I’ve just spent 6 weeks of high-speed, low speed journeying across the north of India. India, the land of the big full-on. It can’t be closer to the truth that travelling in India is packed complete with big highs and big lows. I can hardly remember a time in my life when I completely lost the plot but yes India will push you to the limits and test even the most presumptively balanced and calm temperament.

I began with a ten day silent Buddhist meditation retreat in a Tibetan colony in the Himalayas near Dharamsala. Ten days opportunity to immerse deeply in my practice of shamatha, calm abiding practice. So lucky! So lucky to get the time and space to sit, to sit, to sit. Not all easy but practice makes perfect. The sweetness of the quietness cultivated. A rich opening was mine.

And then boom!! You’re back out on the streets, or on the trains to be exact. A 10hrs overnight sleeper carriage back to Delhi, crowded railway stations, a never ending trail of food sellers wandering through the carriage, and my favourite – to stand by the open door (a little dangerous) and be blasted by the hot pungent air as you whizz through cities and villages old and new.
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Then off to hike in the far east of India, a less travelled state called Meghalaya. Waterfalls to rival any nation. The highlight to trek 3hrs steep down into a canyon to see a village it seemed no foreigners had ever been to (judging by how we got looked at by the villagers). The day was misty and moody, the hike back out of the canyon steep and sweaty! At the top, chai! the Indian staple; each cup is 100mls of strong, milky tea with minimum 2-3 teaspoons of sugar served in a miniature earthen cup, sweet and sweet.

The highlight of the trip then 2 weeks renting a house in the middle of the immaculate tea plantations in Darjeeling, wedged high in the mountains between Nepal and Bhutan. Two weeks of routine: 8am – 1pm spent doing meditation practice and retreat planning, and then 2pm taking to the trails (2 options – steep up or steep down). I had my own kitchen and learnt the mastery of chapati making (Indian basic flatbread). Each night spent sitting on the balcony with candles and tunes, my mind and heart open to the vastness of the ancient mountains and the spirituality of this great land.
Thank you India.
​​​​​​​I’ll be back.
​​​​​​​Susan