We are cuurrently staying at the Gyuto Tantric Monastery, where my friend Lama Tendar a Tibetan monk from Australia has hooked us up to stay here. The views from here are amazing as you will see in the photos below. We are also keen to do some volunteering here as opportunities open up. This Saturday we have the opportunity to see His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorjie here in the Monastery we are staying in. We are told he is next in rank so to speak from the His Holiness the Dalai lama.

It looks like we might stay here for a while, its so beautiful!

Until the next post…Live the life you want!

Lot of Love

Faris and Family

xoxoxoxo

As we drove north, OMG we saw the Ganges River. It was gorgeously clear, with bluish water moving south with small rapids in places. I immediately wanted to just jump in. What a contrast from Varanasi’s Mother Ganga. As westerners we just found it to dirty to plunge our selves in Varanasi but here in Rishikesh it was heaven. Mind you the powerful energy of the Ganga in both Varanasi and here in Rishikesh was prevalent. We were all very excited at the thought of actually having a swim, as its been a while. But to have it in the Ganga – the Sacred Goddess Ganga River, was amazing.

Now, checking in to the Ashram was great. We were tied and needed a few days to settle in and rest, as our bodies were in need of recuperation, especially after the Delhi belly a few days prior. We all started our meditation daily at 5.30 to 7am every morning and evening from 6.30 to 8pm. in this beautiful dome temple, where yoga and mediation was held. It was a little rough some mornings getting up at 5am, but no pain no gain they say…LOL. Yes, Tahira our 10 year old was with us meditating also. A matter of fact people visiting the ashram were again inspired by us doing this as a family. It wasn’t always harmonious but everything has its process when experiencing and embracing new things and opening one self to personal growth.

We have made some beautiful connections here, meeting other travelers, staff and Swami’s that are at the Ashram. Connecting with many spiritual masters. We had plenty of opportunities sitting around the dinning tables sharing our stories, learning, teaching and being part of the wisdom and spiritual life of India.

We decided to go to a quite place and take a plunge into the Ganga.  As we headed to the Ganga we found a Ayurvedic message place, and was compelled to stop and say hello. You know that feeling, where you meet someone for the first time yet you already know them and recognize the past soul connection? Well thats how it was with Radha, within 2 minutes we were upstairs having tea and sharing stories together. We spent several hours and then we all went off for our Ganga dip. Just around the corner from Radha’s place we found this beautiful spot and noticed sunset was near, perfect timing.

We got into the Ganga, cautiously placing our feet on the muddy rocks provided by nature and feel its great energy. Did I mention it was quite cold? Well, it was so cold that your body felt like it was on fire. For me personally, I take a moment, say a payer, acknowledge “Here I am in the Mother Ganga River”; this Holy revered place, that so many visit from all over the world. Its invigorating and healing energy that flows from way up in the Himalayan glaciers. I now submerse my whole body under and surrender. This ritual of cleansing, purification and rejuvenation was certainly an amazing moment in my life, but we all had our personal experiences. As I mentioned earlier sunset was near, well, it’s now upon us and it was breathtaking to experience whilst in the Ganges and the sun setting behind the mountains.

We visited Radha several times, enjoying here beautiful cooking. The food is light, nourishing and full of love. One thing you must try is bell fruit. Its a taste unlike any other. Squeeze this juice for a refreshing drink on a hot day. Then, one day, on one of our visits, Radha tells us that she is taking us to Rishikesh to meet a swami, a yogi, who is 118 years old. We took a rickshaw to this small Ashram and found a tall, white bearded man sitting on a bed. This man was 118 years old, can you believe that? He looked about 80! He told us stories, shared his wisdom and sang to us for a few hours in Hindi. Some of it was translated, but  much of it didn’t need to be. It was heart felt and somehow we understood, it was powerful and beautiful. We were served lunch and continued to listen to this man, another Swami and Radha sing. Radha has a heavenly voice as well. She does mantra healings and leads satsangs. We felt privileged to have been given the opportunity to connect with her and be embraced as family by everyone she introduced us to.

