India – KEVIN CRAIG

Pratisara Protection Threads – From Abhaneri, India to Samos, Spain…

Tuesday September 18th of 2018 was a traveling day for us. That was the day we made our way by bus from Jaipur to Agra in India.

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We had a surprise stop along the way at a beautiful stepwell in Abhaneri. It was called Chand Baori Stepwell.

The Chand Baori Stepwell is an architectural wonder. There are many places like it in India. And it was just sitting there in a small village, at the side of the road.

At the Chand Baori Stepwell in Abhaneri, India. September, 2018.

While there, we visited a holy man who was at a small temple off to the side. He tied red and yellow pratisara protection threads on our wrists and offered us a blessing. I’m writing about it today, on Tuesday May 14th, 2019, because my threads finally broke free of my wrist this morning.

IMG_20180918_125315_003 — The Holy Man who gave us our pratisara protection threads while we were en route to Agra, India.

It was bound to happen. It was just some threads tied together around my wrist. I’m actually surprised it lasted almost 8 months. Michael’s is still intact. Not only that, his looks way better than mine looked when it snapped. I’m guessing he’ll get a full year out of his. We shall see.

The Rio Sarria, flowing past the beautiful monastery in Samos, Spain.

They say you should place your pratisara protection threads into a flowing waterway after they come off your wrist. I now have an offering for Rio Sarria, the river that runs through Samos, Spain, along the Camino. The river runs alongside the monastery there and I love the idea of leaving my protection threads in the river there.

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There are places in the world where one enters and they immediately know they’ve discovered one of their heart-homes. Samos is definitely one of those places for me. From the moment I saw the monastery from afar as we entered the town, I knew it was a special place. I knew I would have to return.

Now, I get to Samos added meaning by leaving something behind when I go back in September. (-:

The Pratisara Protection Threads I’ll Be Leaving Behind in the Rio Sarria in Samos, Spain.

Day 16 – A Whisper to a Scream Because I’m Goin’ to Kathmandu…

Ever since Bob Seger sang about going to Kathmandu in the 1970s, I have dreamed of going there!

Without further ado, this is exactly what we did the next morning. Our goodbye to Pokhara was bitter-sweet. It’s nice to arrive in a place with zero expectation and fall deeply deeply in love with it. It happened a few times during our wonderful G Adventures itinerary, but never more powerfully than with Orchha and Pokhara.

Have I recommended G Adventures in any of my previous posts? If not, I have been remiss. It’s a fabulous tour company! We were so impressed, we actually started searching upcoming getaways for our next adventure…while we were still on this one.

As we boarded the bus for Kathmandu, a street vendor approached us with fresh baked goods. By fresh baked I mean the chocolate inside the croissants was too hot to eat. An entire basket of baked delights just for us. Delicious!

The road from Pokhara to Kathmandu is not a long one, but it is an incredibly busy one. Near the end of the journey, there is a mountainside traffic jam that can take one-two-three-four hours to get through. We sat and we sat and we sat. I’ve never seen anything like it. But the reward at the end of the journey was worth the inconvenience of the jam. I’ve just never seen so many trucks in a row in my life. The road zigzagged up a mountain, so we could look across the divide at places and see the line of trucks just go off to what seemed like infinity. It took a few hours to get through the last few miles of our journey…

The reward for our patience was the Swayambhunath Stupa (otherwise known as Monkey Temple), which we visited prior to checking in at our hotel. Situated atop a large hill, Monkey Temple offers gorgeous panoramic views of all Kathmandu! It was founded by the great-grandfather of King Mānadeva (464-505 CE), King Vṛsadeva, around the beginning of the 5th century CE. And it is filled with monkeys. (-:

With all the monkeys and the music makers and the tourists and the bells and the prayer wheels and the mayhem, Monkey Temple is a festival of noise and a feast of sights.

That was a quick journey! We were in and out in 40 minutes. I could have spent a day there. I am drawn always to prayer wheels. And to hear the Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ chant coming from the little shops does a heart good! I see the words every day, as they’re tattooed on my left forearm. The chant swam up and down the alleyways and alcoves of the magical space.

om mani padme hum vector symbol aum After the temple, we went to our hotel–FUJI HOTEL–located in a sort of back alley in the heart of Kathmandu. It was a lovely bustling neighbourhood and a glamorous old hotel that felt like it held a history of its own…a history worth knowing. I immediately liked the owner, who spoke to me on several occasions. He was animated and really appeared to love life. He had, I am certain, as many stories to tell as his hotel did.

