Sivananda Ashram, Madurai, India

After spending a day in Chennai, we left for Madurai by train.  Only open tickets without assigned seats were available.  We got to sit on the shelf for luggage.  It was an 8 hour train ride.  Since we could not see the outside, we were watching people.  All women were dressed from top to bottom in clothes made from layers of colorful fabrics and were wearing a lot of gold jewelry.  Even some little girls were wearing eye makeup and some ankle bracelets with bells.  Some men were wearing skirts like in Myanmar, except men sometimes double folded the skirts to make them into miniskirts.  Most Indians eat with their hands.  They wash their hands before and after.  They also pour the water down their throats without touching the bottle or a cup.  We even managed to get a little sleep on the luggage shelf.  We spent $5 for both of us on that 8 hour train ride. 

 We went straight to the Sivananda ashram just outside of Madurai.  It was an hour bus ride, which cost us 50 cents.  People helped us to figure out there to get off, since it was already dark outside.  It took us more than an hour to register for yoga vacation program.  Also, the teacher training was starting the same day.  We learned that about 100 people registered between the 2 programs.  It was the highest amount of people the ashram ever had.  All the beds were full.  Some people who arrived the next day were sent back.  Dangis and I got to sleep in different buildings.  The girls’ dorm was probably twice as big as the boys’.  This was definitely the biggest room I have ever slept in.

The yoga vacation program is offered twice a month.  Its duration is 2 weeks.  Everybody is required to pay for at least 3 days.  The cost of the stay in ashram is $10/day.  The day is filled with mandatory activities that start at 6am and end just before bed time at 10pm.  People started leaving after 3 days.  We originally planned to stay in ashram for the full 2-week program, but later decided to leave after just 6 days. 

Everybody’s favorite activities of the day, besides eating, were yoga classes.  A class lasted almost 2 hours, and was offered twice a day.  Dangis and I decided to go for an intermediate level class, after attending couple of beginner classes.  The intermediate class was always the same.  We always started with the breathing exercises and a few sets of sun salutations, followed by the same postures in the same order.  I felt energized after each class.  I could feel I was getting stronger every time.  On the 5^th day I was able to do an unassisted headstand. 

We ate also twice a day right after the yoga classes.  We were seated on the floor and served vegetarian food.  It was a karma yoga assignment for some of the ashram habitants to serve the food.  They would make rounds offering us more food.  This way everybody could eat as much as they wanted without wasting any food.  The food was nutritious and mostly delicious.  Since we were fed only twice a day, some snacks and fruit were offered for purchase.  We tried not to snack.

After the brunch we had our karma yoga, which consists of different work assignments, such as cleaning, collecting garbage, serving food, or cutting fruits. 

       

In the middle of the day we had a lecture to introduce us to the ashram’s philosophy.  The lectures were interesting, but sometimes too long.  

  

The day started and ended with Satsang, which always lasted from 1.5 to 2 hours.  The Satsang started with a 20 minute meditation, which was followed by chanting.  Then it was time for some more lecturing, more chanting and a prayer.  The Satsangs were my least favorite parts of the day.

The attendance was taken for Satsangs and the lectures.  Those who missed a lecture had to explain themselves to swamis who were in charge of the ashram.  They were given a choice to attend all activities or leave the ashram.  Also, some of the teachers would check the dorms after the Satsang started to make sure that nobody had stayed behind.  So, everybody had to attend Satsangs, and some of them would fall asleep during.

There was some tension staying in the ashram.  We felt great after yoga classes, but we did not enjoy the Satsangs.  That is why we decided to leave after 6 days, instead of staying for the full 2 weeks.  Calling the program yoga vacation was misleading, boot camp would describe the program better.  I am sure we received a lot of benefits from staying in ashram.  We met a lot of nice people, ate healthy, and exercised.  We also unplugged from the outside world having no TV or internet.  I started drawing again during lectures like in old college times.  Dangis and I got to spend some time apart and miss each other a little.  And finally, we got to experience the life in the ashram.  It reminded me a lot of the trips to Taize years ago.  

Thailand again

We feel that we had enough of Southeast Asia.  So, we were thinking of going to Shri Lanka, but decided to go to India instead.  Lately we met a lot of travelers who loved India and felt inspired.  Bangkok is the only place in Southeast Asia to request Indian visa.  We had to book our flights to India and reserve a hotel room for the first night before submitting our applications.  Even though the visa cost was higher, and the processing time was longer, the service was fast and efficient.