It was time!!!  The girls were ready for some Indian Punjabi suits. We went in Rishikesh to look at fabrics and some ready made Punjabis. It was an interesting experience choosing from the hundreds of fabrics in each store. Off course we exhausted every store looking for the right one. One of the traditions, when you sit and are shown these fabrics, is that Chai (tea) is offered to you. Well, let’s say, we had our fair share…lol.

One restaurant we recommend (which is suggested by lonely planet) is called a Little Buddha Cafe. It has been our kitchen away from home. Of course we love our dal, rice and chapati made daily by our lovely cook, but we still enjoy the occasional deviation from Indian food, especially when we are in need to balance our food intake. This place, which also features rooftop dining and view of the Ganga River, has Italian, Indian, Israeli, and Mexican food. Their pizzas are delicious, in fact better than some I we’ve had in Australia. They also have a range of breakfast options which is great. Did you know that meat is not allowed in Rishikesh at all, even alcohol? Little Buddha Cafe is Vegetarian and a great place to hang out. Oh, their lemon mint drinks are soooo refreshing…just love them.

We decided early on, that while in Rishikesh we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to go rafting in our Mother Ganga. We arranged it for the Friday 4th May with a lovely guy named Mukesh, from Wild River Runners, who had been leading rafters for 10years. He was our guide and made the experience a great one. We did the16 km ride and this included about 9 rapids, 2 of which were graded as a 3+, enough to push you outside your comfort zone. It was exhilarating and for some of us terrifying!

Then in the calm spots we were free to jump out and float. This was an absolutely beautiful experience. With our life jacket on, all we had to do is relax and absorb Mother Ganga. It is purely indescribable the feeling you get just floating down the this river. At one point we stopped at a beach for some snacks, took some photos, then continued a bit longer before jumping out again and swimming to our stop. It is definitely recommended to those interested in a bit of adventure, however I’d suggest maybe taking a 25km run for the more adventurous.

Two days later, after recovering a bit from our rafting experience, we decided to head up to Vashisht Gufa, which has a couple caves, about 35 minutes north from Topavan. It is said that Christ, Himself meditated in one, or both of these caves over looking the Ganga. Generally you can catch a bus here, but we were unable to flag them down, so we caught a car with some other people up there. We walked down a pathway that led to an Ashram, and the opening of the cave. Since this is a holy cave it is gated so that its use is monitored. We entered the small, dark cave and sat down to meditate.  Since it was a holy day, we were offered lunch by the ashram; a delicious curry, sweets and bread. They also gifted us with 10 rupees that we keep to bring us prosperity.

Then we headed to the second cave called Arundhati cave. A cave less frequented by tourists and the one Jesus sat inside. It was more open and faced the Ganga River. We meditated there uninterrupted before heading down to the water for a plunge. We were told by a friend here at our ashram that the mud at the Ganga is wonderful to put on, so Alexandria, loving mud, began covering herself in it. We all began using it as an exfoliator for our skin and joked that this was the new anti-aging: Ganga Mud.

There is much to explore here and many gems to experience and witness. They come in many forms, so stay open to ‘anything is possible’.  A great way to experience India and life in general.

Until the next post…Live the life you want!

Lot of Love

Faris and Family

xoxoxoxo

On our walks, however, we could see many great things that Delhi had to offer; Bustling markets, street food stalls, small lane ways with crowded night life, and shops. We had planned to spend a day in Agra to see the beautiful Taj Mahal, that so many travelers had raved about, but never could conjure up enough strength to go. We also had hoped to visit the Lotus Temple, which looks a lot like the Sydney Opera house. Looking was all we achieved. Maybe next time.

Rishikesh, India is the next Stop…..

Until the next post…Live the life you want!

Lot of Love

Faris and Family

xoxoxoxo

Our taxi dropped us off about 10 minutes walk from our guesthouse, as it was in the afternoon and the road closes for the market. We walked through the streets with our backpacks on and noticed the little stores in the little lane ways getting narrower and narrower until we arrived at the Ganpati Guesthouse, where we would stay. We made our way towards  reception through the beautiful courtyard and were given our room key. This felt really nice! We walked around the corner on the veranda to our room and we found our selves overlooking the Ganges River…WOW! Its an amazing sight that leaves you in awe. We had 180 degree views; as far as the eyes can see, from both directions.

