cookienight at woodstock, last blogpost from india

I have a lof mixed feelings about leaving India and not to mention woodstock. I'm ready to go home and looking forward to see my friends and family again, at the same time I'm very sad to leave the people that has become a great part of me and inspired me so much. The energy has been very different after we came back this time, first of all a lot of good people left, many amazing souls with unique energy, this obviously changes things and I didnt expect it to be the same, I knew this, but it was more to it then this. The energy had become a bit dark and a lot of strange people had started to hang out at woodstock and bad things were happening. However we realised this together, opened up our eyes and did something about it. The strange people are gone, we jammed a lot tonight, some of us cried, I made cookies and we created shantiness. The good energy is back as it us that creates it. This also made me realise even though woodstock the place has given me a lot, it is not even half of the amount of what the people I have met has given me. So maybe I won't go back here, maybe I will, maybe I rather go somewhere to meet these people again wherever they are in the world, if I do or I don't I'll have their energies with me anyway. Because like Alex told me today happiness you can create anywhere, the only important thing is just to keep in touch with reality at the same time and don't close our eyes. These 3 months have been amazing, I've become more spiritual, I've become more free and yes I have probably found a little hippie side in me, but I'm still me, I'm still Maja who loves the materialistic world as well. But with nice words from the great Osho, we can have the best of the western and eastern world. We can create a nice place to live in Babylon, in the materialistic world and we can keep the spirituality in us and meditate whenever we want to, we can have the best out of both. We should learn from each other and by this we become more balanced. We create our own paths and way to live. I love India and I will always keep the love and shantiness in me from this trip.
I bought presents for friends and family today so all I have to do tommorow is to pack (I'm not even sure how I am going to bring everything home) and to enjoy my last 24hours in India for now. Thank you India and to everyone that I was lucky enough to meet on this trip you have all inspired me in different ways :)

More Risikesh and my new mantra

After a lot of moving it has been very nice to have some days in Lax Manjuhla without having to put on the heavy backpacks and drag them around for hours to find a place to stay. The other day Johanna and I decided to take Kiyo for a day and give Ivo a break so he could get some rest from us girls. We went for a long walk, spent some time by the river, talked to the monkeys, bought some more OSHO books, had a nice lunch, very shanti and Kiyo was really at her best behaviour ever. My body is acing a lot thou, my mind is full power but my body is telling me to slow down a little bit and have some rest so when we come back to Goa tomo I'm booking a massage. We have been very active and walking a lot the last weeks. Yesterday we went for yet another adventure to the waterfalls, it was a long up hill walk and it was very hot so Johanna, Kiyo and me made it only half way to the small waterfall whilst Ivo, Indie and Sasha made it to the top to the big waterfall. The surroundings were beautiful thou, lots of wild creatures and listening to the waterfall is one of the most soothing sounds for the mind. We also reunited with Alex (Kiyo's mum) which was nice, she is also coming back to Woodstock so we'll be all together one last time :) I actually can't wait to go back, its gonna be very hot and tiring but all so worth it, we started of in Woodstock and ending it there and I honestly couldn't think of a better way to leave India, from the place I love the most and has inspired a whole new mantra for me. You choose everything yourself, you choose your own path and I choose love, shantiness and letting go of deep painful thoughts. I choose to be happy and this I'm taking home with me (kg free very good!)

varanasi-delhi-haridwar-riskikesh

Thursday evening we got on the train to Delhi that turned out to be 4 hours delayed, we couldn't get on next train to Haridwar as it was full, the bus would take hours and it was already starting to get dark at this point so we went for the option taxi. After spending 2 hours getting out of Delhi and another 5 hours later we arrived Haridwar 2 in the morning at this shitty noisy expensive hotel which we spent one night as deciding the next day Riskesh would be more worthwhile and more shanti. What we didnt think of was how hard it would to find a guesthouse as it is kumba mela (worlds biggest religious gathering) and there is loads of people everywhere (including lots of funny looking baba's) and everything was fully booked so after hours of walking and spending the last two nights swapping hotels we finally settled down in a nice guest house in the outskirts of Risikesh in a place called Laks Majula. All of us have to share a room tonight, but its big with a balcony, roof top and great view over the river and besides its always fun to be all together now (like Stav would say it). So far I like Risikesh, it has more nature consisting by nature and waterfalls, but I have to admit my body is getting very tired and starting to notice 3 months of traveling so its very nice that we don't have to move until thursday again. However my new mantra is to be more positive and open to life and others so I only see the positiveness in my pain, it has been some of the best months in my life!

