More On The Mountain Top: Explorations Of The Remote Village, People, Animals and Caves

 Though it had a somewhat traumatic beginning owing to the monkey capers, the remaining two days on the mountain top brought truly wonderful experiences. I communed with the beautiful village people and domestic animals (namely, the buffaloes!); enjoyed the peacefulness of nature; and meditated in the ancient and powerful yogi caves. I truly felt honored to be amonst the rarest of tourists in India who get to experience such a magical place. It was most memorable, and I hope to be back! 


First series--the caves: The African Baba has a mission to "Save the Caves"... namely, to protect and preserve them... to keep them from becoming desecrated by people who visit, merely to have a romantic triste or to picnic. They play awful music on ghetto blasters, leave their trash behind and just generally disrespect these sacred abodes of ancient yogis. I totally support his mission, because I had a personal experience of their power: I meditated in them, and they were some of the best meditations of my life, truly speaking!


A perfect spot, to be sure... 


African Baba on the steps leading down to the series of caves.


Tiger and monkey statues "stand guard" above the caves!


The deities you meet along the way down the stairs... 


Cut right into the steep cliffs, they are the perfect hideaways... 


Hard to spot, but there are more caves hidden behind this vegetation... 


More conspicuously, these main caves were easy to find, and quite homey...at least, best as can be expected from abodes made entirely of stone! 




Second series: The beautiful buffaloes! You already know I love cows and buffaloes... these were the most beautiful by far, and one youngster in particular REALLY stole my heart! He or she (not sure which!) came right up to me for a snuggle, like we were long-lost friends... it was SOOO very precious! They are truly divine creatures, and a big part of the village life... for milk, paneer, curd... and for harnessing to work. I wanted to keep the baby as a pet, truth be told! Maybe one day... 


These beautiful and majestic creatures are brahmin bulls... I did not cuddle up to them, but definitely admired their regal appearance and demeanor! 



Soaking in the hot Indian sun....







The beautiful baby who came right up to me and stole my heart away!


                                    


3rd series--the people: from the very young to the very old... a plethora of interesting and beautiful faces. I was able to "talk" to them with the Swami acting as translator...none of them spoke any English, except a few of the school children and educators. All the interactions were marvelous and most enriching... 


This little girl was the grand daughter of our cook... she was quite shy, and very charming! 


Our fabulous cook... we brought her the ingredients; she whipped up spectacular meals for me and the Swami! 


All the cooking and preps were done on the concrete floor, in this very primitive hut. She didn't have much to work with, but it didn't matter. She worked miracles with what she had! 


We visited the village school, where the children were putting on a farmer's  market and selling lovely produce. They were happy to see us, and we spent a delightful bit of the morning perusing the goods and chatting with them all. 






Loved the pink uniforms of the girls!!! 


One of the village elders... a hardy soul, indeed... farming the land in this harsh climate would indeed make one tough as nails! 



Also tough: carrying this monstrous bale of hay on the head!!! 











































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