Only back in Jaipur for a few hours, we collected our bicycles and headed to the other side of town , in the hilly outskirts to the Vipassana meditation centre. On the way we crossed a very deprived area where cows wear plastic cover not to witness the misery. Learning how to witness misery and how to come out of it was exactly what we were going to practice in the retreat. Very fortunate we are to be human to have this opportunity!
Out of thé silence of our ten days retreat, we “fell” in the arms of Chirag and his incredibly lovely mother. They hosted us in their flat for two nights before we would take our train to the Himalayas. Chirag was the perfect person to break a long silence. He was so attentive, so knowledgeable also and he had just come back from a 7 months cycling trip from home to Vietnam. At the age of only 21, he became the fifth Indian to leave India by land on a bicycle ( customs did not know what to do with him and he had to battle for visas and authorisations – very inspiring for his friends and the Indian cyclist community).
His mother who could only speak a few word of English treated us like king and queen. We tasted her home made cheese, home made ice cream, home made sweets, etc… she was much impress when I helped her to prepare a few chapattis as men are not really allowed in the kitchen in the part of world either.
Two lovely days with them and we were finally release from the heat. Firstly in our air conditioned train and then arriving at the foot of the Himalayas where already the air was fresh most of the day.
Dharma bums on bikes 