crazy day in varanasi

I started of the day with a lovely sunny morning sitting on my balcony observing a big monkey family jumping and climbing on the roof tops, one of them even sat on my balcony for a while and another one walked through my room, couldn't have a nicer shanti morning. After breakfast by the river with ivo, kiyo and johanna with decided to go out for an adventure with Indie and Sasha to a village a bit outside Varanasi. We got there by horse and carriage and walked for hours (the entire day) around this village, talking to people and playing with the children. They were very strange looking people and looked very unsymmetrical, some had narrowed eyes, some very big mouths, some with very small noses, so strange but very beautiful in their own way and so excited and full of joy. We also walked passed a small ashram were they very old baba's telling crazy stories and showing off their skills by lifting heavy stones, they also showed us some very old indian coins that are worth lots of moneys. After walking around the whole day we decided to take a boat back which was gave us a new sight of Varanasi looking from the river, lots of old buildings, towers, people washing their clothing, going for a swim and it was beautiful sunset light. Very nice boat ride until we passed a ceremony of burning corps and we saw a little dead child floating in the river. Varanasi is known for this, people come here to die and they burn the bodies, but not the children, they get drowned but this one had come up to the surface again. It was an awful sight but at the same time its so normal in Varanasi so its hard to realise and know how react to it. After a long day with lots of emotional moments (good ones and sad ones), we sat on the rooftop of our guesthouse and I was having I miss woodstock moment and out of nowhere a group of people came up the stairs with instruments asking if it was ok for them to jam a little bit. Within seconds I almost felt like I was back in woodstock again, very nice :) this also made me decide to go back (yes I'm going back to arambol again) so we changed our flights and coming home to woodstock with ivo and kiyo on friday for our last few days before going back to Norway. I'm very excited and so happy to be able to spend some more days there!

Ivo and Kiyo are safe and sound with us, they showed up about 5 min after I came back to the guesthouse the last time I wrote on the blog. So what happened was that we were at 2 different train stations so no wonder we couldn't find each other but its all good now! I love Varanasi, this town is very special and different from the other places we have been, its very dirty and polluted, but yet unique and beautiful! The little streets have lots of little shops, cafe's and markets and not to mention shops were they sell bang lassies, weed, special cookies and chocolate balls all legal supported by the government, very strange! But everything is possible in India!

I really like our guest house to, the people that work there are grumpy but they have a very cute puppy and the layout of the house is very cool. It has about 4 floors, we live on the top floor and have a balcony with a view over the river and the town were I sit in the evenings with lighted candles and incense and read in my Osho book. Osho is a guru which I have become very fond of and has inspired me to think in new ways. His ground belief is to live in the moment, not dwelling on the past and not to think to much about the future, but live in the present. And what I have said before you don't find happiness, you create everything on your own!

Back to explaining the guesthouse we also have a huge roof top with a great view where we chill out in the evenings or in the mornings, yesterday we bought lots of fresh fruit, some musli and curd and made our own breakfast as we looked over the river :)Tonight we are going to explore the night life of Varanasi and have a look at their evening ceremony where they pray to their gods and have a wonder around the markets!

Varanasi after some very emotional 24 hours

wow the last 24 hours have been very emotional! we left woodstock yesterday (this time for good I think at least for this trip) which was as always very sad filled with tears. I already miss the butterfly Teryn, mummy and daddy at woodstock: Liav and Ofra and the rest of the few that are still there. But it was some great weeks and lots of good memories and I'm sure we'll meet again sometime! Anyways we got on the plane to Mumbai and from Mumbai to Delhi where we were suppose to meet Ivo and Kiyo at the train station to go to Varanasi. Not as easy as we thought it would be, Ivo's phone is broken, the train station consists of 19 platforms and is massive and he had the tickets, but we couldn't find him anywhere, we even tried to announce hes name on the speakers, but no Ivo and Kiyo. We asked so many people (including information desk) what train, when and from where it leaves but we only got about 10 different stories in return: there is no train to varanasi, its platform 9, it leaves at 11, it leaves at 10, you can only go close to varansi, you have to change the train etc etc. So being very frustrated and almost in tears we found the train and decided to jump on it hoping for Ivo to be on it (as he had the tickets). We searched the entire train and it took us 2,5 hours from when we got on the train to get seats, we had to pay more for not having tickets and still no Ivo. 12 hours later we arrived Varanasi and got surrounded within seconds by lots of Indians shouting rickshaw taxi cheap price! After some arguing we made a good deal and finally arrived at our lovely guest house where Indie was waiting for us. As soon as we saw him both Johanna and I burst into tears out of joy and sadness at the same time. It was so nice to see him again and we've been walking around in beautiful Varansi together all day. So far I love it, lots of little streets that looks like a maze, little cafes and chilling by the river. Its so shanti here, but at the same time you can go up to the main streets if you want to feel the noisy indian vibe. An Spanish guy we met on the train said that India is filled of love and hate, you love it you hate it, you love it, you hate it all the time over and over again and this fits exactly of how I feel about India too :)

Back to Ivo thou, we have emailed him and hoping for him to show up so hopefully very soon we'll see him again!

There is only good :)

Its been very emotional and sad the last few days as there has been a lot of people leaving woodstock and the vibe is changing, end of the season. First it was the dutch boys, then alex,then dan and then Naor which was the worst emotional goodbye ever. Naor is a very special soul that everybody loves deeply, he sends out a lot og laughters and good energy. And he has some wise words to, he told me this before he left: remember there is only good! Even thou it was extremly sad to say bye we will always look back at the good memories from woodstock. Woodstock and the people I've met there has really opened me up in new ways and I have never felt some much love at ones and so peaceful. It has been a great adventure but now its time to leave up north and enjoy our last 3 weeks. We're meeting Indie again in Varanasi which both Johanna and I are very excited about! I really hope I'll come back to Arambol again maybe even next season, this has definatly given me the want to experience more of.

The last week has been very good and we have just been chilling out and making the most out of the time we had left here. Spent time at the beach, done some shopping, nice siestas and hanging out at woodstock, couldn't be better to say bye than this way :)