After submitting our applications for Indian visa, we decided to go to Cha am beach, which is 3 hours away from Bangkok.  We stayed there until we received a notice to pick up our passports.  We picked them up the day before my birthday.  We were hoping to celebrate my birthday with Thai girls we met in Laos on New Year’s Eve.  Also, we heard that our Lithuanian friend was supposed to arrive in Bangkok.  Nobody was available to meet us that day, and we decided to return to Cha am beach until our flight to India.

For the first time during our trip through Southeast Asia, we felt like vacationing.  We had a beautiful room with a bathroom inside, hot shower, TV and fast internet.  Every day after lunch we went to swim in the sea.  Then we would go to a resort by the sea to hang out by the pool until dinner time. 

Now we are ready to explore southern India for a month until we go to Europe.  We already have a flight ticket to Frankfurt on March 19^th of 2014.  The end of our trip is near.    

The flight from Bangkok to Chennai was not without adventure.  Our plane left Don Mueang airport as scheduled.  Half hour later we heard an announcement that due to technical difficulties we have to return to Bangkok to change airplanes.  Passengers clapped after landing.  It was a relief to return safe to the airport after hearing that the plane had technical problems.  We were taken back to the airport by 2 shuttles.  Few minutes later we were boarding a different plane.  This time the flight was with no surprises.  We arrived 3 hours late at 12:30am.  We were glad to learn that our airport pick up from hotel was still waiting for us.  Also, we do not have to check out until 10pm. 

South of Laos

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Socrates

The more we travel in Southeast Asia, the more I want to go to Europe.  As soon as we left Myanmar, we made a decision to go to Europe, instead of going to Malaysia and Indonesia.  We were still planning to go to Cambodia from Laos.  During our last week in Laos, we decided to skip Cambodia and go to Sri Lanka instead, maybe India.  We allowing ourselves to change our minds as often as we feel like it.  Our money is running out, and we want to use it to enjoy our last months of travelling the most.

The closer we got to Cambodia, the more travelers we met arriving from Cambodia.  We heard their stories, and concluded that Cambodia was very similar to Laos.  Changing our minds at the last moment did cause us some trouble.  If we were not going to Cambodia, we had to go to Thailand.  Bangkok is the hub for the cheapest flights to anywhere.  Also, Dangis wanted to visit a dentist there.  And we could enjoy some of the luxuries that are available only in Thailand, and not in the surrounding countries, like coin-laundry machines.  Also, Thai food is tastier, and internet is faster.

First of all, our Laos visa was running out, so we needed to leave the country.  A day before going to Don Det, I caught a cold.  Don Det is one of 4,000 islands in Mekong River, located in the south of Laos.  We could see Cambodian mountains on the other side of the river from our bungalow.  Every stand-alone bush in the river had to be considered an island for the total number of island to add up to 4,000.  Anyway, Don Det was a good place to recuperate.  The whole island seemed to be in relaxed mood with weed being freely available to all its inhabitants.  

We rented ourselves an inexpensive bungalow on the shore of the river, where we got the most beautiful views of the sunset.  We spent most of our days in our hammocks reading, only interrupted by having a need to eat 3 times a day.  We chatted with other travelers while lounging in the restaurants, waiting for food.  A lot of times it took more than an hour for the food to arrive, as all of it was made from scratch, and the cooks were probably high on weed.  Eight days passed like that, and we were ready to leave the island the next day.  That evening I fell and sprained my ankle.  We delayed our leave by a day. 

In the boat across the river, we met a Lithuanian couple from Vilnius, Aide and Romas.  We were also in the same bus to Pakse, except they got off in Champasak.  They were very interesting conversationalists.  We stayed couple days in Pakse before leaving to Ubon in Thailand.  Again, we met our new Lithuanian friends in our guesthouse that day.  We spend all morning together chatting some more, sharing our travelling experiences.  It was a great pleasure.  We said our goodbyes one more time, and left with a bus to Ubon. 

After paying an overtime fee at Lao border (Sunday), we got the exit stamps.  At Thai border we learned that the visa-on-arrival was not available.  We were allowed in the country only to take our bags out of our bus waiting for everybody on Thai side of the border.  We got our Lao exit stamps cancelled before returning to Pakse.  We had 3 more days to leave Laos.  We even managed to get half of our money back for bus tickets to Ubon.   It was already evening.  We decided to spend it with our Lithuanian friends. 

We had 3 options for leaving Laos before our visa expired.  First, we could go to Cambodia, as originally planned.  Second, we could go back north to Savannakhet to receive a Thai visa.  Third, we could go back even further north to Vientiane, where we could receive Thai visa-on-arrival on the border. 

