SUNDAY ESCAPE VOL.26 Rishikesh & Dharamshala India

 

Happy Sunday, my Çuval friend,

It’s been quite a while since my last Sunday Escape Letter and I hope you missed them just like I miss writing them to you.

This volume is about my trip to India two years ago in November for my birthday. I had meant to send it to you back then, but I returned home so sick from traveling that I think I needed to forget the whole experience for a while — almost as if I locked it away in a drawer.

India had always been a place I longed to visit. Yet everyone I spoke to warned me about how challenging it could be — from choosing safe places to stay to being extremely selective about where to eat. That’s why I decided to join a small group tour led by a dancer who designed an itinerary filled with body-movement work, Ayurveda, and massage. We traveled through two very different regions: Rishikesh, a renowned yoga center, and Dharamshala, home to the Tibetan government-in-exile and the Dalai Lama.

Even though all of this sounds wonderful on paper, my trip didn’t turn out as I had imagined. Still, I want to honor the beautiful moments I did experience and share them with you. You will notice that I gave the No. 201 Small Tote a new twist and turned it into a crossbody bag, which made traveling with it easier. 

If you like the model a batch of 5 pieces in this version and in new surprising color will be on the website to purchase for New Year Holliday issue, so stay in touch ;) 

 

RISHIKESH

10 November  Namaste India! 🙏
Arrival to Mumbai then a bus ride to Rishikesh, passing through chaotic traffics to our stay up in the mountains
Weather: Rainy 🌧 - the locals told us in Hindu rain signifies new beginnings and it resonated well with our arrival 
Finally at the top where finally I will be grounded by sleep 

11 November  🧘🏻♀️
Morning meditation and walk around the mountain 
Body Movement Practice 
Workshop from an Ayurvedic doctor 
Shower 
Lunch in town 
Shopping and discovering around 
Night Trip with tuk tuk
Dewali Light Festival  was happening by luck! 
celebration at Ganges where we were washed by light ✨ 

The festival intention is about the destruction of poverty by blessing nature, healing poverty with the abundance of nature’s blessings, bring everybody together and pray for who's suffering

sending my offerings for love to the whole world

12 November 🐍
4:30 woke up with bad dreams. After such a sacred night, it felt as if the darkness had checked in on each of us. 
5:00 Akhanda Yoga Institute, meditation and kundalini yoga class: distracted by my neck pain and wondering if it had some symbolic connection to a past life lived in India and whether my pain was connected to that — maybe someone who carried a snake around his/her neck — At the end of the class, a magnificent statue caught my eye:  it was Lord Shiva, a beautiful figure with a snake around the neck!
6:30 Puja (a fire prayer)
7:00 Lunch with others staying at the ashram
9:00 back at our place, napped in the beautiful garden 
11:00 Dance Circle with group where the instructor asked : ‘Are you a tourist, truly in the moment, or just observing?’ and I realized I had been trying to be all three! Her advice was: ‘Choose one and find your balance.’   I chose to be an observer.
12:00 Lunch with group and 
13:00 Visit to another ashram 
14:00 Shopping around where I bought a cashmere blend blanket and some lovely incense for my house and  as gifts for my friends
17:30  Got a massage session at our place and then had dinner and rest

13 November 🚣🏿♀️
Sun rise at Kunjapuri Temple -  symbolizes feminine energy 
Sleep and rest 
Circle and sharin13 November 🚣🏿♀️
Sun rise at Kunjapuri Temple -  symbolizes feminine energy 
Sleep and rest 
Circle and sharing with the group
Rafting  in Ganges river, what a  beautiful view and ride!
Back to hotel 
Dinner and sleep 

14 November - My birthday! 🎂
Took a shower, packed, and headed to Lakshman Jhula Marketplace
Crossed Janki bridge: a magical moment with eye to eye with a beautiful soul, a sadhu  in a red cloak who smiled at me — it felt like we knew each other 💞 
Bought some gifts for myself : a pretty mustard like yellow shawl embroidered by local artisans after a long chat with the shop owner, found my Shiva and Lakshmi statues in a charming local shop where chatted with the owner again to get what type of rudraksha beads I should get for me and my sister - my favorite moments are connecting to local people!
Group lunch completed with a birthday cake :)
A group picture requested with a family of mostly women - I learned that the locals like to take pictures with  tourists.

DHARAMSHALA

15 - 16 November 🪷
After 13 hr of bus ride arrived at the Thosamling Nunnery at Dharamshala the plan for 2 days:

Breakfast 
Shamata Meditation Lecture 
Morning tea 
Silence / Reading / Writing 
Lunch 
Shamata Meditation Lecture 
Afternoon tea 
A short Himalayan Hike 
Dinner 
Documentary // Q&A 

17 November
Woke up feeling sick :( - virus of a visitor in such cold caught me!
Breakfast & Check out from Nunnery 
Norbulingka Cultural Center Visit : admirable local artwork I must say
Dalai Lama Temple Visit: I shook Dalai Lama's hand wile shivering from fever (with a mask on of course!) 
As there are no Western medication and doctors around I had a visit for  Tibetian monk doctors where they gave herbal remedies which afterwards knocked me out in bed within in a room with no heater- So grateful to have bought that cashmere blanket!

Here is a simple dish offered in Ashram, decorated with different mix of flavors and spices, each tailored to different in Ayurvedic body types to keep the balance in the body. Among them all Indian cuisine I think my favorite part was having Poha for breakfast — a simple rice dish with peanuts.

18 November
Getting worse but I'm taking fever reducer I brought with me it's not working but only the fresh ginger and honey tea that I can find around cafes. 
Had the need to take some air and see some sun
Found a shawl shop whose owner happens to be an art dealer and bought amazing hand painted artworks

19 November
Breakfast & Check out 
Flight from Dharamshala with Indigo Airways
Not doing well and wondering if I should call an ambulance to İstanbul airport 
Took a cab to our hotel near airport and just slept

 

20 November
Thank god my fever dropped and no need for ambulance
Flight back to Istanbul
Home safe but the very next day, found myself hospitalized for pneumonia :( 

While telling you all this, I relived the moment — what chills! Sensations and emotions are temporary, but the memories they leave behind stay with us for a lifetime. And that’s what we call a memorable experience :)❣️

Going back to sweet memories and sceneries.. here are more of my notes:

at the sides of the roads, there are plants that look like huge leafy trees and occasionally  some other trees with white flowers on them that seem to wink at you from passing by and tiny black birds sitting on the ground with yellow cheeks and parrot-like beaks hanging around  just ike our pigeons in Istanbul. 

Everything is so natural, as it should be:  so alive and fearless, intertwined in great harmony and in constant communication like non stop honking in traffic, so effortless, soft and gentle... feels like one big united family. Not a trace for insecurity or pretending, nor for search on keeping a distance from another or putting boundaries across and yet all is far from rudeness; roughness and elegance at the same time.

Shukriya — thank you

I’m happy to share that you can now find all the Sunday Escape Letters under The Journal. Some photos from the original series were sadly lost during a website update (boo!), but all the stories and info are still there. I hope they accompany you well on your travels.

Love

💕

Ayşe