what doesn't kill you...

Here I am, sitting in the restaurant of the hotel here in Leh Ladakh..

Thankful to be here..

It wasn't such an easy start upon arrival.

It seems as though the program I am in accepted far too many students and they didn't have the rooms for them.

There were quite a few unhappy Yogis and Yoginis.

I was brought to a hotel that I never booked into and the room was like dark prison cell and cold. SO COLD!!

I was bundled up in a down jacket, gloves, wool socks and full clothing and under a wool blanket and my teeth were still chattering.

I went to the people who were in charge letting them know that I was in pain being in that room..literally. I have arthritis and that cold was chilling me to the bone.

After much back and forth with them (and 8 other guests who were equally unhappy)

they moved us to the hotel we were supposed to be in in the first place.

I think I cried my body weight in tears and after just arriving and being at such a high altitude it was not a good situation. 

I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I was going to have to go to the hospital.

My head was throbbing so bad and I felt so nauseous and dizzy and my mouth was so dry and I had been drinking water All Day Long.

So I started deep breathing and took an Ibuprofen and drank even more water and somehow, after much prayer as well...I pulled through it.

I woke up this morning and felt so much better and when I pulled back the curtains the sun was beaming into my room and it was so bright and warm.

A new day. A better day.

I'm going to go forth with a positive mind set and get through my program.

It's not going to be a cakewalk thats for sure. 

There are going to be so many challenges ahead of me on this journey I am embarking on.

But you know that old saying..

What doesn't kill you Makes you Stronger.

I'm still standing.

Sat Nam

New Delhi, New Friends

11 hours of sleep
and I feel zero jet lag.

I'm staying in the sweetest Air BnB that Ray found online for me and other than the location, I love it here.

It's immaculate and the hosts are extremely accommodating and have made me feel right at home.
I'm so lucky I stayed here as there is a fabulous little 3 table restaurant right out my door and down the stairs and it's all inside, so I never have to leave my building. 
My hosts live up at the top of the marble staircase and they are such a cute couple.

It's quite an unusual story in regards to their relationship actually..

Geeta and Vivek are their names and they are 20 something and she is a tall, slender gorgeous Indian woman with a cute short haircut and he reminds me of the actor Dev Patel who played in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel..
speaking of which...their relationship is quite a lot like the couple in that movie!
Let me explain...

Geeta lives upstairs with Vivek and she told me that they have been in their relationship now for 3 years and her parents as well as his parents know of this and are fine with it..
they have just decided they will marry in one year.

Viveks parents have the restaurant downstairs and she helps out there with Vivek and she also makes Chai for me 

she comes to chat with me in my room and she told me that she loves to go to Rishikesh when she can as she loves the yoga there and she would love to go there with me one day.
She does her worship of Lord Krishna and she enjoys it very much~

It's so nice when you find a like minded soul like this all the way across the world and you just happen to connect in such a beautiful way with similar interests.

They have both helped me so much since I have been here to make sure I have everything I need..even to the extent of topping up my phone with minutes, bringing me bottles of water and booking my Uber to the airport when I leave for Leh on Saturday.

Upon my return to New Delhi on my way home, I have one more night here with them and I'm so glad I do, theres no place I'd rather stay to finish up my trip back here in India.