There is a lot I could say about my trip to India, but to be honest there is little I feel like saying.
I would've liked to say it was the trip of my dreams, but things rarely work out as planned and this was just one of those really challenging and hard trips. Both emotionally and physically. Emotionally, you can perhaps work out yourself what happens when someone decides to travel with an ex-boyfriend for three weeks. Things we're not what they used to be, let's leave it at that. Physically, well, I'm sure you've heard at least one crazy story from someone who's been traveling in India. It's just as chaotic, vibrant, terrifying and lovely as you could imagine.
However, as we arrived in the Himalayas, I was suddenly struck with calmness and felt grounded for the first time during the trip. The chaos was replaced by pine tree forests, snowy mountains and water rippling down the wide streams. We stayed in a little hostel called The Lost Tribe, in a tiny village just outside of Manali. The kind of village where time seems to stand still, where the locals sit outside their warn down houses, drinking chai, gazing and smiling at you with a nod as you walk down the street, pass the little food shops where they sell Momos (Indian dumplings) for only a penny or two. I would without doubt say that these people are some of the few worldly representatives of pure kindness and simplicity.
At the end of the trip, we did a three day trek up the Hampta Pass, where we reached over 4600 meters above sea level. Such a powerful, challenging and rewarding experience. While being up there, I wished to myself that I could've just paused time and stayed there for a bit longer. Surrounded by hilltops covered in snow and green grass, wild horses with their long manes blowing in the wind, an eagle soaring in the sky as the ruler of the mountains. So much to take in. If you haven't had a spiritual awakening yet, a place like this would probably do the job.
LOU