The next morning we left for Savannakhet (second option).  There was just enough time to receive Thai visa on the day our Lao visa expired.  We successfully managed to leave Laos that day, finally.

Once again, we enjoyed the food and the hot shower enormously in the little Thai border town of Mukdahan.

Laos

The Myanmar-Laos land border is not open for tourists.  We had to go to Thailand again before coming to Laos.  We spent a couple of days in Udon Thani.  Thai food tasted more delicious than the last time after 3 weeks in Myanmar.  And we could wash all our dirty clothes using a coin laundry machine.  The little things that make us happy then travelling. 

We crossed a friendship bridge into Laos by bus on Christmas Eve.  We arrived at Vientiane, the capital city.  

A lot of big houses and new cars gave us an impression that Laos is a rich country.  For our first meal we had fresh spring rolls and a rice dish.  To our surprise our food was cold.  As soon as we tasted it, we wanted back to Thailand.  After our first meal, we avoided Lao food.  We ate at the expensive tourist restaurants again.  Since Laos was a French colony some years ago, all the food was served with a baguette.  We ate a lot of pastas, pizzas, salads and fried rice.  The restaurants for local people never seemed appetizing.

The lodging costs less than in Thailand or Myanmar, making Laos the least expensive country to travel so far.  It is also the least impressive.  It is less authentic than Myanmar, but service is worse than in Thailand.  The Lao people are not very friendly nor honest.  It was cheaper for us to purchase a VIP bus ticket from an agency than to purchase a local bus ticket from a bus station directly.  It means that the person in a bus station is not telling us a true price.  Even the official tourist agency representative in Vang Vieng was trying to sell us the map that was supposed to be free. 

We can recognize the soviet opportunistic thinking.  The red soviet flags are still decorating a lot of the houses and businesses.  The local people even managed to close the entrances to the caves and mounts for the night to make sure that nobody enters without paying.  Even the crossing of the bridge is not for free.  It seems that people from the neighborhood set up with their signs in front of the entrances to any places that the tourists might want to visit, not allowing through anyone who does not pay.  These people are called local entrepreneurs in the official Lao guidebook.

Vang Vieng is located north of Vientiane.  It is a small town, full of tourists.  The prices of guesthouses, restaurants and tours are competitive, so it was a cheap place to stay.  We stayed there a full week.  We walked the surrounding areas, visiting one cave.  We walked into a cock fight on a Sunday afternoon by accident.

Since there were no tourists, it was the only place that we did not have to pay an entrance fee.  We watched the preparations of the roosters for the fight, as well as one fight.  The rooster preparations were very serious.  It probably took about an hour, longer than the fight itself.  There was some sewing of the eyelids involved, as well as some cutting and burning the roosters with the wet and hot piece of fabric.  Also, the roosters were forced to inhale smoke. 

The women were busy with the preparation of the food during the cock fight.  Only one local woman came to watch the fight.  The roosters were aggressive in the beginning, but soon were getting tired.  Still, none of them were giving up.  The men were very excited and cheered some times.  The owners of the roosters naturally were the most excited.  We could not tell exactly how the winner was chosen.  Right after the fight ended, the roosters’ wounds were taken care by their owners.  Besides the apparent torture, the owners seemed to really care about their birds.

On New Years Eve, we decided to take a full day kayaking tour down the river.  It involved tubing inside one cave and visiting the other, before the kayaking.  Tubing was exciting, even though it was a little cold inside the dark cave in cold water.  The short walk through the country side was pleasant.  The kayaking itself was fun.  We stopped at the first bar for a beer and some volleyball.  We past the Second bar and the Last bar.  We also passed a lot of people drinking in their tubes.  The river level and the current was low, so tubing was slow.  By the time the tourists got back to town, a lot of them were very drunk.

Our group of kayakers was big and fun.  We agreed to meet later to celebrate New Years together.  After some rest, we met in an Irish bar for some drinks and live music.  Before midnight we moved to an outside bar by the river.  There was plenty of space for the big crowd of tourists.  There were some fires to keep us warm.  The 80’s music was entertaining.  It was fun to meet New Years with a bunch of strangers we have just met that day.

After Vang Vieng, we decided to go to 4,000 islands, which are close to the Cambodia border.  On our way, we stopped at the second biggest city of Laos- Savannakhet.  We arrived there at 10pm on a Saturday night.  The town was already sleeping.  The next day we got to see its French quarter.  It was difficult to see any beauty through dirt and bad shape of the buildings.  The town was ugly with a lot of potential.  Still, the weather was pleasant, and we had a good rest. 

