Aquaserene Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)

Hello everyone, hope to find you all well.

So 5 days in the Ashram, its been a lot of fun I must say. I have met loads of great people. Everyone is quite relaxed and open for a chat. Been getting some beatings in the Yoga classes but all good. Actually enjoying it! think Im staying a couple more days and I might start making my way up to Goa.

Ashram schedule:

5:20am Wake up ...

“Look, for the tenth time, it’s pronounced ‘a-NAL-rap-ist’ “
-Tobias Funke, Analysis-Therapist


Book Review: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrarri
Robin Sharma
bought in Mumbai in scramble to find any English language reading material before yoga retreat

There's a great episode of South Park where a huckster opens up a New Age store and starts ...

... of the ashram was going to be a challenge for us. In fact the rules were fairly relaxed and the middle of the road was a good place to be or least to visit for awhile. Most of our clothes are loud and coloured or black because white doesn't go so well when you are on the road living out of a backpack for years. In fact i bought a crispy white 'New World Order' logo shirt from the boutique only to have Nads accidentally tie-dye it with the blacks on the very ...

Expecting the unexpected and not really knowing where the next few days would lead us, we arrived at Amma's Ashram in Amritapuri. As we walked through the main gate, we were greeted by men and women in white robes, of all ages and nationalities. We were booked in by a young man who peered at us through his glasses and held an almost constant smile. He referred to Amma as the Divine mother and seemed to hold her in high esteem. This ...

... level with a bump, the heat and humidity really hammered us. We came round a corner at about the 25km mark and suddenly it was like putting your head in a hot oven, it was that immediate. After spending a very uneventful night in our 200rp room in Kanjirapalli we were up with the lark and away by 7am, arriving at the ferry terminal in Kottayam at 10am. The Kerala Backwaters are a bit of a must if you come to Kerala, although, we weren't ...

... head and neck, these were all over the place. Got talking to some of the passangers about this and that, they were all surprised to hear that I had procured accomodation that only cost 175rs (cheapest thus far), and tittered politley at my sandals that have a pair of cannilbalised pants gaffa taped to the back of them to stop the material digging in and crippiling me. Two ladies widened their eyes slightly with fear when I informed them that I was on no ...

... the day before we arrived in Neyyardam. There is a very real fear in South India that Christian Missionaries are entering in the guise of charity workers and preaching the Christian gospel; indeed there have been very unpleasant incidents involving missionaries. One was burned alive with his children in a car a couple of years ago and another had his hand cut off. BGM is not apparently a religious charity but Wilson and his wife are greatly involved in the work of their respective ...

... of the translation, or just lost interest I did not know. But I could not imagine leaving when a great film director is conducting the opening session of an international film festival! That's India too. Nothing personal, I'm just bored now.. I was anything but.. I hadn't heard of Litten, but was determined to see his most recent film - which I did yesterday. It's called Last Moon and it's filmed in Palestine. His grandparents were Palestinian. It ...

... one of his boats. He was a smooth talker and a very good salesman but we both warmed to him as he took us through the general itinerary. We decided to depart the following morning at eleven, returning at ten the morning after. He would also arrange for a few beers to be plonked in the onboard icebox so we'd have something to sup as we pootled along the river. We were picked up and taken to the houseboat by rickshaw and certainly weren't disappointed. My only experience of overnight ...

... drums, horns and flutes the one elephant group would switch their "parasol" (haveing about 30-40 different ones) and perform a small show. Then the other group would counter by picking up a prettier "parasol" and doing a better show. and so it would continiue for 1 1/2 hour. Early next morning I left Kollam by train and made my way back to Kotagiri. It was during this train trip where I was looking through my pictures that the memorycard suddenly stopped working :(