Incredible India, abbreviated

Happy New Year! I had the fortunate opportunity to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip to India over the holidays and new year. It’s taken me some time to write about the trip, and I suppose perhaps I put it off because I needed adequate time to reflect on the experience, perhaps I was fearful that my words would in no way describe the trip in its most beautiful expression or perhaps 2014 came and “real life” just got in the way. Whatever the excuse, I did want to document some highlights from the 15 days I spent in one of the most magical, sacred, crazy and unpredictable places I have ever been….

The premise of taking the trip was to have the opportunity to participate in the Sacred Temple Vinyasa Retreat in the rural south of India with Janet Stone and Hareesh Wallis. However, since I had a few days off over Christmas before the group trip began, I ventured first by myself to the North to explore the infamous capital city, Delhi, and some tourist attractions nearby….

My flight landed at night, and I have to say, after a grueling nearly 2 days of travel, it was probably best that I went straight to the hotel for some rest before I could digest where I had actually landed.  My first morning, I was to meet a guide for a city tour mid-morning, but after meeting another friendly solo traveler at breakfast, we ventured out to the streets for a walk first. Everyone who has been to India tries to prepare you for what it is like, but I will tell you, I can’t describe it. I could tell you that I walked around the city with a heavy feeling in my stomach, guilty to make eye contact with the crowds of people, especially young children, living on top of garbage in the streets because clearly I had so much and they had so little.  I could also tell you the energy of the city is always alive, full of color and smells and flavors and heat. I could even tell you that hands down I have never experienced traffic and organized chaos like driving the streets of Delhi. However, nothing I would tell you would prepare you for your own experience, because India is so unique and has a certain power that seems to connect differently within each visitor.  My time in the North was mostly full of touristy stops; visiting Old Delhi, local shops, a trip to Agra for a view of that very famous wonder of the worldJ and a trip to Jaipur to take in the sites of the pink city and the Amber Fort. A few photos to share of some highlights:

 

Old Delhi views behind

vendors in Old Delhi

The wonder that is The Taj Mahal

exquisite palaces

views of Agra Fort

one of the many delicious meals

Following the hustle bustle of the north, I hopped a short plane ride to the city of Bangalore in the south where I had the opportunity to meet the other 35 seekers who would share the next 10-day pilgrimage with me. Guided by the most exquisite, beautiful and authentic teachers, Janet and Hareesh, I never dreamed of the experience that would unfold in this short time together. I really can’t put into words everything we “did” on the journey because so much of the experience was not necessarily an action or a place we saw, but rather a life lesson, a self-awareness teaching, an internal shift, a bond of friendship, a sacred ritual, a personal experience. I will sum it up that we did have the opportunity to practice yoga as a community, visit several spectacular, sacred temples and sites, relax among the rural backdrop of southern India, eat…and eat again, learn from each other and our teachers and welcome a new year, on a mountaintop as a satsung while the sun set on the past one. One thing that stood out to me thoughout the trip was the spirit of people. How they honor their tradition and how, even thought they seem to have so little, there is such happiness. It really allows one to evaluate life's important moments, people and actions and open the heart with gratitude and love. Truly a remarkable, life-changing trip and I am so thankful for the new friends, kindred spirits and our teachers who led us on this sacred journey. A few pictures of some highlights to capture the pilgrimage.

 

temple visit

footprints of Vishnu

the light peeking through the temple is magical 

exquisite carvings 

my man Ganesh

new friends

the teachers that inspire us

beautiful pooja ceremony

so lucky for my roomie and new friend

all smiles

sunrise at the Hanuman temple

sun set on 2013

sun set yoga

Yoga Bhaktas

gratitude

A trip to India was an intention I set forth as I approached my 30^th year, and I am so grateful for the experience. I know that the seeds have been planted and now there is so much more to discover. Wishing friends and family around the world a happy and healthy new year! with light and love, Namaste

Reflections and Gratitude, 2013

As I packed up my backpack tonight in anticipation of my departure to India this weekend, I stopped for a few seconds to take in the present moment. The smell of the worn backpack, the crispness of the new journal, the checklist of chicken scratch beside me. It was just nearly 1 year ago that I stuffed the same pack before departing on a yet-to-be-determined length of stay in South America. As the year comes to a close I can't help but reflect on what amazing experiences 2013 has brought me and I really just wanted to write some thoughts here to express my gratitude for the last 12 months of my life.

