Back to Swami's Ashram On The Mountain Top of Digewadi! March 19th Through 25th -- A Wild Week!

 March 19th, Day One: The arduous trip to the ashram: 

What a convoluted journey to get from the Ananda Retreat in Watunde to Swamiji's ashram at Digewadi! I first had to use a private Retreat driver to take me to a bus "stop" just outside of Pune...this took an hour and a quarter. The "stop" wound up being just the side of a busy highway! Other people stood by the side of this highway with their luggage, waiting either for buses OR for various truck drivers and drivers of private cars who were willing to whisk them away for a reasonable price, if sharing the same destination. A strange, Indian version of hitchhiking!  I myself of course was taking a bus, but it was hard to know which one (I had help, thankfully, from a young Indian man who spoke nominal English, but enough to help me sufficiently, thank God!) 

I waited at this stop for close to 2 hours... I got there early, and the bus was late! It seemed to take forever to get to the town I was aiming for: Satara. This was another 3.5 hours. From there, I had a devil of a time finding the local bus to Patan--no one spoke a lick of English at this very dirty, smelly, funky bus station-- but I finally suceeded, and made it to Patan a couple hours later. I was exhausted, grimy, and in a bad mood, worsened by the fact that I needed money, the ATM wouldn't work, and Swamiji had a huge shopping list for me! A no-go, to be sure... 

After getting a rickshaw to take me up the mountain, I FINALLY arrived at Digewadi and the ashram... all told, it was about a 9 hour journey. Exhausted, but happy to have made it... I settled into the main sleeping/living quarters for myself, Swami and Manakshi... happy to have the new mattress (I purchased two, one for myself and one for Manakshi) to sleep on. 

March 20th, second day: 

The next day, we wandered through the Digewadi village... Swamiji showed me where to get buffalo milk (fresh daily!) from the resident dairy man... and I marveled at the strength of the women doing the construction work! 

We then went back down the mountainside to the town of Patan to do some shopping... 

... and enjoyed a magnificent sunset upon our return. 




Being on the plateau at the top of a mountain, both sunrises and sunsets are spectacular up here. There are also lots of windmills, owing to the almost unceasing wind that whisks through this broad, open space. 

In the town of Patan: Yes, I was a "ledie" in need of a toilet!!! Just gotta love all the misspellings of these Indians!!!

Swamiji and took a trip back into Patan on the second day, in order to procure the goods I was unable to get the evening before. On the way, we stopped at a roadside tea shop, and I fell in love with another adorable puppy!!!


The village women moving bricks! Cannot imagine how they do this without hurting their heads and necks, but clearly they are quite practiced at it!! 






March 21st, 22nd, 23rd...  days three, four, and five: 

Visited by ashram monkeys... enjoying a MOST magnificent meditation overlooking a gorgeous vista... breathtaking skies.... hatha yoga inside the ancient caves... Swamiji goes up on the ashram (tin) roof to assess repairs needed... we take on the painting of the exterior, to beautify our humble abode! 




















I was fascinated by the formation of this perfect cow patties, used to burn as fuel... apparently very efficient, and certainly quite organic and natural!


March 24th, day six: 

A very full day of excursions! The morning: a half hour walk to an old, local temple... Swamiji does a ritual for my father's passing (a year and a half a go)... The afternoon: Very long hike in the hot sun to a major road... catching an insanely wild and rickety local bus to a far-away locale... swimming in a reservoir... visiting a sadhu in a "waterfall cave" where he had lived for 30 years... coming back in the dark... another long hike... an exhausting jeep ride back to our ashram and blessed sleep! 


This first series of photos:  morning hike, visit to the temple, the ritual... 





Next series: the long, hot hike to catch the bus....





Final series: the visit to the waterfall cave and the sadhu who lived there... 








March 25th, Day seven, my departure... 

Another funky bus station, this time in Patan...but thank goodness, Manakshi and Swamiji were there with me this time to ensure I got on the correct bus, and it took me DIRECTLY to Pune! YAY! Only one bus... 

After spending a couple nights back with my Ananda friends in Pune, I flew to Delhi for my next adventure... 






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