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| Jenna Gladney's photo of a yogi received Honorable Mention in the "People" category for the 2013 SASA Photo Contest. |
And here's her story.....
After breakfast this morning we set out on what I thought would be a fairly casual hike, just in the Himalayas instead of upstate South Carolina or Northwest Arkansas. Everywhere you looked the scenery was gorgeous and our hike was lead by a local man. We were told the hike was 20% steep 80% flat and about 1.5 kilometers. Let me translate that for you, its 89% steep, 11% flat, almost 7 kilometers, pretty exhausting, and 100% beautiful.
At the top of the mountain was a Hindu temple where a yogi lives. First, it was an incredible experience to see the mountain top temple. Secondly, we had a once in a lifetime experience to sit and have tea with him and ask questions. Vikas would filter and translate any questions we had from how old he was to how he began his life as a Hindu. We even asked how he survives during the winter and how many foreigners had ever traveled to see him. (Answers: 83, he was taken in as an orphan by his guru, people bring him food from time to time- he never asks, but God provides, and we were the third group in ten years.)
After breakfast this morning we set out on what I thought would be a fairly casual hike, just in the Himalayas instead of upstate South Carolina or Northwest Arkansas. Everywhere you looked the scenery was gorgeous and our hike was lead by a local man. We were told the hike was 20% steep 80% flat and about 1.5 kilometers. Let me translate that for you, its 89% steep, 11% flat, almost 7 kilometers, pretty exhausting, and 100% beautiful.
At the top of the mountain was a Hindu temple where a yogi lives. First, it was an incredible experience to see the mountain top temple. Secondly, we had a once in a lifetime experience to sit and have tea with him and ask questions. Vikas would filter and translate any questions we had from how old he was to how he began his life as a Hindu. We even asked how he survives during the winter and how many foreigners had ever traveled to see him. (Answers: 83, he was taken in as an orphan by his guru, people bring him food from time to time- he never asks, but God provides, and we were the third group in ten years.)
We got an orange
powder placed on our foreheads, which is supposed to represent a third eye that
allows you to focus and have more wisdom. He also served us tea as we sat
around and talked. After a few more photos and enjoying the view a little
longer it was time to head down the hill. The rest of the day was full of
R&R. India is exhausting and a vacation within a vacation is quite
necessary.
