Love of Life (@ExplorerPri)

[explorerpri]

I have been very irregular with writing this year (alas!), so this gives me so much joy to finally get down to writing this post about the magical, tucked away place that is Pt. Reyes.

I had booked my 5 year old, my mom and me in a private room at the beautiful Pt Reyes HI Hostel in the middle of the national park, surrounded by woods, mountains, beaches and hiking trails. I was excited for this trip, had heard from friends it was a beautiful place to visit, and I always end up going south, so this would be a nice change to go further north of San Francisco, and finally check out Marin county and the quiet life there. I also love cheese so was excited to try the wonderful fresh food and cheese in this area.

We were at a good friend’s house on Friday night, and when I told them I was planning to drive out to Pt Reyes, my friend and her husband started talking all about the winding roads to get there, and the fact that there was no signal for miles and miles, and on their way back even the husband was a little scared driving on a snake-like curvy part of Highway 1, especially with no car ahead of him or behind, and the fear that you could easily be stranded with no signal, a broken car and a little child. All this said, I was getting a little worried with the driving. My friend then realized they have their GPS and they could just lend it to me for the weekend. Well, let me just say what a blessing it was to have the GPS because as much as I love new technology, I wanted a way to get there and back safely with a kid and a nana in tow 😉

We left Saturday morning around 9:30. Once we reached the city and started driving further up north, it was crazy foggy. For a moment I wondered if the whole road would be that way and even considered turning back. But, after all the excitement for Neil for this trip of going to the beach and short hike in the woods, of course, I had to trudge on through the fog 🙂 After less than an hour of driving the fog did clear up finally and it was an easy drive after that; we reached in just under 2 hours. Here are some shots from along the way – the fog ‘before’ and the blue skies ‘after’ :

We reached Pt. Reyes Station right around 11:45, and parked in the cute little ‘downtown’ with a number of restaurants and shops. We had eggs and toast and soup for lunch, with ketchup of course ;), before heading on forward to the beaches and the bay:

Next we headed to the visitor center in Pt. Reyes which has some really cool real fossils, a long binocular which Neil had a lot of fun with, and also some interesting displays and facts about all the different animals and birds you might see in the Pt. Reyes National Seashore area. We had fun posing with the deer, rabbits and owls 🙂

Hanging out in the binocular alley!

Neil@the binoculars

With Nana and the deet

Cuddles with mom

And here are some memories of the fun we had holding the fossils including elk horns and a whale head 🙂

After all the learning at the visitor center we headed out towards the bay, since the guides at the visitor center mentioned the waves on the oceanside or the west side of the coastline were way too dangerous for kids, and even for adults there were incidents of these “sneaker waves” that would suddenly engulf you. I wanted to relax and enjoy without worrying about these scary waves, so we drove on to one of the cute little bay beaches – I think it was Chicken Ranch Beach, close to shell beach, which turned out to be a fantastic idea since the water was warm (yes, warm; if you are from the bay area, you know how rare this is!), shallow and perfect for swimming or just hanging out in!

We had our little green beach tent which is the best thing I ever bought online, and although I bought it at the end of last summer, it has been used many times this summer 🙂 Here is a shot of Neil and Nana hanging out in the tent while I took a few minutes to enjoy the water to myself:

We played american football (with our little soft football!) and frisbee, which I am awful at, although Neil more than makes up for my lack of skill 😉 The point is, we still had a ton of fun at this little peaceful, warm bay beach with barely any crowds, and just a few people a few fun dogs enjoying the water 🙂

It was 5 pm before we knew it, and we started to walk back to the car. Neil and I took the long road to stop by the kayaking place to ask them the age and weight limits, which we learned to our dismay that Neil was not yet heave or old enough for. But, I’ve promised to bring him back in about 2 years to Kayak out here once he’s ready and also once we’re both better swimmers 🙂 We headed to this nice little restaurant by the bay just to dry ourselves up a bit, change clothes and freshen up before we went for dinner. On the way, to our surprise, we got to see a seal taking a nap by the water!

The lovely bay

Walking back after a beach day 🙂

Yes, Wonderwoman I am!

The seal taking a nap

The seal taking a nap

Yes, Wonderwoman I am!

Walking back after a beach day 🙂

The lovely bay

We ended up eating at this local seafood place very close by from Chicken Ranch Beach, called Saltwater Oyster Depot which turned out to be a fabulous choice with great Italian food options (since I don’t eat oysters/seafood unfortunately, even though I eat fish). We went with the Gnocchi and it was melt in the mouth good, especially given how picky I am about Gnocchi 🙂 Neil was tired and cranky by this time however, hence I had to do the honors and feed him his dinner super quickly and also eat mine right after and gulp my wine down 🙂 And yet, would highly recommend the place and was a really good meal, although, albeit, with slow service.

