Day 47

Imagine waking up to this every morning...mmm...my hike through the Himalayas!

Thoughts: 3 days in India and at a traditional Indian wedding! wooohooo! India hands down the best country I have ever been too, and next time I am coming with friends or family, I want to share this experience with them! The wedding blew my mind! I felt like I was in fairytale land, the Alice In Wonderland! Fairy lights, red carpets, Indian music, lots of food, beautiful Indian women wearing glittery saris, hours of dancing! I danced my little heart out - Indian style of course! And oh Indian music is sooo amazing, so expressive, and the dance style here is like full self expression, body parts moving in all sorts of ways! ;) I loved how all the food was served in banana leaf bowls, so once you had finished eating everything dropped them on the ground, back into nature, totally biodegradable. I ate rice and dahl and vegetables and potatoes with spices, and it must have been authentic Indian because I was on the toilet for the first 20 minutes this morning! Hahaaa!

The massive Indian dance celebration fest at the wedding!



I saw the coolest thing today, it made me laugh, there was a truck carting sugar cane and at the back of the truck was a man on a bicycle holding a sugar cane stick getting a free ride! haaa! Talk about sustainable creative thinking! People here work 7 days a week, there is no break or sleep ins. What for?! The Indians are so active, everyone always has something to do, even if they're sitting in the sun, they are doing that fully. I could never get bored in India! We had a 4 hour drive back to Dehli and Wikky asked "Do you want to watch a movie in the car?" I said no way hosay looking out the window is my movie! I can watch them for hours, there is so much life and energy and activity and community. Human beings at play. There are barely any overweight Indians.

It constantly smells like smoke here, all the time!!! I love it! It's like I am constantly camping! The first day here in Dehli I had sore eyes and was taking shorter breaths because I felt the smoke was thick and heavy from the pollution, fog and haze. It's getting easier to be here now, my body can tolerate it. I suppose people who haven't left India wouldn't know any difference in the air. It makes me so grateful for the clean fresh air we have in Australia! Especially on the Byron Bay beaches!

Why don't children smoke?

Challenges: Eating so much rice. In Australia I would eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, and here a staple is rice or chapati's (made from wheat). All the carbs make my body feel a little foggy and cloggy. My body is craving a shot or rawness! Hehe and all is good I am embracing the Indianess and am loving the spices and herbs.

Triumphs: Today I hiked for 3 hours at the gateway to the Himalayas! It was sooo amazing. I went by myself so it was just me and nature, the river and the hills! The air here was fresh and crisp and I used my Indian yoga breathing techniques I learnt yesterday and sucked in deep breaths and filled up on freshness! It opened my eyes and my face and my lungs and stomach! It gets all nmy blood and cells connected and working together. After my hike I had a packet of raw cashews and walnuts. Usually I would scoff down the whole packet just to be done with it and miss the taste of the nuts. I'm learning from the Indian's that they eat food like a celebration, a thanks, an appreciation. They don't just scoff it down to get it over with. When I was eating the nuts today I was present to the work that people went through to get these into my hands. Blows my mind. Appreciation. I saw a sign today that said FEED IS GOD.

What I Ate Today:

Breakfast: Raw walnuts and cashews. Black tea with ginger.

This is how they make the tea and ginger, from scratch! No tea bags!

Lunch: Sprouts with rice and dahl (lentils). Dahl is my favourite!

Dinner: Wikky's wife Shabanna made traditional Indian food with Dahl, Jeera rice and chapati and brinjal!



Snacks: No snackaroos.

Cost: Lunch for myself and Wikky cost 80 rupee ($1.90). Tea was 5 rupee (11 cents). I gave him 10 rupee!

Exercise: 3 hours hike through the bottom of the Himalaya's! I could walk for hours it's so relaxing and refreshing.


319 days to go!!!