We dropped our stuff in our  room and just looked out for hours from the veranda. Boats up and down the river filled with people from all over.  They included big groups of Hindu’s on their pilgrimage, Indians bathing right along the Ganges, buffalo in the river and tourist and locals walking along the river from one Ghat to another.

Yes, the Ganges River is dirty, yet you have to wonder why people from all over the world travel to come here. They travel for their spiritual pilgrimage and the river is revered as a holy place. One local woman we met told us that, it is said, that if you drink from the river you will have enlightenment and be free from this world. It is fascinating to watch the ritual of bathing of the men and women; a cleansing, purification, a letting go of the past and new beginnings. Through this ritual, new clothes are worn and in the instance of a partners death, old clothes are thrown away or just left drift down the Ganges.

There are morning and evening, Punja, prayer, blessing ritual every day on the main Ghat on the river and people flock from everywhere…don’t miss it!  There are many Ghat’s in Varanasi and at several of them there is the ritual of the burning of the dead. These public cremations are 24 hours with many cremations occurring continuously at the same time. The body is laid flat and surrounded mainly by a pile of 3 types of wood,; mango, sandalwood and camphor. This way there are no odors of the burning body. From a boat you can witness this however if you are a male you can witness this up close and requires respectful presence. Women are no longer allowed to attend this ceremony as there were instances whereby the grieving women would throw themselves on the burning bodies of there loved ones. Also no photos are allowed to be taken to respect the families involved.

I was fortunate when I was witnessing these cremations a man approached me and opened his heart to me and shared with me his grief. He told me that his uncle, only 40years old, was being cremated and pointed to him. He shared with me his uncles life, how he felt and the family he left behind. He asked me how I felt being there and I replied “quite honored” and “privileged” to be a part of  his families ceremony. He continued to share and then let me know that after 13 days after the cremation, food is prepared as the family gets together in honor of the dead.

As we met other fellow travelers as you do, we heard of many places to eat and see. One of the places we came across was a place called Brown Bread Bakery, which I remember reading in the Lonely Planet guide. This was a travelers delight. With free wifi, Indian and western organic foods available, this was heaven. You can lounge around on the pillows downstairs from the kitchen or experience the views of the roof top. We like to eat here for 2 reasons: the first is the organic bread and range of foods. The second is we were supporting a business that also supports others. You can check out the Ganga learning centre here at http://www.gangalearningcentre.org/

As many of you know our intention as we travel is to volunteer to reputable groups, people or organization . As we travel we find ourselves helping certain individuals that may not be a part of a group or organization. Over the last several months, besides either looking for or being invited to volunteer, we noticed a day does not go by where we are not supporting someone or being supported… This has come in many forms.

We have been humbled by travelers telling us of how we have impacted them simply by traveling as a family. There seems to be this notion that traveling is something done before having children. Even the Indian people we have come across, tell us of how beautiful it is to see a family together…’the Indian way’ they tell us. We have been led to give tips to those who have provided exceptional services and have connected with us. We have been able to do a range of things from feeding people on the streets, simply smiling to locals and seeing their faces light up, to listening to people’s stories and experiences of difficulty, despair or even share their happiness. We have impacted others and been impacted alike, just by being open, friendly and compassionate.

Its currently my belief that its never about what we give or receive but the presence of both together. Its acknowledging the sharing in each given moment with every breath with the soul in front of you.

We have spent 5 days here and its only the last few days we felt we just started to feel this place and discover more of the gems here outside of the hustle and bustle of the market streets. I do recommend giving yourself time here to do some yoga, music classes, cooking classes whatever you fancy get in with the people and experience why its so unique here from many parts of India and the world.

Until the next post…Live the life you want!

Lot of Love

Faris and Family

xoxoxoxo

Last Post was when we arrived in Kolkata India.