Travelling south by local buses is enjoyable: no air conditioning, and there are windows that open.  We get to listen to local pop music, which sounds like one never-ending old love song.  We did not stop for lunch breaks unlike in Thailand or Myanmar.  Instead, the bus became a little market during short stops with all the people selling prepared foods.  The bus tickets were not available for purchase in advance, and no seats are assigned.  Some people get to sit on a little chairs in between the rows, and others have to stand.  The buses also transport almost anything: live chicken, motorbikes, chairs…  I was wondering why we needed so many conductors on our bus, but they actually load and unload all the stuff besides selling tickets.  There was even one guy riding on the roof of our bus and helping with loading and unloading.            

Myanmar

It has been 3 exciting and exhausting weeks in Myanmar.  The fast paste, the sleepless nights during night bus rides from one place to another, and stomach aches from terrible local food have been draining.  The excitement of going 100 years back (that’s how we felt after arriving in Myanmar) wore off after the first week or so.  We felt always dirty surrounded by dust, taking off shoes to go into the dirty stores or climb the dirty cement stairs to the top of the Mandalay Hill.  We had stomach aches most of the time.  At some point, I stopped eating dinner, and just drinking a glass of juice without added sugar.  I lost more weight than doing a month of yoga in Thailand.  

Yangon had a few better, but overpriced restaurants to offer with small portions.  At the end, we chose to eat at places like that.  The tourism in Myanmar has a lot of room to grow still.  So far, we get a tourist price for everything, making Myanmar an expensive place to visit.  We had to pay a fee to enter Bagan and Inle Lake zones.  We even paid double for city bus.  It would be interesting to see the reaction of some tourist in US having to pay double for the color of their skin.  For example, our Chinese friend managed to get a lower price sometimes.  Even though we were warned to reserve the hotels and guesthouses few days in advance, we managed to find a place to stay without much difficulty having no reservations.

  

The hotel in Mandalay was the most expensive: $25 per night.  The hotel was the best part about Mandalay.  Even though it is the second biggest city, and we stayed in the center, it was dirty and there was nothing to see, besides more pagodas.  We only stayed 2 nights in Mandalay.

We arrived in Kalaw at 2 am.  We did not get much sleep on the bus, and we did not save on the hotel that night.  Kalaw is the base camp for all the trekking to Inle Lake.  Since we did not get much sleep that night, we decided to stay one more night in Kalaw.  We signed up for 3 day trek to Inle Lake.  We were a great group of 6 people: a Finish couple, a French guy and a Chinese girl.  Our group got a 19 year old arrogant and ignorant guide and 2 quiet assistants.  We also had a cook, but somehow our food was always cold.  Our stomachs did not like the food at all.  The views on the first and second day were nice.  

The most exciting part about the trek was meeting people from different tribes on our way.  We even spent the first night in somebody’s house in the village.  The second night we got to sleep in some building of a monastery.  The walls had gaps, the window could not close, and the blankets were too short and falling apart.  Even though I took 3 of those blankets, it took me awhile to fall asleep because I was freezing.  In the morning we were woken up at 6 am by a cook talking to himself and singing, while preparing breakfast in the building next door.  The cold breakfast was not served until 7:30 am, since our guide was nowhere to be found until then.  He was probably sleeping in a warmer building somewhere. Walking the last day was difficult after the terrible night we had.  We were ready to be done with the trek.

I managed to take a little nap during a boat trip to Inle Lake.  I was so tired, and the sun was warm.  We found a nice guesthouse on the lake.  After taking hot showers and eating, we only wanted to rest.  The rest of the time in Inle Lake we spent in a guesthouse, chatting to our French and Chinese friends from our trek.
Once we arrived in Yangon, it took us another 2 days before I felt rested.  Dangis’ body finally could not handle any more stress, and he got sick after our last night bus ride.  We are ready to leave Myanmar.

Bagan, Myanmar

We arrived at Bagan bus station around 5am on a Friday.  A group of men greeted us with offers to take us to a cheap guesthouse for a nominal fee.  There were also a few horses with carriages parked in the station waiting to take us somewhere to see the sunrise.  We decide to walk around on our own looking for a place to stay.

 

There is something magical about early mornings in Myanmar.  The whole neighborhood was awakening still in the dark.  The restaurants were opening for breakfast.  The wood fires were being lit for cooking.  Some locals were going for the morning stroll.  Others were taking tourists to the guesthouses or to see the sunrise.  Some tourists passed us by on bicycles going to meet the sun on their own.

