Kannur to Mysore, End of the first project!

Well I am feeling a little bit sad at the moment as I have just reached Mysore after about 8 hours by bus. And its not the bus journey or the fact that I have said goodbye to 2 of our group - Leena and Saijal who are off to a health farm the lucky pair, and I am sad at that but feel I will see them again. No it is saying goodbye to the lovely friends we made in Kannur at the guest house - our cook Sadish and after he was stung by a bee in the eye his wife Sheila who took over, its our yoga master SHREE KUMAR - I loved saying that name and did so constantly. Its little Kannur where everyone looks at you as they don't see many white faces - any white faces! Everyone points and stares and giggles, you are such a phenomenon. You feel like royalty as people wave and want to talk to you but don't understand what you are saying so they just smile and jiggle their heads as only an indian can! Its the cheap prices as they don't get many tourists so you know the 'real' price. It was the spiritual and educational and emotional 2 weeks of learning with an international group who became real friends and I think the person who really made it so perfect would be Bubba himself (our host and guide) the smiling Ranjit who made you feel like you were the most important and special person in the world, and that anything is possible. And he also gave a good 'massage' it must be said, his oils are out of this world as he is an Ayurvedic master. When (not if) I come back to India that is one man I will want to see again.

And what a bus journey anyway. At one point I had 2 women practically sitting on me, luckily it got quieter after a couple of hours in to the journey! I must admit just looking out the window and watching the world go by - how beautiful is this country. I would recommend this country as a place for everyone to visit at least once in a lifetime. I felt so much peace as I watched the farmers plough their fields with animals and not machinery, children washing themselves in streams, trucks with such large piles of hay it looked like a great big affro! Hours of driving; and the driver seems to be in good spirits as he and his conductor talk to each other like master and student, a bond of connection that has come about through probable years of long drives and many conversations flying by little huts and bigger more sturdy houses but still very poor looking and most in need of a bit of refurbishment, lots of green, green, green and mountains and rivers and palm trees. Dogs lie in the shade panting from the sheer exhaustion of the heat and people congregate in little kiosks drinking chai (tea with spices) or wonder round other little kiosks selling materials, fruits, sweets, tobacco...

Going back to this weekend. Ranjit organised a trip for us to the jungle. It was a long drive, as usual! And on talking to locals it seems 'the doctor' - Dennis from Belgium who likes to ask questions and find out about everything and have an opinion on everything and likes to press peoples buttons - spoke to some locals and found out it was a place of pilgrimage for many indians who will go there once in a lifetime. It is a beautiful place and has lovely mountains and forest and a beautiful hindu temple at the top of the hill. When we got there on Friday everyone went swimming and I went back to our accomodation to get some appropriate clothes to wear. I then went out to find them and found myself on a beautiful trail along a stream and actually hoped I wouldn't find the rest as I felt so at peace, it was really like home as well. But I found them swimming and it was good to see them, Ann Elise was swimming away with Ranjit and the doctor having a great time as others looked on with their legs dangling in the water. I decided to go on my own little trail and ventured a little bit more, but it got quite thick and I worried as in India when the sun sets it suddenly gets really dark so I decided on a 'short' walk! And on the way back Ranjit thinks it would be funny to jump out on me! We then had to cross 2 little streams to catch up with the rest and when I looked at my feet - what was there, wriggling away sucked on to my toes ankles and feet - about 12 leeches!!!!! They were pretty small and skinny, but leeches none the less! Well that was my excitement for the day, don't particularly want to repeat it but it wasn't too bad an experience! Later that night we went on a drive to see if we could see any animals who venture near the road when there is no traffic funnily enough! Everyone was tired so we went out at ten instead of eleven and maybe because it was so early the best we could do was - a couple of rabbits, a few cows....but then...an elephant! Wowzers an elephant in the wild, even if it was mainly its butt I saw - it was an elephant and it was a pretty cool experience! The next day we went out on a walk to learn more about plants and what they can do for us humans. It was a really nice day and we had to negotiate our way across a few rivers, luckily this time...no leeches!

Overall, I feel like this journey is made up of many chapters for me and not just one big chapter. I remember with fondness celebrating 'onam' with some of the families we have met in Kannur including our yoga teacher and our cooks family. I have enjoyed the children chasing us and smiling at us and asking if we will take a photo of them and their screams of excitement when they see the photo! I am so glad I got to attend an Indian wedding, it was so beautiful and the sitting down to food was so organised and regimented, they fed hundreds I am sure! I also loved eating from a palm tree leaf, it was so cool. I enjoyed the yoga classes and the Aryuveda classes and the people and the people and the people.

And now I am in Mysore with the rest of the group - Jessica, Louisa, Doctor Dennis, Azosa, Audrey and Ann Elise. We have seen some beautiful buildings here just from getting here today and we ate in 'park avenue' which seems a nice place to eat. But the whole darn place seems to 'touristy' - too many white faces. I don't feel so special anymore! And from here, they will go north and me...well I have another project with young people in a couple of weeks and I will catch up with Audrey again there. I think tonight I will go back to the hotel room and have a look over my guide and have a think about things and will let you know what happens!

By the way thank you for your comments, its good to know I have people travelling with me! I hope you enjoy my photos and my dialogues (hope they aren't too boring!). And I hope all is well with you and yours. What has really impressed me here, is that so many people just come out here for a few weeks and cover so much of india by train and by bus in that time. And so if you have ever thought about it, I suggest you do it! I think my hotel tonight has cost me the equivalent of about one pound and fifty pence! And my bus journey - that cost about a 2 quid. Its cheap and its beautiful. Just to end, I think this is pretty strange - my room numbers have always been 107 or 207. I think that is a bit weird! Oh yeah and by the way last Sunday, Ranjit took us to a local festival near his home, there was a guy dressed up with bright colours and a large head piece and big lip things jumping around to the beat of drums. We were then given snacks and stuff. When the 'tody' came out I had to decline as it has alcohol - I believe it comes from the palm tree. Anyways after the guy read palms and told people about themselves and their future, again I had to decline! Some of the group said it sounded pretty accurate for them. I asked Ranjit what the festival was about, he said 'drinking and having a good time' - I said 'you are joking!'. Maybe he was I don't know! But thats a festival, thought it would go down well in Scotland! John from Germany was sitting laughing with me and I asked him what he was told, he said 'it was about you actually Sylvia...he said your bmi is...and your weight is...' - it seems he was reading my church stuff and it had a slip I got at Heathrow airport a couple of years back as I waited for a flight back to Scotland via Heathrow from Egypt I had weighed myself on one of those machines that tells you everything!!! So that little #@$$##$$ was winding me up! He now knows too much, at 19 years old - I can't get away from youth work!

Well catch up with you later and thanks again for your supportive comments. Sylv x