Yummy Gnocchi

A tired but happy me at the end of the beach day

After dinner, we drove out to our hostel which was about 15-20 minutes away and into the woods. It was raining by the time we reached although not heavily. I checked in at the desk, got our keys, and then carried a sleeping, tired Neil to the room and the bunk bed. My mom stayed with Neil while I went back to the car and carried all our luggage back to the room. The room was comfortable with two sets of bunk beds. Neil and I took the lower bunk which was wider, and mom took the other twin-size lower bunk.  There was a window that overlooked the lush green towering mountain up above, as if beckoning you to step outside and come conquer it 🙂 A restroom was right outside our room door, and shared only with one other family in the other family room, which was very convenient. I went for a short walk as it started to get dark, before going to bed:

I woke up early the next morning, and so did Neil. I was excited to show him the large, spacious, beautiful eat in communal kitchen with a dining table and cozy couches, and also a beautiful wooden patios facing the mountains. Breakfast with a view, there we had it, in the serenity of the woods and only at the very affordable rate of $65/night.

And, there is something to be said about a “no signal” weekend. It was bliss. Happiness. A joy impossible to describe in words. No reminders about to-do-lists, no people telling you that you forgot yet another thing on that never ending to-do list (yes, that’s me, #singlemomlife :-)), and no questions or ideas or thoughts shared with others, even friends. Just a fully dedicated time for yourself. We prepared some toast, and had some yogurt, tea, milk, fruits and other things to eat. Here’s my adorable little tea drinker who never eats a ton of breakfast but will never refuse a small cup of tea 😉

We also had a kinder egg surprise to open from the day before, which turned out to be a tiny little skateboard. And, a shot of the cool artwork which displayed the footprints of various animals seen in the Pt. Reyes area:

After the breakfast, we spent some time playing with board games that someone else had brought in but generously shared and allowed us to play with for a while. Finally, when the hostel manager/volunteer was almost getting mad at us and another family for staying in the kitchen too late (since they were about to close it for cleaning), we wrapped up and went back to our room to get our stuff together and check out.

We headed to this beach called the Limantour beach to checkout the west side of the coastline from afar. It was still a bit chilly and foggy but we made the walk out to the beach and let Neil play in the sand for a few minutes before heading back to the car to drive to the lighthouse.

There were some people riding horses on the beach even in this fog and cold, and in the sand we found some coal left over from people who were perhaps trying to create fires the night before.

Finally, we headed to the lighthouse, which was a windy, gorgeous 11 mile drive through the country hills within the national park, which got us to a beautiful, majectic view of the entire coastline, hurray!

The beauty of the california coast is it is full of surprises, especially if you’ve come to live here from other parts of the country or the world – there are pine trees right next to cypress trees by the coastline, there’s oak and fruit trees, there’s marshlands, and blue skies, there’s dry ground, and red rock, creating a picturesque portrait of contrasting, maginificent, unexpected colors, as if painted by the creator herself (no, I will not use the male gender for God, just because ;)). The photo below of my mom and my little boy walking up to the lighthouse is one of my favorites on this trip.

There was this beautiful brown rock as we headed closer to the lighthouse which reminded me of the photos of canyons in the midwest (which I have yet to visit), so we decided to capture the moment with some shots:

As we got closer to the lighthouse steps, we heard the people climbing up say it was a bit tiring and especially for a 5 year old it might be a little hard to climb the 301 steps down and back up. My mom and I told Neil that he didn’t have to walk all the way down if he was tired, but my strong little guy insisted on going all the way down to see and touch the lighthouse and then climb back up (and boy, did he stick to his word without a grime or complaint about the climbing!! ) 🙂

As we climbed down, we saw this beautiful algae which grows on the rocks and gives them this beautiful red color. We were told that there was always crazy wind and fog on this path and we were so incredibly lucky to have gotten a day like this where we could see the blue ocean waters and the lighthouse as we headed down.

After we got down to the lighthouse, we stood inside the lighthouse and the range explained all about how this was one of the oldest lighthouses in America and one of the families who worked there had lived there for 23 years! He told us also about the mechanics of the lighthouse and how it worked, how they kept the light burning many years ago with thousands of tons of coal being hauled to the site, and other interesting facts. Neil listened intently until the ranger was done talking and really seemed to be learning and soaking in the experience 🙂

Finally, we started to hike back up and finally we reached the giftshop  where we bought a mug for Nana which she had loved at the visitor center but didn’t end up buying. We decided it would be our secret surprise for her and I’m sure that would make her happy. There was a donation or tip box for the rangers as we exited the gift shop, and here is what Neil said to me “Mom, can we please put some cash in here like 10 dollars? Because the ranger worked so hard and talked a lot to tell us about the lighthouse, and what if he wanted to buy some water and some juice because his throat was so dry.” I was so touched by his kindness than I emptied all the change I had left into the tip box which made Neil very happy and satisfied 🙂

Isn’t it interesting how we as parents or adults always think we can teach children so many things, while, on the contrary there is just so much that we can learn from children so much? I think this is the most misunderstood thing in parenting.