Well, India sure has its variety of colourful towns and environmental influences, languages spoken and multi religions.

Kolkata:

Flying into Kolkata and hitting the heat and the hustle and bustle of crowded streets and the beeping of horns certainly lets you know this city is awake:  be alert and aware. You definitely see the poverty straight up and yet the intrigue, not to miss a thing, draws you in to this other world. It certainly can be a shock to the system, however like all things, time takes care of this if you start to be open to it.

We arrived at Sudder St., a main area for accommodation, not too far from the market place. As it was Gincori’s Birthday we decided to upgrade our accommodation for a few days and enjoy a little bit of luxury and workout our next steps. Venturing out and mixing with the local street food stalls and tasting the local cuisine is definitely the best way to go.

Some of us aren’t quite the spicy hot lovers like myself, but there was still many foods that we enjoyed. We made beautiful connections with some of the food vendors and locals as we kept on returning for more.

Puri

Upon arriving in Puri from an overnight train ride, it was hot. It was difficult finding accommodation, as there were 4 of us. We looked for hours in the heat and due to easter weekend we just struggled to find something to accommodate our needs. Finally, late afternoon we settled for a place for one night. We knew Puri was not for us. None of us really wanted to stay here as the energy of the place was very heavy. So we decided to leave the next morning to Bhubaneswar, 2 hours away, where their was an ashram we wanted to visit. One of the interesting things about India we noticed was the continuous power blackouts. It reminds me of an experience in Kolkata, whereby we were in the lift and power went out. Mind you the lifts here are quite small; 4 to 5 people squeezed together is the size of the lift. Anyway power was restored within 30 seconds, although to Gincori, it felt like an eternity.

Bhubaneswar

We arranged car transportation to Bhubaneswar from Puri to go to the Kriya yoga ashram, a 2 hour trip. On our way we visited a little village, that our driver suggested. We met a local village elder, a master artist who won an award for his amazing detailed paintings and craftsmanship. He stopped his teaching to showed us a variety of works; ones that took two months to complete. Upon arriving we were fortunate that Swami Shakaranda Giri had just arrived the night before and was leaving the next day and that we were able to see him and work out if we could stay there. He advised us that his ashram in Rishikesh would be more suitable and that he would be there on the 24th and 25th of April and invited us to join him and stay for as long as we want.

We decided to get some accommodation here for a few days and then head out to Varanasi. Well, train tickets were very scarce and could not go by train, so we chose to fly into Varanasi instead. On our last night in Bhubaneswar, we decided to check out a Lonely Planet recommendation, called Tangerine 9. It had great food on a budget yet looked like a classy restaurant. Check it out! We really enjoyed it.

TIP: Book in advance! Train travel in India can be a bit complicated, so head to the local station, make sure to use the tourist window, and check out your options. Also, India trains have tourist quotas and will sometimes only allow for 2 foreigners to travel. I know it can be a hassle if you’re playing it by ear but if you know what to do, then at least you can attempt to snag last minute tickets.

Until the next post…Live the life you want!

Lot of Love

Faris and Family

xoxoxoxo

We have landed in Kolkata India after lunch here on the 4th April and headed down town. We plan only to be here for a couple of days before heading south to Puri, Orissa. Tomorrow we celebrate Gincori’s Big 50th Birthday. We look forward to checking out Mother Teresa house…its only 20 minutes away.

First impressions-Lot of honking and honking, dirty, busy, and already begging for tips…Welcome to India.

This is our view from hotel.

Until the next post…Live the life you want!

Lot of Love

Faris and Family

xoxoxoxo

We start each day at 6.30am. We get dressed, have a cup of tea and we are off on our morning meditation to the hill overlooking the valley and watch the sun rise above the mountains. Its absolutely breathtaking. Not to mention how peaceful it is; listening to the birds and local wild life is just so exquisite.

