Chapter 7 - Rishikesh

  The following weekend, we took a trip to Rishikesh. Rishikesh is known for its access to the Ganges River, and famous for the time the Beatles spent here, back in the day. 

 In the evenings, they do what's called a puja ceremony on the banks of the Ganges. Having previously found such peace sitting by a river here, I struggled with my anxiety levels with so many people about.

 The puja ceremony was beautiful, but I just didn't find the experience particularly peaceful.

The rest of our time in Rishikesh mostly involved shopping, and I just couldn't understand why this was known to be such a spiritual place.. 

 It wasn't until my next trip into Rishikesh I really began to enjoy the hustle and bustle, and appreciate that the peace must come from within you..

 Rishikesh is also home to my favourite cookies!!

 

Chapter 6 - Shivalay Hanuman Temple

 

I was keen to wander down the the temple nearby, the Shivalay Hanuman Temple.

 Mum wasn't keen, she had already been to visit, so Dad came home early from work one afternoon and we wandered down together..

 

There was some beautiful flowers along the way.. 

  We walked through a very small village (a handful of houses and a tiny shop), and then arrived at a bridge, leading to the temple. It was beautiful,  very peaceful.

While shopping recently, I happened to find a silver ring I liked, with text on that reads "jai hanuman". Hanuman is the monkey God, not often worshipped by women because he was celibate.  

Chapter 5 - Joshimath and Auli

 

Life has a funny way of derailing even the best laid plans.  

"Each and every snowflake falls in its appropriate place" is quite thought provoking. Part of what spiralled me into such a horrible depressive state was feeling like I'd fucked everything up. I was not where I thought I'd be, who I thought I'd be, doing what I thought I'd be doing. And I certainly never thought I'd end up here in India. 

But somehow I know I'm exactly where I need to be. 

When my dad has asked what I wanted to do the following weekend, I said I wanted to go further up the mountains and see the snow, so up to Joshimath we went.. 

After about a 4 hour drive, and some confusion as to where the hotel was, we made it to Joshimath. It was definitely cooler, but I wasn't convinced we'd see much snow.  The next day, we rode the rope way up to Auli...

And gradually and then suddenly... snow!

Growing up in Australia, aside from a stint living in Cooma and a couple of trips to Thredbo, I didn't really see much snow. 

I find something magical about when it snows. And not long after we arrived at the top of the rope way, it gently started to snow, tiny snowflakes drifting down from above.. 

The building at the top of the ropeway housed a little shop with a small canteen. 

It was nice to sit and enjoy some chai masala tea and momos.

Other than enjoying the scenery,  there was little to do if you weren't skiing. But I most certainly did enjoy the scenery.

There is something really beautiful about snow. The cold air forced me to be present, while I admired the beautiful white landscape I was surrounded by. 

But the beauty of white glistening snow quickly melts and turns to muddy brown slush. 

Nothing, no one, in this world is perfect. Embracing our imperfections, admitting our wrongs, and loving and being loved, imperfections and all, creates vulnerability, which creates strength.