For example, think about relationships and a petty argument in a relationship, a 5-year old would say sorry together on the count of 3 (that’s what we do, if we think we are both at fault), or I say sorry 100 times (super fast, yes, I’ve mastered this!) if it was my fault, and he says sorry once if it was his fault. These are the rules – sorry, and a hug, and a commitment to avoiding or not doing that thing again. We are then laughing, loving, playing and giggling again. Not complicated, is it? And yet, for adult relationships, be it with a romantic relationship or an adult parent-child relationship or even adult friendships, we struggle to communicate, to let it go, to love. If it were up to me, I would hire a 5 year old as a relationship coach in a day.

Life is joyous, wonderful, not complicated, and afterall, as my guru would say, a gift! Let’s just start seeing life from a child’s eyes, and I promise our experience of life will be so much more richer and fulfilling.

On that thought, I hope you enjoyed reading this post about Pt. Reyes, and please reach out via email with thoughts and comments, or if you need ideas on hikes or what to do in Pt. Reyes!

Mahalo,

Pri.

Pt Reyes – A warm beach, a hostel in the woods, and a 100 year old lighthouse I have been very irregular with writing this year (alas!), so this gives me so much joy to finally get down to writing this post about the magical, tucked away place that is Pt.

[explorerpri]

This April I flew to Long Beach, CA for a spiritual weekend with Sadhguru. I had been interested to go to one of his events, especially the one where he teaches you a life changing meditative technique, aptly called ‘Inner Engineering‘; but never quite had the ‘nudge’ to actually book my tickets and go. I am a skeptic after all, and India has a long standing history of pretend gurus who turn out to be sexual predators at their worst and unwise phonies at their best.

Here’s a photo that oddly enough I took in the taxi heading to the SJC airport on a Saturday morning in April (I think I was too sleepy and played dress up and took these photos to wake myself up (yes, I guess I am a bit weird ha ha ;):

  There is something different about Sadhguru. He hardly ever talks about God, and he doesn’t talk about religion at all (although I am quite sure he is Hindu). He takes up environmental initiatives, such as Rally for Rivers, a program to clean river pollution in some of the largest rivers of India, or the #beatplasticpollution initiative, which seeks to spread awareness globally about plastic pollution and for all of us to do our part in using one less piece of plastic in our daily lives, and to always recycle. (And, given my own passion for environmental initiatives, if you are reading this, can you vow to stop using one plastic thing that you use regularly – e.g. straws, plastic milk cans, bottled water bottles?)

Sadhguru talks about how peace is a low goal, let us aim for tremendous joy. He is urging young people to ‘change the world’. He’s had his own family, life and wife, and a very full, enlightened one at that. He is very well educated and intelligent. He is also cool in a way that only one other person is cool – Barack Obama. He’s an excellent speaker, has the magical, soothing voice, he’s naturally funny and will even crack slightly inappropriate jokes in the most spiritual of settings, and most of all, there is something genuine and happy about him, that makes you believe he know’s exactly what he is talking about.

Of course, the fact that he is an avid motorcycle enthusiast and has led cross country motorcycle trips across India in his younger days before he became spiritually enlightened, and knows all the parts inside a motorcyle and can fix one in his sleep, just adds to the cool factor 🙂 He is also empathetic to the point of feeling the emotions of the audience and crying with them, laughing and dancing with them.

Back to my trip and what we did, my cousin who lives in Mexico had booked our tickets as a group; for her, me, and my aunt and uncle to go together. It could be a spiritual experience and a family reunion all rolled into one, we figured.

I got to my gate at San Jose International Airport, waiting for boarding, and looked around. One guy caught my eye. He was pretty, with blue eyes, a nice smile, the cap turned back, and laid back in a way that confirmed he was from SoCal. We get in the plane, and I am in the front row, middle seat, a bit annoyed at myself for not checking in the flight the night before and picking my seat. Then, turns out, Mr. SoCal has the seat next to me ha ha 🙂 Turned out he was a young technician at Tesla, who lived in LA but was visiting the Tesla factory/facility in the bay area. Needless to say, the flight was spent talking about cars, and also discussing the SpaceX rocket launch and high efficiency landing, so unlike traditional NASA rocket landings.

The car ride to the airbnb apartment complex was not long. It was great to see my cousin and my aunt and uncle, who still looked tired from their journey from India just 2 days ago. On Saturday morning, we managed to squeeze in a wonderful brunch (who does not love a yummy avocado toast!) before heading to the Long Beach Convention Center.

The brunch place took a while and so we were actually running to the venue and get through the doors to make it there on time or at least sort of on time. It was a slow start. Mostly asanas. I looked around – the hall was packed with over 3000 people, including Indians, African Americans, Caucasians, South Americans, you name it. The diversity was pretty mind boggling and inspiring. And then in the afternoon we finally got to see/meet Sadhguru himself! It was totally unexpected how fast the time went by when he talked; it was like sitting in the local sunnyvale comedy club with a really great comedian, teaching life lessons through his perfectly punch-lined jokes, and replace the drinks in the comedy club with Yoga and a meditative presence 😉

Then, the serious meditation and breathing technique started. We were made to practice it many times, with Sadhguru, with other instructors, while volunteers walked around to help and correct us. It is a 21 minute practice which is to be practiced twice a day for 40 days, the idea I think is if you do anything for 40 days it becomes a habit.