After meditation we walk back and have breakfast. It’s normally around 8 to 8.30 when we start working. Some of us work on gardening, whilst others work on getting Pi Nan’s house ready for his wife and 4 month old daughter that arrive in April. The work varies from watering, making a compost or 3, to building mud bricks, cooking, planting, weeding, running pipes for sprinkler system, to building steps and much more. A lovely volunteer named Ben, a gardener from England, who is planning to stay about a year on the farm, was there to help out with the garden. With his and Pi Nan’s guidance we were able to plant and sow many vegetables, from pumpkins to sweet corn.

We are all really enjoyed it there. The Mindful farm is a place where everything is done with mindfulness, love, compassion and one big happy family. If you are tired you can stop and take a break anytime. We have lunch around 12.30 and then a siesta break till 3pm where we resume work around 3 till about 5.30 or so. We have showers and prepare food, Although Pi Nan mainly cooks but not all the time. All the volunteers get together and have fun cooking as well. Tahira especially has taken a liking to cooking.

We eat off the land, just picking lettuce, bananas, tomatoes, many greens and so much more, its amazing. One day, Pi Nan goes for a walk and comes back with 3 types of leaves that you can eat either raw or cook from trees near by, other than his garden. Another time we were coming home from a walk by the little river/creek and Pi Nan tells us to stop and pick two types of leaves from the river bed for cooking…Its just amazing!!!

We then have dinner around 6 – 6.30pm, sometimes 7. After we have a little time to wash up and start to wind down for ourselves before our night meditation and a talk which Pi Nan leads around 8.30pm. For our meditation we look out across the mountains and valley from the porch on Pi Nan’s little house. Its so picturesque and conducive to our peaceful meditation.10 pm we go to bed, and by then our bodies are certainly ready for sleep.

We have experienced many things here in such a small space of time. We were invited to a three day funeral here in the village. Yes three days of food preparing and eating before the cremation on the third day. It was interesting to witness, when we went to help on the first day with some of the preparations, that no one was crying. Pi Nan told us we would see no crying and that it was more of a celebration of that persons life than a sadness of loss. We attended a compost making workshop presented by Metro University of Chiang Mia but funded by the Queens project for farmers. We got invited to a Buddhist festival in a nearby village about 45 minutes away. Met many locals and ate with them and shared stories. Experienced cooking on open fire many days as part of kitchen set up on the farm. And on the last day before leaving Pi Nan was offered 33 ducks from the Queens farm project which we visited. It was only 15 minutes away from the his farm and we had lots of fun catching them and transporting them on the back of a hilux ute.

It certainly was challenging at times, as we stepped outside our comfort zone. Embracing it allowed new experience and awareness to open up new opportunities for growth on many levels.  Learning, having fun, meeting new people and sharing travel stories and most importantly experiencing everyone coming together as one community working together, has opened us up and others to many rewarding outcomes.

As a family we felt privileged to contribute not only to Pi Nan’s vision of organic farming and community living, but assisting him building his house for the arrival of his wife and four month old daughter from Japan. We felt quite at home…As Pi Nan say’s “you can live here as long as you want. This is you second home.”

There is much work to be done on the farm. Although volunteers come and go, there is limited resources and funds. For more information you can visit www.mindfulfarmers.org

Until the next post…Live the life you want!

Lot of Love

Faris and Family

xoxoxoxo

We had visited a local yoga place in Chaing Mai and came across a flyer. We checked it out on the web and we felt drawn to it. We made contact with Pi Nan and arranged to meet him on the farm and check it out. On the day catching the yellow bus we made contact with Pi Nan, who happened to be visiting the Chiang Mai City, so we caught  the bus with him up the mountain.  Loaded with boxes, people and standing at the back of the bus for 2 hours was so funny…It was an amazing experience in it self.

Once we arrived, the valley was beautiful! An amazing energy that could only be comprehended by being there and experiencing it. A peaceful and picturesque view. We met some of the volunteers there from various countries and they shared their experiences with us and loved it. Now, mind you we were only intending on going up there for a few hours but we realised that we had no transport back to Chiang Mai in the afternoon. So Pi Nan was happy for us to stay overnight and so were we. We experienced the land, the people and a delicious vegetarian meal cooked by Pi Nan and a peaceful mediation overlooking the valley with the full moon…Breathtaking!!!  For  more information visit www.mindfulfarmers.org 

After sleeping in a mud house with plenty of blankets, as all we had were the clothes on our back. We woke up at 6 and caught the only bus at 7am down the mountain to Chiang Mai City. The trip down definitely felt shorter.

