hungry eyes!!) but dangerous. Would not want to get into a fight with one of them!!!
I'm here till the 29th then I'm going back to Trivandrum to see Bigs and Aggie and hopefully meet up with my former mental health OT Migs and his wife Sarah. They were supposed to also be at the Sivanada Ashram right now but Migs had to stay for a bit longer in the Philipines. It'll be nice to see him and meet his wife Sarah. I'm going back up to Kochin on the 30th where will fly to Delhi and then to VARANASI!! Just got an email from Martin so it looks like he will be meeting me up there which will be great!!! I'll get a goood inside look at Varanasi and also get some good laughs in as well...he is wickedly witty.
Ahh I guess thats its for now...
NAMASTE!!! xoxox

AShley este sola

Ahhh well it's time to part with Biggie and Aggy today and I feel a bit sad. Biggie and I have had such an amazing time and travel really well together (and she's got kickass music...) so it will be hard to say goodbye. She's hoping to come to Van in the summer after her Oz tour so I'll be able to show her around my hometown. I'm gonna be leaving at 12 to go to Neyya Dam in Trivandrum for a weeklong yoga intensive at the Sivanada YOga Centre...and I'm a bit nervous. I'm in a dorm room (with 31 other people...) and I hope I'll meet some nice and unpretentious people there. My adventure is only just beginning now...yay! I'm trying to convince Sundara to get her butt over here and travel with me but she's not taking my lead!! LOL
We arrived in heatsoaked Trivandrum yesterday after a lovely but winding bus ride and then a 3 hr hot train ride. We were sad to leave Kumili and the coolness of the hills but the bus ride was so much fun! We even saw an elephant!! Arrivingi n Triv was like opening an oven door in the face...hot and sticky. It took us a while to adjust as the hills were so refreshing. Wandered around Triv to the market and then to the 260 yr old Sri Padmanabhaswamy (what a mouthful) temple. It was beautiful from the outside (and from what we could see of the inside) but we couldn't go in as we are not Hindu. But the Sadhu at the gate let us poke our heads in. We also got accosted by a group of elderly men who wanted our pictures taken with them...we said no at first but then relented..they were just so cute! We really don't understand all this business of people taking our picture. I guess we are really an oddity here. Haven't seen that many travellers here. Had a delicious fish curry dinner last nght...coconut creamy and sweet but hot. I love the food here. Seriously. I got flashed yesterday (intentionally?...I think so) by a middle aged man "fixing" his lungi. I was really shocked and surprized as it was mid day on the busy street!! Didn't know what to do so I just looked away and pulled Aggy and Biggie along with me. Ewww. Hope that's the last time that happens...although Lee was telling us of some stories about the north. *sigh*
Keep those emails coming...I loved opening up my mailbox today to see all 52 of them LOL!!!
I'll do my best to update when I'm not getting up at 5:20 am to meditate or when I'm not in my 5 hrs of yoga class. Or cleaning toilets..part of my sevi service!! Love to you all...namaskar.