I am grateful to experience Christmas in Buenos Aires, to take in the gritty, yet absurdly picturesque streets of the city, to sip fine wine and eat delicious food. To travel on to the beaches of Uruguay and soak in the sun, to meet the dawn of the new year after an epic fiesta. To wander through Patagonia and take in some of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. To challenge myself physically trekking through mountains and glaciers and reward myself with new friends and memorable times. To find a new home in Santiago. To begin to teach yoga. To work and play and live in a foreign city and country, yet not feel strange and alone. To make lifelong friends and learn a new language. To find new adventures in Ecuador, surfing the coast, exploring the bustling capital city, rafting through rapids, hiking for hours on end and blissfully taking in the heat of the sun on horseback. To drift north to Colombia sharing travel experiences with new and old friends, sleeping in hammocks, dancing on the beach until sunrise, hiking through remote jungle and coastline and taking in the history of one of the most beautiful capital cities I have seen. To return to the United States and slip back into the warmth of family and friends. To experience the summer coast to coast in the US. To celebrate momentous occasions. To challenge myself to figure out what's next. To make the move to Austin. To start a new job. To begin a new chapter. What a ride......

If 2014 brings me even half as much joy as this past year, I will consider myself a lucky girl. Happy New Year to my family and friends around the world. More experiences to share after I return from India.

Cheers!
Cara

Colombian Heat

The weight of the humidity hit hard as I stepped off the plane in Cartagena, Colombia, however, as the taxi wove in and out of the old city streets en route to my hostel I could already sense it was more than just the oppressive climate radiating heat. I've said before in other places I've visited that you find a certain energy in the culture, the people, the lifestyle. But nowhere yet have I found this heated passion, this electrifying energy that seems consistent throughout the entire country. Perhaps it's the energizing music that is influencing sounds around the world, maybe it is the fact that Salsa and dance is a part of normal life, it could be that the population is extraordinarily good looking, or it is just that damn hot, literally. 

Clock tower, Old City Cartagena

My trip started solo in the beautiful caribbean coastal city of Cartagena. I spent my first few days exploring local neighborhoods, walking the streets of the historic old city, relaxing at the beach and adjusting to the heat. One afternoon I ventured by boat to Playa Blanca, as the name suggests a pristine white beach with crystal clear blue water reached via a 1 hour boat trip. I spent the night in a hammock listening to the waves crash a mere 6 feet away….blissful. 

Cartagena city streets at night

Relaxing at Playa Blanca

From Cartagena, I made my way about 4 hours along the coast to the city of Santa Marta, not known for much, but a gateway stop to the National Park Tayrona where I was eager to visit. Luckily, I found a fantastic hostel, The Dreamer, just outside the hustle and bustle of the city with a great pool, bar and loads of friendly travelers who became fast friends right away. After a night here, I spent the next 2 days in Tayrona, camping overnight. It really doesn't get much better than hiking in sunshine with breathtaking, untouched beaches on one side and lush green mountains on the other. 

Beaches in Tayrona

After Tayrona, I headed back to The Dreamer Hostel to plan the next part of my route. After a lively night out with new friends, we headed 1.5 hours further along the coast to the sleepy beach town, Palomino. 2 days and nights here proved to be the perfect amount of time to relax and enjoy. 

new friends and a party bus!

From Palomino, I headed back towards Santa Marta, to the hippie beach town of Taganga, a requisite stop on the gringo backpacker trail. In Taganga, I was fortunate enough to be joined by my friend Rena who was looking for a fun escape from NYC. Here for 2 days we enjoyed the beach, great seafood and a day of learning to scuba dive! 

Scuba Diving

After Taganga, we packed our bags and made the journey back to Cartagena where we would spend our last 3 days together touring the city, eating fabulous meals , enjoying the beach and making a few new traveler friends. As the weekend came to an end so did my trip in Caribbean Colombia and I said farewell to Rena and hopped a plane to Bogota, the capital city. 