Alas, all great adventures come to an end. And we were there, standing at the end of the trail with our hearts in our throats and our lungs filled with the life we lived on the long and winding road from New Delhi to Kathmandu. Blessed and blissful and sad beyond measure, thirsting for more adventure and exhausted from our endless travels.

One last meal with the family we had created along the way, a group of strangers who found ways to connect and share a great adventure and form a bond of memories to carry forward into futures spent apart. Forever locked together as travelers with a shared experience on a chaotic dusty muddy pot-holed road filled with trucks and buses and pedestrians and cows and water buffalo and goats and hens and wheel barrels and bicycles and motorbikes and scooters and tuktuks and rickshaws and more.

Promise me you’ll never forget. Swear to me you’ll always remember.

And it was like a dream I had while waking…

Day 10 – Varanasi Sunrise, Buddhas and Silks…

Our only full day in Varanasi began early. We were up before the sun and making our way to the Ganges by tuktuk once again. The morning is when pilgrims bathe and swim in the river. It’s a spiritual cleanse. Hindus come from all over India to partake. From all over the world, for that matter. All Hindus are to visit the Ganges at least once in their lifetime.

Michael, on the Ganges, Varanasi, India, 2018

Ranny arranged for us to take a boat out onto the river again. We did the same route as the previous evening, visiting both the crematorium and the Dasawamedh Ghat. On the way from the crematorium to the Ghat, I saw what at first looked like some kind of effigy in the water. It was sort of wrapped around the anchor line of a boat. It turned out to be a partially clothed bloated body of a deceased pilgrim.

Nobody moved it, nobody really even acknowledged it. Ranny told us it would stay in the river and that it would eventually disentangle itself from the anchor line. He also said it would be improper to move it. It was a bit startling to witness.

After we returned to our departure ghat and made our way up it’s steps, we said our goodbyes to the mighty Ganges. And mighty it is. I had no idea it was as big as it is. And it has a mighty current too. Seeing the swirling eddies on the water’s surface reminded me of the Buddha dipping his begging bowl in the river and having it float UPSTREAM against the powerful current. Now I can no longer remember if that was something said to have happened or a dream. They are each the same, I suppose.

Ranny took us to a tiny local restaurant next for breakfast.Some would call it a hole in the wall, but there are enough of us who know these kinds of places are quite often the best. Luckily we have Ranny to bring us to these gems. The owner was such a lovely man. I had French pancakes (crepes) with rock sugar and lemon wedges. Sooooooo good. I talked to the owner about his baked goods at the counter when we were leaving. An American had taught him to bake and he loves doing it. It showed. His breads and brownies were picture perfect. I took a three pack of chocolate chip cookies for tomorrow’s train ride to the Nepalese border.

Back in the tuktuk! We were off to see Buddha gardens and a temple, as well as an ancient stupa. The streets of Varanasi are a blur of commotion, just like everywhere else in India. I love the traffic here so much! It’s a thrill to be inside the chaos. One knows one is alive when one is tearing through streets narrowly avoiding cows and babies and fruit carts and transports and bicycles. The traffic itself is beautiful music, punctuated by the ever constant and persistent HERE-I-AM call of the horn!

Dhamek Stupa was only one of the many sights we visited next. It seemed like a sort of complex. Ranny arranged for a guide to take us through all of it. We also saw the standing Buddha statue and the Tibetan temple. The deer park, where Buddha gave his first dharma teachings, is just behind this temple. Sarnath has much to offer and it’s worth the tuktuk ride to the area.

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After Sarnath, we returned to the restaurant where we had dinner the night before. Delicious food! The owner came and chatted with us. When he found out we were from Canada he proudly tested his French on us. He even spoke German on our way out, ever ready to impress us with his mastery of so many languages.

Next, SILK. We had a quick tour of a silk factory after returning to the heart of Varanasi. Of course I bought a scarf. I don’t need my arm to be twisted to do so.

That was that. Another day over. Time races by so quickly here. We had supper at the hotel restaurant and quickly hit the sheets. Our wake up time for day eleven is 3:45am, as we are to meet in the lobby at 4:15am to make our way to the train station. Leaving Varanasi in the morning for Nepal! Can’t wait! Lumbini will be a highlight. The birthplace of Siddhartha Buddha.

I will be sad to leave Varanasi and I will be sad to leave India. I’m breathless from the beauty I’ve experienced so far. India just keeps giving, keeps opening up. Such a festival of humanity!