Travel log #31 - 34

16.09.2017 Log 31
I had really good time in Rishikesh. During those two weeks I was lucky to meet many great people. Guille, who was staying at the same hostel as me, Yaqoub and Reiki, who introduced me to acro yoga and were good friends to me, TJ, who taught me how to get better in drumming and his girlfriend Marissa from Las Vegas, and also John with his wife Manuhaar, who made beautiful tattoo on me. And also few Czechs and Slovakians. Everyone finds everyone in Rishikesh; this town is full of travellers all year round. But time has come to move slowly towards east, to Kolkata. I plan a short stop in Agra, because it's on my way so it would be shame not to see Taj Mahal.

22.09.2017 Log 32
After saying good bye to my friends in Rishikesh I embarked on the way once again. There was an unresolved night transfer to Haridwar ahead of me, from where I was supposed to get a train to Agra, the city that contains one of the seven new wonders of the world - the Taj Mahal mausoleum. I have seen many places during my travels in India, but this place was always kind of elusive, never on my way until now. Most people (me being included) go to Agra only to see Taj Mahal. And, well, what to say. I went there right after the sunrise to avoid the heat of the day and it didn't make me disappointed. It is a beautiful building, a true piece of art.

The day after the visit, another long ride was due, this time for the last time. My destination was Kolkata again, on the other side of the country. I readied myself for an endless journey. And I've got what I expected: twenty seven hours in a train is my new personal best and I genuinely hope it will stay like that for the rest of my life. And if it's not supposed to be, then let my record be broken in a first class, with bathtub and champagne. But however tiring and unpleasant travel in a train might be, it also has its magic, especially in India. Most of the time I spent glued to the window, watching the landscapes pass by, the gore and glitter of this land. My friend is arriving today and together we commence another visa hunt. We plan to go to Buddhists in Myanmar together, back where I left a piece of my heart before.

30.09.2017 Log 33
Meeting with my friend Jasmína didn't work out according to the plan due to some complications she had on the way, but in the end she made it all by herself to the hostel where I was impatiently waiting. So after few months of me roaming Asia on my own I got a company again and that's a change I welcome. We spent a couple of days in Kolkata together. At hostel (the same as I was staying at during my first visit of the city) a bunch of great people assembled, so we had good times for the days to come. We went to see the huge New Market with Kevin from Canada and two Indian girls Milcah and Shikha and - as a reward for not getting trampled under the feet of millions of people - we went to a pub afterwards. One of the days we dedicated to some sightseeing and (most importantly) we applied for our meditation visa to Myanmar. Only poor Pascal from Germany couldn't join us as he contracted Dengue fever.

After few days of big city life we desired some peace and calmness - a commodity so precious in India. We decided to look for it in Digha, a seaside resort town just few hours by train from Kolkata. The way there was quite chaotic and full of unpredictable events and after all it took us whole day to get there. But we made it and had an opportunity to spend few days by the sea. It was no wonderland though: the scummy sea reminded me more of the beaches in Dong Hoi, than the crystal clear waters of Cambodian shore I was secretly wishing for. We can't speak about calm either as there wasn't much of it. It was mainly because of the fact that there was a festival called Durga Puja and that's a big thing for Bengali folk. Crappy speakers were reproducing chants and music all days long.

For the main day of the Puja we returned to Kolkata to join the festivities in the streets, where a lot of temporary temples of wood and polystyrene were erected just for the occasion. They're called Pandals and are the hubs for all the party makers. We have one more plan for Kolkata and that is to visit local botanical garden and then we'll collect our visa and we'll bid our farewells to India for a time unknown.

07.10.2017 Log 34

Our goodbye to India was a trip to botanical garden in Kolkata. The feeling of this vast area was one of calm abandonment, almost as if ever since the British colonists left the place no one else was taking care of it. The flowers that were earlier attended to, were overgrowing and blending with trees to create dense jungle slowly consuming empty Victorian buildings. The major attraction in there was a huge and old Banyan tree which - with its branch roots - appeared like a small forest. It was hard to comprehend that what we saw was actually just a single tree. This uncommonly calm place was in contrast with ever-present noise of a big Indian city and seemed to be a precursor of upcoming quiet days in Thabarwa meditation center.

I luckily managed to spend almost entire flight to Yangon in blessed sleep and I entered Myanmar grateful that I could leave the Indian chaos behind. This country is calmer than India and it reflects in its people - they are ingenuous, friendly and peaceful. While during my first visit (which was in the end of dry season), the land was dry and dusty, now it's so lush and green, that it's almost unrecognizable. In the day of our arrival we had opportunity to visit full moon celebration in the temple of Thanlyin before we commenced our work, which will be the main content of upcoming seven weeks, and yesterday we have been honoured to see and listen to dhamma talk made by Sayadaw Ashin Ottamasara, a Buddhist monk and the founder of Thabarwa. It was great luck, because he visits the center only very sporadically and during my last stay he hasn't been here at all. Walking the way to Thabarwa felt like returning home. People built a center of understanding, tolerance and hope here. I don't know any place with even distantly similar atmosphere.

This travel log is the finale of my tale. I intend to study on Buddhism and meditation now. I believe that there will be many adventures on my path towards deeper awareness, but I'm not sure if they will be possible to share. I thank to all of you who were supportive to my travel and kept fingers crossed for me and I hope that you had a good time reading my stories and they were an inspiration for you to pursue your own dreams. Although it's going to take quite a long time yet, I'm very much looking forward to see every single one of you.

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Dear steemians, thank you for reading. amek