  I had always seen pictures and videos of people who meditated with their Guru or just experienced the presence of a Guru and had a life-transforming moment, where they were suddenly trembling with joy or fear or awe, or had tears streaming down their cheeks for no good reason. I always thought such a transformative experience might be quite wonderful however I very much doubted that I would ever have such an experience in my life. Well, 21 minutes into the Shambhavi Kriya (this is the yoga, breathing and meditation technique I was referencing earlier), and when we were finally asked to open our eyes I could already hear my cousin sobbing in front of me (I couldn’t see her since I was sitting behind her), and before I knew it I had tears down my eyes, and my cousin and I just hugged and cried for a while.

  After the upheaval, I had an epiphany. A thought emerged – What if you let go of all this shit that happened in your life – the cheating, the lies, the pretense, the lack of love, and the divorce which means your child does not get to experience the harmony of a loving joint household? What if you believe, that your son was given to you as a magnificent gift from God in a similar way that the “Devi-s” in ancient Hindu scriptures were gifted a child from the Gods, and literally would find the baby at the bank of a river, and would take him home with love and joy to raise him? What if you just found this beautiful, wonderful baby boy at the bank of a river yesterday, and he was given to you to raise – would you then have any sadness, fear, or regrets? All you would have, is gratitude and joy.

One voice spoke to me, loud and clear – and it said, simply, – your life begins today. Start here. Right now. With what you got. Know that you definitely, and certainly deserve better. Believe in your future, as a woman, and as a family. As Sadhguru said, why would you assume that your future will be the same as your past? This is the most stupid mistake an intelligent person could make. Anything that never happened in your past, for example, getting promoted to a crazy high position and salary range, or meeting the man of your dreams and settling down with him, could totally happen in the future. And, just because your past has some thorns that you did not sow, does not mean your future will have those thorns too. As Sadhguru often says, un-clutter your mind, and anything you wish shall happen.

Sadhguru then walked on the runway like platform so all of us could get a bit closer and catch a glimpse of him, and many who were much taller than me rushed to join hands with him. While I could not join hands with him I could still feel his presence, and the tears streaming on his face told me that he felt our collective pain and this was in a way a cleanse of all of that collective pain of over 3000 people, that Sadhguru had washed away that day. The empathy on his face and his eyes and joined hands was quite evident, and I felt privileged to be there as part of that group, experiencing all of this.

The next day morning we started at 6 am, did yogasanas in the morning, practices the meditation and chanting some, and then around 3 there was a break for lunch, which was healthy, light and delicious. After lunch, we were joined back by Sadhguru again and learned some more things, and practiced the same 21 minute practice in his presence around 6 pm (there need to be gaps between the time you eat food and the time you do this spiritual practice, hence time is quite important here). Sadhguru had warned us to not eat too much and eat just enough such that we would be hungry again by 6:30 or so and ready to do the practice one last time. This time I did not experience the same sense of emotional upheaval that I felt the previous day, even my cousin was much calmer. Perhaps because we had already shed some of our burden the previous day, we felt lighter and more joyful the next day.

Overall, I came back from this experience quite transformed and am eager to go to Tennesse at some point to visit the ashram/facility and attend a program with Sadhguru there. I am proud to say I have continued the 21 minute practice every morning since then, aside from the day or two here and there that I have missed. You are supposed to do it twice a day, however I have not yet been able to incorporate the evening practice into my busy life, but I am working on it.

It was a bit difficult to share this cathartic and deeply personal experience on this blog, but I hope you enjoyed reading about it. And, I hope your life journey lets you have some of these experiences too.

I will end with my favorite, live, Sadhguru quote from the session in Long Beach – ” If you are not out of your shell, you are just a nut ” 🙂

Mahalo,

Pri.

Spring blooms and a spiritual experience. This April I flew to Long Beach, CA for a spiritual weekend with Sadhguru. I had been interested to go to one of his events, especially the one where he teaches you a life changing meditative technique, aptly called '

[explorerpri]

I recently spent a month in India with my loving little 5 year old. It was wonderful to be amongst friends and family, not to mention have 30 fabulous sunny days with that perfect 75F temperature. The city I grew up in is now overpopulated with a lot of people moving in from other states, so the summers are a humid, hot mess for months, and the monsoon still wreaks havocs on the city due to floods and the resulting damage.

