02/13/2020
Want to read a rad travel story?⬇️
The first solo trip I ever took was to India.
I was 19 and I honestly had no idea where to go. What I did know was that I wanted to visit a country that was the total opposite of anything I had ever known/seen.
And let me tell you, India was exactly that.
This picture captures myself and a sadhu (Hindu monk) I had met who invited me to join him, every morning at five am, on a long walk to the top of Matanga Hill, that housed a temple he watched over.
We would head up to the temple roof which was covered in grass and we would sit together, close our eyes and meditate.
We would close our eyes before the sun would rise and by the end of our meditation we would open our eyes and the sun would be peering across the prehistoric bedrock.
Absolute best way to start a morning.
After, he would invite me to a cave (yes, a cave) below the temple where he lived.
He would make me chai and we would sit looking out over the mountains. He would read me his writing in his broken English and we would talk. Still to this day I’ve never had a better cup of chai or a more surreal ‘is this even real’ feeling.
I would do this everyday while I was in Hampi - a holy village in the state of Karnataka.
One day, myself and a buddy rented scooters to go out and explore the area.
Temples were as abundant as Starbucks in Los Angeles and we spent the day zipping around visiting them.
On the way back to town, I hit a weird patch of road and fell off the scooter. Luckily I wasn’t seriously hurt but my arm got scraped up really bad.
The next morning as I was doing my meditation, the sadhu got up and left for a bit. I didn’t think too much of it and kept meditating.
A few minutes later he came back with a couple of herbs he had crushed up and he took my arm and applied them to it. I kid you not, I had never had a wound heal so fast.
My entire time in Hampi felt like a dream and if you are ever craving a once in a lifetime experience, I urge you to visit.
India is an extremely challenging, magical place and if you’re willing to be open, you will experience some amazing things.