Well,  here we are Monday 12th March and we are getting ready for tomorrow Tuesday to go up to Pi Nan Organic Farm and volunteer for a while. Not sure yet how long, could be a few weeks, a month, time will tell. I don’t think we will have internet there, so it could be a while before you here from us.

Until the next post…Are you living the life you want?

Lots of Love

Faris and Family

xoxoxoxo

After about an hour and a half of driving, we arrived at a hot spring, close to several shops for souvenirs and food. To be quite honest touristy, not our cup of tea. We then headed to the white temple, Wat Rong Khun which was about another hour and a half away. It was beautifully detailed, with several symbolic characteristics. Inside the temple itself was a small sanctuary that had about 1 1/2 walls of painting completed while the other walls were bare and white that still needed finishing. The painting showed many Thai images, of people, places, and symbols but with a twist it also exhibited images of Spiderman, Batman, Jack Sparrow, star trek, star wars, kung fu Panda and many more. A theme I guess of good fighting evil!  On the grounds we  stopped at a well, that we could through coins into and make wishes, followed by a stop at…get this… the golden toilets. Yes it was golden colour, so clean, so nice. I have never seen a toilet so glorified. That is something we have notice here, that temple toilets are so clean you could literally eat off the floor.

After that we headed to Mekong river to take a boat around the golden triangle. We passed Burma (or Myanmar) and headed to Laos to stop for about 30 mins. This a small tourist village that was part of laos. We have heard from many people that Laos was such a beautiful place and we wanted to see the golden triangle for ourselves. What was really interesting on our boat trip was seeing the two rivers, the mekong river from china and Ruak rivers from Myanmar merge with a distinct colour difference.  After we went to a delicious lunch (buffet style)…Which we took full advantage of…LOL.

Followed was a trip to the Burmese border , a city called Mae Sie, where we got to see the bridge from Thailand to Burma. It was only a few years ago that this border opened up and some peace was established between countries. We then drove to finally see the hill tribes. We went to the Akha tribe first then to the Yao tribe and learned about a bit of their culture as well as got an idea about the possibilities of stay with these people and working side by side with them. At the end of the day we all had thoughts about which tribe we would like to stay at and how we might do this. It was a long day and we got home around 9pm. All we had to do next was decide. Hmmm what to do??  We thought about an organic farm that we have not seen yet, but have been researching. So we decided to contact the person and arrange to meet.

Until the next post…Are you living the life you want?

Lots of Love

Faris and Family

xoxoxoxo

Now in the kitchen, like master chef we all had our own cooking station. we had 6 dishes that we individually chose to complete for the day. we started off by making from fresh, a red curry paste. The first dish was a tom yam prawn soup which we ate for morning tea, it was delicious I have to say and quite easy to make. The challenge is how much fresh chilli you use and how much you can handle lol.   Then for the next 2 dishes, I made a red curry chicken with a few veggies and a fried chicken and vegetables with cashew nuts. We all gathered outside once these 2 dishes were done and we all enjoyed eating and sharing together our experience ‘s and our travels.

After lunch we made our deserts. I choose mango with sticky rice. I must say I was so excited about making it and then eating it, that I forgot to take a photo of it…So its not in the photos…woops. Now late in the afternoon we had one more dish to make before heading home. This was Pad Thai, luckily we could take this dish home. For me I could share it with my family. Thank god I didn’t have any breakfast as i couldn’t fit another thing in…I was full as goog!!!

It was a beautiful place to be cooking and experiencing the peacfulness of  nature and meeting new people, the day just flew by.  I really enjoyed getting back into cooking as I had missed not cooking for a while.

- Thai Farm cooking class, 17 km out Chiang Mai, Thailand. www.thaifarmcooking.com 

Love to all

Gincori and Family

xoxoxoxo