December, however, and even January, is just perfect. My son and I had a fabulous time jogging at the parks and having coconuts every morning. Mind you, if you have tried the Thai coconut and think Indian coconuts are the same, you couldn’t be more wrong! Indian coconuts have thin cream inside, which melts in the mouth (better than jello :)). My son has absolutely loved coconuts since he was less than 2 years old. And admittedly I beam with pride and joy that we share this love of coconuts. One time, we even chased a coconut cart in a rickshaw and pulled him to the side and bought a coconut. There are some things you can only do in India 🙂

While in India, we decided to embark on a 4-5 day trip to Rajasthan with my mom and my little guy. Jodhpur has a direct flight from where I live, so that seemed like a viable option. My favorite place in Rajasthan is most certainly Jaisalmer, also a World Heritage Site. To me, it is the most authentic city that bears the soul of Rajasthan – a majestic fort in the middle of the desert, rising from sand stone like a phoenix from the ashes, an astute reminder of a bygone era. Men with the longest mustaches you’ve ever seen, and one of the biggest deserts of the world, the Thar Dessert. Not to mention the food so delicious you will literally lick your fingers (or order more ;)).  I had visited as a teenager with my family many years ago, and I remember Jaisalmer so vividly I could sketch a picture of it with my mind’s eye. Here are some photos of Jaisalmer, just so you can visualize what I am talking about (these two are not taken by me, the rest on this site/page are my own photos):

Jaisalmer, being a good 5+ hour drive from Jodhpur though, with a heavy heart we skipped it this time and went to Khimsar instead, which is a small town that offers an authentic desert experience but happens to be much closer to Jodhpur (less than 2 hours by car). I figured since it was my first time traveling within India with my son, might be wise to keep things less tiring so we could spend more time relaxing and taking it all in. Khimsar was just perfect for a short trip, and did not disappoint at the many wonders it offers inspite of being such a small town. More about Khimsar below.

Jodhpur – Day 1: We took a morning flight from Jodhpur, which got us there about 11 am. Here we are at the airport, passing the time listening to music and taking selfies:

We reached Jodhpur about 11 am and started to make our way out of the airport. As we were walking past, a security guard/military officer asked me to stop. My brother had warned me to not take photos at Jodhpur airport since it is an active military base and photos are strictly prohibited. I had been careful though and not exhibited my usual enthusiasm at photography. I turned back to my officer and asked if everything was ok, to which he replied “Itne sare balloon hai. Bacche ko nahi denge to kya fayada” (“There are so many balloons here, what’s the point if we can’t give one to the child”).

It was just a few days after New Years Eve, so the airport was decorated with yellow and pink balloons. And before I could say another word, the officer removed two balloons from the wall and handed them to my son, who was absolutely delighted. I felt so welcome, and thankful to get this opportunity to show Neil “my India”. I wanted him to see the beautiful landscapes, animals and natural beauty of India, but most importantly the warmth and hospitality of the people. I wanted him to love India, the way I love India, and see it with my eyes, rather than the eyes of a foreign tourist, which he will inevitably do when he’s all grown up.

Our taxi driver was old and reliable – my brother had shared his number from a previous trip and I was thankful to not have to go with a random one. Our first stop in Jodhpur was Umed Bhavan Palace. It is atop a hill which means it can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. My son is hiding under his hat since it started to get so hot and the sun was in his face :)!

We went in and looked at the palace turned museum, marveling at the beautiful, precious artifacts used by kings and queens in the years past. “Wow, look at that beautiful blue decanter”, I would say to my son. “Oh, that means you think all the king’s things here are so beautiful, but not me. You don’t think I’m beautiful anymore”. Oh, my, my. I had to constantly reassure him that he was way more beautiful than all the artifacts in that entire museum. This is what I love about writing – I didn’t realize I remembered this wonderful memory about my son saying this until I started to write this! Here are some photos – a model of the palace, a conch shell with carvings, and the colorful decanters 🙂

One of the palace rooms had an outstanding collection of clocks, my favorite ones – the ‘windmill clock’ and the ‘renaissance chariot’ clock are below:

After the palace it was time to see the King’s collection of classic cars, which was breathtaking, given how shiny and impeccable these very old cars had been maintained. There was a Rolls Royce, a Jaguar, a Bentley, a Mercedes and practically every luxury car brand you can imagine. I have photos of these beautiful cars in my SLR camera which I will add here later.

After Umed Bhavan Palace, we headed over for lunch in a “Rajasthani Thali” place. It was a large meal ending with paan 🙂

After lunch, we headed to Mehranger Fort. This is the same fort where Christopher Nolan filmed the opening scene (and I believe some more) of the last movie of the Batman trilogy, “The Dark Knight Rises”.  Bruce Wayne climbing up the tunnel of the fort and escaping out while the prisoner’s cheer on – well, that’s shot at the fort, and you can watch that scene here to jog your memory 🙂

Mom was a bit tired of the heat so she stayed downstairs, while my son and I got tickets and headed up to the upper floor of the fort on an elevator – and my I’m so glad we did!