One more stop at Playa Blanca

Rena and I enjoying a drink at Cafe del Mar

Bogota is huge. Like really, really overwhelmingly large. Thank god, I had a local friend, Felipe, who was kind enough to show me the best spots and introduce me to his city. After settling in at a fantastic hostel in the Candelaria district, Felipe and his girlfriend took me on a mini tour of city center and out to dinner at the most indescribable, oddly entertaining, Colombian institutions for a sampling of delicious bites and drinks among utter chaos. It was a blast and a great welcome to the city!

views of Bogota from Cerro Monserrate

Me and my Colombian friends at Andres DC

The following day, I played tourist and hit a number of museums and city highlights including the cerro monerrate, which offered a breathtaking view of the entire city. My last day in Bogota, I hit a few more tourist stops before meeting my Colombian friends for a late lunch and afternoon beer, after which I departed for the airport to head back to the U.S. 

Botero Museum, Bogota

Street art in La Candelaria

Colombia has been known for many defining characteristics during it's history, and unfortunately from the average US citizen point of view, in recent times it's mostly negative. But more than any summary of my 3-weeks traveling in a new country, I really hope to convey to my friends at home how safe, friendly and breathtakingly beautiful this place is. It was a pleasure to experience the passion and heat of this country and culture and there is still so much more I hope to see one day. 

Am I no longer a traveler?

It's been about 3 weeks since I've officially settled in Santiago, Chile. In that time, amongst the sweltering summer sun, I've moved into two different apartments, started a full time job, practiced and taught yoga and even started training for a half marathon. When I stopped this weekend to reflect on my life in the Southern Hemisphere thus far, I was almost put off. Isn't this relatively the same life I had not much more than a year ago? Isn't this idea of a routine and daily grind what I wanted to get away from? Is this boring? I felt perplexed. Perhaps I hadn't gone about this right, was purely "living" in a foreign land enough of the adventure my wanderlust craved?

But then I spoke with a friend, who helped put things into perspective, and as I stared out my window looking into the distant Andes mountains and he said, "but Cara, you are living in Chile...." Ah yes, there it was. I may not be hostel hopping or trekking mountains, but this is a new kind of adventure. One where I try and make a life for myself in a foreign city, amongst a completely different culture, set of values and language from what I am used to. I'd call it a "challenge" adventure.

My birthday has just recently passed and as I think about my goals for the last year I have in this decade I can only hope that I continue to challenge myself and others around me. For without a thirst for adventure and a true intention to make ourselves better people we won't ever change and wouldn't that just be...boring.

Patagonia in 12 Days

I'm not usually one to recommend rushing through travel. I am so grateful for the gift of time in the past year to savor and experience all the wonderful places I've been able to see. However, after realizing I needed to get back to Santiago rather quickly to get started on various work projects, I had to plan a pretty strict itinerary in order to see the parts of Patagonia on my list. I thought that my itinerary might be helpful to share with others as well as it would certainly fit well into a 2-week vacation taken from the states. Patagonia is such a vast area comprising the southern area of both Argentina and Chile, there are so many beautiful places to see and things to do. The best time to visit is December-February as it is summer, and don't let the icebergs fool you, it really does feel like summer! You can start on either the Chile side or Argentina side, but since I was coming from Buenos Aires, I started on the Argentina side first and flew to Ushuaia, Argentina for my first stop.

Ushuaia

Ushuaia, known as the southernmost city in the world, is situated on a bay bordered by a mountain range to the north and the Beagle channel to the south. It is also where you can take a boat trip to Antarctica, but this is extremely costly and takes no less than 9 days (another trip!). Once I arrived, I opted to take a boat trip along the Beagle Channel where you stop at various smaller islands to see some of the indigenous animals and take in a spectacular view of the famous lighthouse (although this is actually not the most southern lighthouse I was informed). The following day, I took a bus to the national park where I was fortunate to meet two very nice Irish girls also traveling who I hiked with for the day and then later realized we were staying at the same hostel in the next town the following night. From Ushuaia, I took a morning flight to El Calafate, Argentina.

At the end of the world

El Calafate is a wonderfully quaint town with spectacular landscape. I really loved the hostel I stayed at here and found everyone to be very friendly, we even had an asado the first night I was there which was a great opportunity to meet fellow travelers, drink lots of Malbec and practice some Spanish. One of the most popular tourist sites to see is the Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the only growing glaciers in Patagonia. It is also known for its spectacular ruptures caused by the pressure of the ice that creates small water dams in the lake and causing the ice to break off in grand, loud displays. It was a spectacular site and everyone cheered each time we witnessed an intense rupture. I did sign up to do a day tour of the glacier which included a guided mini trekking on the ice. I don't always love touristy attractions, but this was one not to be missed. The shear size of the glacier is really astounding.

