My Organic Farm – Paradise!

I wake up all alone. I’m now back to travelling alone again. There are no other’s staying where I am and since the airport, not a single foreigner in sight. Away from all of the riffraff and busy city centre, I have nothing to bother or wake me up other than the sounds of the birds. It’s pure tranquillity. Having slept for a good 12 hours, I’m now able to walk around and fully appreciate the place in which I am currently residing. My bedroom is a bright and spacious room with the natural Read more [...]

Goodbye Father. Goodbye living in luxury.

It’s true. The last 8-9 days which I have spent with my father, I have been treated like a pampered princess. There were unlimited amounts of cold coffees (easily 6 with one morning breakfast) and the best fresh fish meals you could eat by the local lake. Not only that, but there was even an option for room service. I was living in paradise, at least so I thought. We get ready for our flight to Kathmandu (flying! – another luxury) and realise upon boarding that we took up a third of the passengers Read more [...]

Chill out day

Day after our strenuous trek, all we wish to do is chill out and recover from any leg pain and leech attacks. So we wake up, have our usual breakfast (2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast, butter, jam and a tea/coffee) and then leave to find a boat which would take us across the river. We had heard such lovely things about the other side including the fact that it had a chilled out restaurant which served beer and allowed you to drink it whilst looking out upon the open water. We were under a strong agreement Read more [...]

Monsoon ‘Pan Chase’ Trekking

With the following few days forecasted to be classic monsoon rainfall we realised that it was unrealistic to wait for a dry day. If we were certain that a trek is what we wanted to do then it the rain was unavoidable. So we (my father and I) booked ourselves in for a two day trek in the mountains. I was already prepared with a small torch, a mini backpack, some toilet paper and of course my trusty iPod which is always by my side. With such downpour it was advised that we invested in something rainproof. Read more [...]

I’m still me, just a better and more up-to-date version of me.

The more time I spend with my father, the more I’m able to compare myself with the person I was before having come to India and Nepal. This experience has changed me for the better. I feel that I am more relaxed and laid back about pretty much everything. Every question he has seems to be easily and rationally answered by my now calm and well trained mind. Since Vipassana in particular, everything I think about seems more logical now thfat so much isn’t running in and around my mind. I’m still Read more [...]

Hello Nepal!

… As I continue to walk literally nowhere I see the massive archway with the words ‘Welcome to Nepal’ in large letters across it. With pure excitement of leaving one adventure just for another to commence, I was only able to proudly stride underneath it to get to the immigration office. A few more form filling, passport exchanging and money giving later I have my visa and am legally permitted to enter the country. Immediately I am able to notice the difference between the two countries. I had Read more [...]

Farewell India, my time with you has come to an end…

So I’m officially leaving India and although I saw this moment coming and have therefore come to acceptance with the idea, I’m still sad to be parting ways with this stunning country. This country has completely changed me in more ways than I could have imagined it to. It’s opened my world to the realisation of so much; the detail of all their monuments, the levels of poverty, the diversity of the country, the ability to control your own mind, the ability to become so free, open and laidback Read more [...]

Penis-Bag-Man

Shocked from what we saw and needing time to just take it all in, my father and I decide to just continue sitting on our chosen steps. Looking directly in front of us, there wasn’t anything which could have diverted our attention more than this. There was a man dressed in an orange cloth to which we could only assume he was a monk, until he appeared to do some rather un-monk-like things. First of all he got a metal pole and placed it between his legs. He would then pull it up as much as possible Read more [...]

Varanasi

It’s Friday 13th and the day that I meet up with my father for the first time since he took me to Heathrow airport 3 ½ months ago. I’m excited to be able to have a face-to-face catch up with him over a pint of beer. He sends me an address of his luxurious hotel and a random man and motorbike ride later, I am able to hunt him down. We decide to take a walk down to the River Ganges to a particular spot which was a hotspot for Indian funerals to take place.  This consisted of carrying down Read more [...]

Day 11

So it’s the day that I leave the centre. I foresaw an ultimate lie in followed by breakfast, a chit chat and then a trip to Gaya train station to get to my next destination, Varanasi. This wasn’t quite the case; the bell rang at 4am and meditation started again for the final time. Even though I knew that it would be the very last time during the period of this course, it still felt like pure torture when I was thinking about it whilst walking to the mediation hall. My mind and body had endured Read more [...]