Below you can find a pigeon flying off a tower of the majestic fort, and onto the beautiful “blue city” below. Note that the main city of Jodhpur lies on the other side of the fort, and this is perhaps the best spot in the city to get a bird’s eye view of the “old blue city”. If we had more time I would have definitely loved to explore the streets and get some more shots of the bright blue homes, but at least we got an amazing aerial view:

It was so sunny up there that my son was struggling to see, so I handed him my sunglasses which he carried quite well I must say! And then he was so interested in my SLR and begged me to let him take some shots, so here he is my little photographer:

I know blogs are supposed to be more about describing the place in words, but on this particular post I am including a lot of photos because words truly fall short of the beauty and scale of this place. If you imagine yourself standing atop this fort and close your eyes and imagine what it must have been like when the King had to decide to fight an enemy approaching this fort. Watch the movie Padmaavat if you want to really experience the grandeur and challenges of the olden days; ignore the political correctness and controversy, I am simply recommending the movie here so you can see what it was like to wage war from a fort, some 100 years ago :).

And of course, we couldn’t leave without seeing the guns and swords of the kings and queens (imagine the excitement of a 5 year old who is into power rangers and Ninja Turtles):

And last but not the least, notice the detailed carving work in each of the “jharokhas” of the fort in the back of our photo below. This one is my favorite because my little guy climbed on my back and it was just a playful, natural moment:

When we tried to take the elevator back down from the top of the fort, they asked us for tickets yet again. We realized we had forgotten to buy tickets to get back down. On a normal day, and if I was travelling alone, I would have walked down. But my son was tired so we hitched a ride on the elevator; only to be asked again by the security guys at the bottom if we had the ticket, or money to pay for it.

I fetched in my pocket and found nothing. Suddenly, my son handed me a note from his pocket. My mom had given him some money to keep just for fun, and who knew it would come in so handy! I told him he had “saved my life” but in reality saved me from a ton of hassle and embarrassment, but oh, well. He remembers this moment even now – “remember mom that time when I saved you by giving you money for the ticket?” 🙂

Finally we arrived at our hotel. It was a beautiful Haveli in the old city. It was amongst the hustle and bustle and yet once we reached our room it was so, so tranquil.

Our room was on the 3rd floor; luckily we had help with our bags. We had a beautiful room with a large window overlooking the fort and and old temple. It was twilight, the fort lit up, and the sky got darker. I could feel the happiness in my heart, it felt the universe had somehow fell into place; being there, in that moment. I longed to come back there alone sometime and write at the desk by the window. Perhaps I could write a whole small book in that one night, that’s how thought provoking and emotional that place was.

It was like sitting by a faraway lake alone, where you are still inside the forest but somehow far removed from the noises of the jungle. Where if you throw a pebble in the lake you will hear that as the only sound, and you will see the ripples in every widening circles. It is as if you have a piece of that tranquility all to yourself, to hold in the palms of your hands, yours to keep, forever. The photos I have below are not from my SLR and don’t quite do justice to the scene. That was the view from our window (below), notice the Mehrangar fort in the background and the old temple in the foreground:

Of course, my son found the real lock and key endlessly fascinating to play with:

Finally, before it got too dark, we headed up to the terrace which boasted among the best views of the Fort from the entire city; not to mention a small, cozy rooftop restaurant:

We ended the day as the smoke from ritual fires started coming in and the air didn’t seem as clean to be outside anymore; plus it got colder as this was the desert climate after all.

We retired to our beautiful room and the tranquil window, and had the most wonderful sleep in this jewel of a Haveli.

In the next post, let’s discover day 2 of the Rajasthan trip, where we head out from Jodhpur and onto Khimsar to another large, sprawling, majestic fort. And there, we will meet the beautiful Indian green parrots.

Until next time,

Pri.

Writing after a long time...getting my Rajasthan diaries going finally :0 I recently spent a month in India with my loving little 5 year old. It was wonderful to be amongst friends and family, not to mention have 30 fabulous sunny days with that perfect 75F temperature.

[explorerpri]

A very belated ‘Happy New Year’! May 2018 be the year of self-discovery for you, and may you embark on journeys both outward and inward to help you find fulfillment. I am writing after a long hiatus, and I apologize to anyone who has checked back on this site and found nothing new to read. I plan to write more consistently in 2018, and I promise it’s not just a fake New Year’s resolution. I have travelled to and around India for a month now, and returned with renewed zest to write and share my travel stories.

Last year, when I started this blog, I thought about what I wanted to write. Writing about travel came easily to me, so I thought I would start there. I put a lot of effort into details, links and stories, and enjoyed telling the stories. And yet, it felt as if my writing was falling a bit flat. It was like a straight, two-dimensional square drawn on a piece of paper in pencil, as opposed to a three-dimensional box with curves and torn edges, still standing tall by itself, because it was real and strikingly beautiful. I felt something was missing, and yet couldn’t quite understand or pin-point what it was and how to improve it. It was as if I needed to turn my writing and this blog into a “Jumanji”! Make it come alive.

When I visited India a few weeks ago, I met with a friend over coffee to catch up. It was a beautiful backyard converted into a coffee shop, and the house had been converted to a boutique. My friend arrived a bit late, and I arrived a bit early, so I had a chance to take some photos of that charming little nook:

My friend and I talked a bit about our lives – his family, work, wife & kids. I had hoped to get his take on my blog and what he thought of it. He’s not a writer but I love the way he writes, and I have encouraged him to take up writing more seriously (he’s a dentist!).

