Om Namaha Shivaya

Today is an un-structured, no-plans day. Perfect for Sunday. Still a bit jet laggy but actually it is only affecting bed and wake up times. I feel like a band dude… Up til 3, sleep til almost noon. Kind of fun! Around noon the ‘Nirvana Wellness Spa’ catches my attention. Still kind of in a dreamy state, I stumble into an hour-long Thai foot massage. Which was awesome on about a million levels and made me super hungry. My room mates and I walk about a mile down a very dusty and dingy road (which is more like a highway) to a swanky hotel where we have read has a great restaurant. I am not usually one for a buffet (that it is the most common mis-spelling of my last name is very annoying, and also it’s usually just too much) but this is a most exotic and vast spread of South Indian, Continental Indian, and Chinese food (Indians love Chinese food like we love Mexican food). Plus soups, breads, nan, and so many tiny desserts. This has been a super Olympics for my taste buds and takes ‘Indian Buffet’ to a whole new stratosphere. Our further adventure outside led to the massive (like 5 stories tall) Shiva Murti. A murti is a sacred symbolic statue, usually for an altar. Apparently the Indira Ghandi airport had to reroute flying patterns to accommodate for this Shiva Murti. It is massive, and a great reminder of how the Spirit world is woven into the fabric of the culture and manifests as larger than life temples on street corners and roadsides everywhere here. This particular expression if Shiva is said to have a blue neck because he swallowed the poisons of the oceans on behalf of the gods. He holds a trident and his favorite city is Kashi, also known as Varanasi. Which is where we travel tomorrow. Om Namaha Shivaya!

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