Dubare elephant + mahout

I took a short hiatus from traveling and checked into an authentic, ayurvedic retreat center for a few days. It was just outside of Mysore, surrounded by palm trees and sugar cane fields. Sort of off the grid, but extremely beautiful and peaceful. A welcomed experience after all of the recent hustle and bustle. For those of you who haven’t heard of ayurveda, it is the ancient complex science of indian herbal medicine and healing. It originated in India thousands of years ago. Traditional ayurvedic practitioners can work some serious holistic wonders. A 10,000 mile tune-up was just what the body needed.
Afterwards, the plan was to visit a wildlife national park, but the peak tourist season choked off all travel opportunities to that region. So I had to settle for something else. But I was at least able to see some elephants, and I didn’t have to go to a zoo to do it.
From there I paid a visit to one of India’s Tibetan refugee colonies – Bylakuppe. In the matter of a couple kilometers, the familiar Indian countryside dissolved into a haven of maroon and yellow robed monks. Bylakuppe’s crown jewel is the Namdroling Monastary which features a golden temple with none other than a 55-foot, gold-plated Buddha sitting inside. I spent the afternoon ducking under awnings and into temples trying avoid the persistent deluge of rainfall. There was plenty to see and do, but without a pre-arranged permit, foreigners aren’t allowed to stay overnight, which meant I couldn’t linger too long. There will be more opportunities to visit some Tibetan villages next month in the north, so I wasn’t too terribly disappointed.