Our conversation was cut a bit short since my brother arrived to pick me up earlier than expected, because a “Fakir” who my uncle really believes in had arrived at home and my uncle had wanted me to meet him. I am generally a non-believer in astrology and anything related to it, but my uncle is a pretty logical guy and this was not your typical astrologer but more of a spiritual person who had a vision. More later on another blog about the “Fakir”.

I caught up with my friend over text/chat later, and he told me the same thing that I had been feeling all along last year when I was writing. That feeling that something was missing. Except, he was able to succinctly describe it to me. “I enjoyed the blog”, he said. “But, it would be so much better if you described how you felt. You’ve done a beautiful job of describing a Banyan tree in Hawaii, for example, but how does that make you feel?” I think he hit the nail on the head, because the same thing had been churning in my head all along that day. Someone else had said to me that morning that it seems like I go close enough to “almost feel” an emotion, but not quite feel it completely.

Your writing is a reflection of your current state of mind. So it was not a surprise that my writing last year was a lot of good prose, but couldn’t quite stand on it’s own without a touch of poetry. After all, what is good writing without the writer’s deeply personal perspective, which evokes the same emotions in the reader that the writer experienced himself or herself?

Here’s (a toast) to “writing more deeply and consistently” in 2018!

Mahalo,

Pri.

  India Diaries – embarking on a journey inward A very belated 'Happy New Year'! May 2018 be the year of self-discovery for you, and may you embark on journeys both outward and inward to help you find fulfillment.

[explorerpri]

Do you have just a few days to explore Maui? Fear not! Read on for some great ideas and recommendations for a fabulous trip to Maui even if you have only 4-5 days to explore. Most of my friends were amazed at how much I saw in just 4 days, so with some good planning, you will have a great time!

I would recommend you spend 6-7 days in Maui to really feel like you covered most of it, and also to have more time for relaxation in between, but sometimes you just don’t have all the time off! Here are some ideas on where to stay and what to do in the 4-5 days:

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS: 

WHERE TO STAY: You can go to Expedia or Airbnb or any other travel site to look for a good place to stay in Maui. I was traveling solo, so I stayed in a private room at the Aloha Surf Hostel and definitely would recommend it overall. The key is deciding what part of Maui do you want to stay in? Here are some ideas to help you decide where to stay:

West Maui:

Pros: The major hotels are mostly located in West Maui, near Lahaina and Kaanapali beach, Napili and Kapalua Bay.This is a very beautiful part of Maui to stay in, if you really want to be close to the beach and at the same time have a number of shops and restaurants nearby. Also, it is probably a half hour to 45 minutes drive to get close to the West Maui mountains and enjoy some of the great hikes there. I have written about the West Maui wonders such as the Nakalele Blowhole, the heart-shaped rock and the Olivine Pools in a previous post.

Cons: West Maui is quite far from Hana (about 75 miles or 3 hours). So, if you do want to do the Road to Hana, or even go halfway to Hana, it is harder from West Maui. You can start early in the morning and not stop at a lot of places, and make it half way to Hana and back by late evening, and even then it’s a stretch given the winding road. One more con is that West Maui is the heart of “tourist town”, so if you are looking for a quiet time or place like me, you probably won’t find it staying in West Maui. This is also far from the Haleakala Sunrise, and I recommend that in the top 5 things to do!

Paia

Pros: It is in the center of Maui – just look at the map! I picked Paia because it is central which means it is equidistant from a number of places such as the Haleakala Volcanic Crater, it is much closer to the road to Hana, and it is about 45 minutes to an hour away from the West side of Maui and the West Maui Mountains, and hikes in that area. The hostel I stayed at offered free tours of various parts of Maui, so I just took the tour for the west side of Maui (two separate tours, both to the West Side, yes, there’s so much to see!). Driving to Hana was easy from Paia, and I was blessed with wonderful weather, so it was a joy to drive on the winding road. Because we were so close we had time to explore a number of hikes on the way and it was fun.

Cons: Paia is quieter than West Maui for sure. I enjoyed this immensely because I was looking for the quiet, local, island town experienced. There is a very nice little downtown, but there are no big resorts so perhaps if you want to walk around at night and feel like a ‘night-out’ you won’t get that feeling here. Paia is also further off from West Maui, so if you intend to spend majority of your time in West Maui, you might be better off staying there.

Wailea – Makena:

Pros: This is also on the coast near West Maui, just further south of Lahaina and those neighborhoods. This is a great neighborhood, the Four Seasons resort is here, if you are rich enough to stay there, totally do it 🙂 Makena beach aka Big Beach is one of the best beaches in town. Little Beach has a Sunday night hippie beach party, complete with fire dancers and drums, that has been going on for decades. Check out the firedancer video at the bottom of my blog.