Ice trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier

The next morning I took a bus to El Chalten (about 3 hours away). El Chalten is a small mountain village at the base of the Torre mountain, and its more famous neighbor, the Fitz Roy mountain. A small village indeed, there is basically two streets of quaint restaurants, hostels and lodges and the paths to both mountains start right from the town. The first day I hiked the Fitz Roy path, about 8 hours roundtrip, with a new friend I had met in Calafate. On the second day, I ventured out myself on one of the other shorter paths, and pretty exhausted, jumped back on a bus returning to El Calafate for the night.

View of Fitz Roy from the hiking trail

The following morning, I boarded a bus to Puerto Natales, Chile (about 5-6 hours) a small city in Patagonia Chile which is the primary tourist stop for those venturing into Torres del Paine National Park. I checked into a hostel and then hurried around town to rent camping equipment and purchase my food for the upcoming 5-day, 4-night trek I planned to take in Torres del Paine, known as the W trek. I was both excited and nervous for the trip as I figured it would be challenging (and certainly something I had never done before) and also I was a bit apprehensive to embark alone. Luckily for me, groups of travelers start the trek each day so it is quite easy to meet people that will take the same path as you for the duration of the hike. I was even more fortunate that I found some new friends I had met in El Calafate, the nicest couple from England, who offered to let me join up with them. We ended up having a great time, albeit extremely challenging. I really don't think I've done anything harder in my life to date. I think carrying everything on my back was really the hardest part, especially since we walked sometimes 25+ kilometers in one day! Even with the pain and exhaustion, it ended up being an experience I am so glad I took. The landscape is breathtaking and the adventure of the trip itself was a blast. Needless to say, I have never enjoyed a shower and warm bed as much as the night I returned back to Puerto Natales.

Torres del Paine

Camping for 1

unreal scenery

The next afternoon I hopped on a Sky Airlines (the best to use while traveling in Chile and surrounding) back to Santiago where I am now getting settled and putting together the pieces of my "living abroad life." I am excited to share what more is in store in the months ahead...

Sunrise the final day at Torres del Paine

Solo Traveling: Lonely or Liberating?

I first found out how much I enjoyed time to be alone when I moved into my own apartment in New York City. There, amidst the the craziness of NYC and the West Village buzz, I could have my own space to do what I wanted, when I wanted. It was certainly a freeing concept. I love being around people, I have always worked well with people and I have lots of friends, but there is something to be said about giving yourself some time to decompress, or read, or cook or really whatever you need to do for yourself. After getting comfortable with the concept of "being alone" I became more open to activities or events I would do by myself, whether it was a race in the park or going to a movie or sitting in a cafe. Sometimes, it was nice to have some internal peace and just be. I think many people have a lot of issues with being alone. Perhaps they get bored or anxious, but I think that really has to do with getting to know yourself and being comfortable with yourself. Yoga has helped me with this skill immensely. As I become more in tune to what's going on inside, physically, mentally, emotionally, I am able to better understand what my body needs. Perhaps it's a loud night out with a bunch of friends, or perhaps its taking a few minutes to meditate alone, but whatever it is, I am respecting myself. This notion of being alone has certainly come into play as I've been traveling and I have found that often people first ask if I'm traveling alone. This is an interesting concept to most. "That's so brave!" or "Aren't you lonely?" But I honestly have to say, I love it! You have the freedom to literally decide what you want to do at any point on any day, and it's not just about having a selfish itinerary. I enjoy the time alone to observe and reflect on these amazing experiences. Sure, there have been times where I've seen a ruckus family or a laughing group of friends or a couple sharing a moment, and maybe I was feeling a bit lonely that day so it does make you miss your own connections to the people back home. But, I have also found that being alone forces you to be even more outgoing. I can't even count how many more conversations I've struck up or people I've introduced myself to that I might otherwise have never met...and what's better than meeting new friends around the world? Maybe nothing, except taking a few minutes each day to be alone :)