We found a very basic room with cement floors for $15.  Before going to rest after a sleepless night, we went to have a breakfast in one of the restaurants.  We had some samosas, eggs and tea.  The food was good, but the early morning atmosphere was incredible.  By the time we finished breakfast, it got lighter.  The horses with carriages were also hired by locals to take them places.  In the naturally dim light, the place reminded me of the paintings of famous Lithuanian artist M. K. Ciurlionis.

It always takes us a day to recover after a night bus ride, so we decided to take it easy that day.  After a nap and a lunch, I washed our dirty clothes in bucket in the back yard of our guesthouse.  No more coin operated automatic washing machines on the streets.  The local women were also washing clothes by beating them with a stick.  One girl, wrapped in a sheet, was even washing her hair outside.  She was using a cup to rinse her hair with water, while bending over not to wet the sheet.  The everyday life outside of Yangon takes us back in time.  It is much more exciting to see than the thousands of pagodas, which Bagan is famous for. 

The plan for the next day was to rent a bicycle before the sunrise and ride around the town all day.  But since Dangis got food poisoning eating fried been salad for dinner, the plan changed.  Instead Dangis was sleeping all day, and I was reading and writing. 

On Sunday we woke up around 5am ready to explore.  We rode the bicycles to the spot where the sunrise is supposed to be the most beautiful in the area.  We climbed one of the pagodas still in the dark and waited.  A lot of other tourists came also.  It started getting lighter, the sun peaked a little and went into the cloud.  The sky got red.  The view was spectacular.  Many small pagodas were becoming visible with soft lines, then brighter.  The air balloons with people passes us by.  It was the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen.  Soon the guy came selling paintings.

It was time for breakfast.  Dangis was very hungry after not eating a previous day.  The breakfast in our guesthouse was simple, but good.  The service was great.  The little girl came to ask us our preferences for drink and eggs as soon as we sat down.  The other little girl started frying eggs in a pan on ashes right away.

After breakfast we took our bicycles of the tourist path.  For some distances we had to walk our bicycles through the sand.  We passed people’s houses.  Most of them were woven from leaves, some were built from bricks.  The spaces were open.  We could see inside most of people’s houses.  The kids were playing outside by themselves.  It is very dry in Myanmar.  It seems like it is drowning in dust.  Sand everywhere.  So it is surprising to also see a lot of vegetable gardens.

After lunch we just rode our bicycle around town passing its many pagodas.  We were exhausted at the end of the day.  We could spend a month or more trying to see all the pagodas in the area, but one day was enough for us.

On Monday morning we left for Mandalay.  We bought bus tickets from the guesthouse manager the previous day.  The bus stopped to pick us up from the guesthouse on time.  And the manager even came out to make sure we got on the right bus.      

Golden Rock, Myanmar

Golden Rock Kyaiktiyo is situated on a cliff of the mountain located 5 hours away from Yangon.  Golden Rock is a holy place for Buddhists.  Hundreds of pilgrims come to the site every day.  The trucks continuously pick-up people to the top of the mountain.  The 40 minute truck ride was fun.  Dangis called it a roller-coaster without safety.  Once we arrived at the top, there were hundreds of people waiting to go down the mountain.  Some of them surrounded our truck and started climbing aboard before us leaving.  It was a challenge to climb out of the truck through all the people and no steps.  The sea of people moved towards the rock.  Once, we entered the ‘no shoes’ area, some people were lounging on the floor in the shade.  Others were burning candles and praying.  Some men were standing in short line to touch the rock.  Only men are allowed to touch the rock.  Dangis joked that the women would probably push the rock of the cliff, if they were allowed.  Once Dangis got close to the rock, he saw men gluing sheets of gold to the rock. 

After taking some pictures of the rock, we went for a walk around the top of the mountain.  All the paths through the mountain were a market.  Besides souvenirs, the sculls, blood and brains of the animals were sold.  The market reminded a witch market in La Paz, Bolivia.  After a few hours walking through the market, we finally made back to the Golden Rock.  We decided to come back down the mountain the same evening with one of the last trucks, even though the Golden Rock was supposed to be beautifully illuminated at night.  We found a guesthouse in the town.  There were so many people everywhere, but locals did not stay in guesthouses.  We saw some of them sleeping on the floor of the bus station.  I believe there were a lot of camp places like that for the visitors to spend the night.  There were only 3 guesthouses and 1 expensive hotel.  The whole town got quiet after 9 pm to rise at 5:30 am the next morning.  The trucks were sending hundreds of pilgrims to the top of the mountain again.  We had a simple breakfast with a Polish tourist playing a guitar and harmonica at the same time.  The locals were taking pictures of him.  Here in Myanmar, it sometimes feels that locals take as many pictures of us, as we of them.