Cons: I can’t really think of any major cons to this neighborhood, except perhaps it is a little further south from West Maui and again a 45 min – 1 hour drive to the West Maui Mountains for hiking.

Hana: 

Pros: You could also stay in Hana, and I have heard wonderful things about it. Hana is a beautiful destination if you are on a honeymoon or babymoon or just on a romantic trip and looking to relax, unwind, and enjoy the cool Maui breeze on a hot day with a Mai Tai 🙂

Cons: Keep in mind that Hana is on the south side of the island, and apart from the Haleakala Crater, it is far from most other sights in Maui. The road to Hana is winding and can be slow and even dangerous, depending on the weather.

THINGS TO DO IN 4-5 DAYS:

Day 1: You can start Day 1 with the sunrise at Haleakala Volcanic Crater. It is easier to do this in the first few days of the trip since you will be waking up early due to jet lag anyway. Depending on where you are staying, it could be about an hour’s drive, or less, and you have to get there by 5:45 or so as not to miss it. After the sunrise, you can have a nice breakfast on your way down from the crater, and then get some rest/nap if your hotel is close by. If your hotel is far, and you can head straight to West Maui for the day. Pick up some yummy poke bowls at the FoodLand supermarket and head to Kaanapali beach.

You can snorkel there, just stay in the water, relax, read a book, and have a great day. I was told that the Sheraton near black rock actually does a fun thing which involves fire-dancers and is free for anyone to see – so if you can wait till 5 or 6 pm you can just stay at this beach. In the evening, say 6 pm, you can head to Lahaina, which is a short drive, walk around the neighborhood, do a bit of shopping, have some delicious shaved ice, and have dinner at one of the hotels by the bay. Don’t forget to see the 100 year old Banyan tree. For more ideas, please read my Day 1 in Maui post.

Haleakala Crater Sunrise, Maui

Kaanapali Beach, Maui

Day 2: The Road to Hana. Plan a whole day for this, and again, I would do this relatively earlier in the trip because it is a bit exhausting (it took us 7 am to 7 pm to just do Halfway to Hana and 2-3 hikes!). I would leave the last few days to do the more fun/relaxing things such as the Little Beach party or go watch a Luau or the Hula dancing. You can read more about the Road to Hana here.

The Garden of Eden on the road to Hana, Maui

Day 3: You could start the morning with snorkeling at the Molokini Crater. I really wanted to do it, but with just 4 days I could not squeeze it in, plus I was alone so had an excuse to not go by myself 🙂 If you make a reservation in advance with a good tour operator/boat such as the Four Winds Maui, they will take you out there in a boat, feed you a snack, get you in the water with the gear, and also feed you burgers and drinks on the way back! Next time I go, I definitely intend to do this 🙂 If you are a couple or even a family with kids, this could be a lot of fun! The found winds (and most other tours) bring you back by 1 pm, which leaves you a good part of the day to explore other things. I would suggest doing this on a Sunday perhaps, so after the snorkeling, you can go rest up at the hotel for a bit, then late afternoon head to Makena Beach for relaxing. If it is a Sunday night, climb over the cliff to the dance party at Little Beach 🙂 Keep in mind little beach is clothing optional, although Big Beach is a regular beach. If you want to do Makena Beach another day, you could book a Luau at the Grand Wailea Hotel and that can be a relaxing way to spend the evening as a couple or as a family. More ideas on Day 3 are here.

Makena Beach or Big Beach, Maui

Day 4: I did the tour of West Maui Mountains and this took up the whole day – included sights such as D.T. Fleming Beach, Olivine Pools, the Nakalele Blowhole, the heart-shaped rock and the Kapalua Bay, ending at the Maui Brewing Company! I liked this itinerary quite a bit and recommend it highly even if you are driving on your own. For more on the West Maui Mountains – read this post.

Day 5: You can do a day-long hike on this day. Many of my friends who stayed back on Day 5 did a full day, fairly strenous hike to Iao Valley. If you love to snorkel or windsurf, there are a number of great spots in Maui where you can do those activities, and you can plan to spend the day doing one of those activities. Finish the day (and your amazing, memorable trip!!) by relaxing at a nearby beach.

I hope this blog post helps you in planning your trip to Maui!! If you liked this post, please follow me and sign up via email so you will know when I post something new about Maui or another great destination (San Diego will be next, followed by Mexico!). I would love to hear your thoughts or comments, especially if this helped you plan your trip or if you have your own ideas to share from your trip!

Thanks for reading!

Mahalo,

Pri.

    Maui Travel – Things to do in 4-5 days Do you have just a few days to explore Maui? Fear not! Read on for some great ideas and recommendations for a fabulous trip to Maui even if you have only 4-5 days to explore.

[explorerpri]

Just finished writing about Day 4 from my Maui trip back in Sept! Day 4 in Maui - D.T. Fleming Beach, Olivine Pools, West Maui Mountains, Nakalele Blowhole, Heart Shaped Rock and Honolua Bay! You can check it out here: https://explorewithpri.com/