Douja l'Exploratrice: Week 10/ Mangalore-Udupi-Mookambika-Mysore

Today is Monday 23, almost 10 days since my last post. A long week full of emotions, of fun, of teachings, of traveling too.

On Sunday 15, I left Mangalore and I took the bus early in the morning for Udupi, a sacred city located 1Hr30 north. I want to visit the Krishna Temple there. I have been told it's beautiful and it's on my way to Kollur where my friend Rimma lives. First bus Ismail from the hotel stops is the good one and has AC. After a few days in non AC room in tropical city, it's heaven. My backpack is much lighter too, after I sent the 8kg parcel back to Paris with non vital things and new acquisitions. Udupi is a quiet nice city and the temple worth seeing. But apart from that, no good reason to stay longer so I take a second bus for Kollur, 2 hrs north from Udupi. This time, no AC and a fat lady almost sleeps on me. But she's nice and I wake her up each time the bus stop. If you miss your stop, going back counts in hours here. Finally we make it to Mookambika Temple where a rickshaw takes me through incredible dirt roads in the jungle. I ask him twice if he is sure it's the good road, but he does not speak english, he just keeps laughing. I'm getting nervous when he finally stops in front of a house. It's the good house. Our landlord is a priest in the temple. He goes to work on a white scooter wearing ceremony dress. Rimma is there too and the following days with her are so happy and intense that my stay gets longer than expected. We don't miss an opportunity for good laughing and learning new things. Thanks to Rimma, I am introduced to Shiva's devotees rituals and I get to visit the temple several times, at pooja time. The little village is full of pilgrims from everywhere, whose faith and devotion seems relentless, and who flow from a ballet of colorfull buses. Cut flowers are everywhere in the shops for the rituals. Men wear a sort of shawl around the waist, some in bright colours, some in black. Rimma introduce me to yoga teacher and healer Subramanya, who teaches us yoga every morning. Subramanya has a degree in yoga studies which enables him to give consultations. He takes my pulse and prescribes specific asanas (yoga postures) for me along with good advice for a healthier life. He is also a bright young man with whom we like to have long interesting conversations whenever we stop by.

Finally, Rimma has to leave and even if I like the place and the good energy in here, I need to leave too. I'm longing for learning yoga in Mysore. We go to the post office where we can book train tickets. I am on waiting list because all trains are full and I am supposed to share my couch with a stranger. I decide to give it a try. In the worst case, I will be sitting for 12 hours in the train. Train departure is on Friday 20 December, 5PM, from Byndoor. The train is 1 hour late but I am lucky: my booking is confirmed with a new couch number, only for me. In the compartment, I travel with a banker and a hockey champion. After a very cheerful and interesting conversation, we go to bed early because train arrival is 5 am.

Mysore is still sleeping when I arrive, so I decide to have breakfast and take prepaid rickshaw after sunrise. Mandala Yogashala school is easy to find and I have to wait for a while before someone comes. I am lucky, there is one room available just inside the school. I leave my backpack there and I go for a walk and second breakfast with one of the students who just finish morning practice, a french girl with a very peaceful energy. She shares with me a lot of useful information and we spend a great morning talking and walking around. When I am back, I realize that despite the cleaning by the landlord, the room is a meeting point for huge cockroaches and very hungry mosquitos. I lack of time for finding a new room because first yoga practice is soon, and I have to test the course to see if I like it. So I decide to clean the room again, use my mosquito net and spread a whole bottle of insect repellent in the room. It works. The Ashtanga yoga course with Chidananda is great. I like the fact that every student can follow his own rythm pursuant to his level. The teacher corrects your posture when necessary and provide concise and efficient advice. He adapts to each level and spends time welcoming beginners. Sunday is day off which is perfect after first day on a month training. Bought a lot of home things, like a water heater for tulsi and tea and real dishes (not plastic as you find a lot here). Tunics (kurtas) again too... I already know the parcel i will send home at the end of my month in Mysore will be 15kg at least. I made new friends, an Iranian and a vietnamese girl. It's nice to bond with girls after mainly male new friends. Today, I had such a great day. First lesson of pranayama with a great teacher, BNS Lyengar, who found the words to explain to me the rudiments of pranayama as a way of communication between our common soul and the supersoul, where we come from. So I will have daily classes of pranayama (breathing technique as a way for realization) and asanas (yoga postures). In addition, I found a hindi teacher to help me with my books and the boys in the kitchen can give me cooking lessons. I can also have south indian dance lessons...Oh my! What's a month? I am decided to make the best of it. I want to set my pranayama and yoga daily routines to be able to practice alone anywhere anytime after leaving Mysore. I want to learn how to cook chapatis, aloo parathas, dal fry, idli, wadas and masala dosas. And i want to be able to articulate simple sentences in hindi. That's ambitious but I have all I need here. Let's see where it takes me by end of January.

Udupi - Krishna Temple