Last of Buddha Garden

Although it feels like a long time ago, we were at Buddha Garden just about a week ago, seems longer. These are some of the last pictures from our time in Auroville. 

Country kiss

We had an infestation of hornet like flying-stinging things trying to live in our huts roof. Ginger got stung on the finger by one, it really hurt and left a big red bump that's still there. Here they are with a few guards standing watch. There was a lot more hiding inside the comb they were building. Rajan the do it all staff member of the Buddha Garden dealt with it by bravely spraying some ant spray at them and poking the nest with a stick. Brave man. Amazingly he didn't get stung and they left, after being smoked out with incense for a few more days.

We ventured to the ocean one very hot day, Luc and fellow Buddha Garden volunteer Mikey went for a dip.

Regina, Ginger and Luc. 

In the salty ocean.

Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuutie.

Similarity breeds liking

The entrance complete with cattle gate.

Scrum of crazy red bugs.

Our daily packing list.

Bag, hats, water, toilet paper, flashlight, mosquito spray, water, money belt, pen, notepad, pocket knife, keys, fan. 

Yet another pretty sunset.

We visited a farm where they grew Spirulina, we had been taking the tablets for a few days prior to seeing the tanks it was made in, after seeing them we stopped. Spirulina is an algae that's supposedly really good for you, it's a complete amino acid. But the tanks it was being grown in had other things growing in them, and looked pretty gross. The stuff is expensive too!

Luc and Amy not looking very enthused.

We really enjoyed our time in Auroville but are happy to be where it is not so hot. Its starting to feel like our trip is almost over, which is crazy because we still have nearly two months left, most people never travel for even that long! We're all cozied up in the tourist ghetto of Kathmandu for now, waiting for some tummy trouble to blow over, then its off to the hills. Five more weeks in Nepal, who knows what kind of shenanigans we'll get up to. Check back soon to find out!

Solitude Organic & Pebble Garden

Probably the best thing about Auroville has been all the great Organic small farms to see and explore. We got to know the Buddha Garden quite well, and had the chance to check out a bunch of places. Two of our favorites have been Solitude Organic and Pebble Garden. 

The entrance to the farm

Field of rice

They were growing rice and food using a method known as "do nothing" farming. I'm into this. It's a style and philosophy inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka. I read the book and it changed my perspective on food.

Up close

Rice sitting out in the sun to dry

Bicycle powered flour grinder, there is a grinder beside it another bike.

The nursery

Ginger with corn taller than she is

Mmm, want to grow...

Big windmill


The days start with a quick foggy sunrise, and a long colorful sunset. It will be hard to leave our  little hut in the field.

Baby goat in the farm beside us

Mama goat in the path to Buddha Garden

We went to a cotton exposition as well, very interesting

 We went for a tour of the Pebble Garden which is half soil regeneration and half seed saving. They grew an amazing amount of vegetables, mostly for seed. The man running the farm was the cutest farmer ever, and everything about the farm was beautiful. They had a very nice second story loft I wouldn't mind living in.

Cute farmer

Mosquito nets to avoid cross pollination

To create soil, they make a bed full of compostable matter and use twigs with will decompose eventually into the bed 

Big Chinese cabbage

Hampi to Tirumala

 First of all I'd like to apologize for our lack of updates lately, we've had patchy internet connection for a while, and have been busy doing other things. We're trying to catch up.

Before coming to Buddha Garden over a month ago, we spent some time in a small touristy town called Hampi, built around the ruins of ancient temples, it is a popular destination for the kind of people who like to take pictures of things, and of course, hippies. For us it was more a stop over than anything, although we did spend four days there relaxing and ambling about. After being in Mumbai the slowing down of the pace was a welcome change. Our favorite part was the river, it was cold and refreshing, we did our laundry there, and cooled ourselves off many times. We got to see the Indian method of washing clothes, which is to smack them against a rock, and we were the only foreigners to join in. 

A particularly  long Sari being rinsed out, the current was fairly strong.

View of the street from a third story restaurant. The food in Hampi was delicious.

Petting a cow by the riverside.

The shade beside the river was a nice place to sit.

The riverside steps also served as a place to bathe, lots of people jumped right in the river.

Hampi was full of monkeys.


After a few nice days in Hampi, we decided to continue south towards Auroville. We decided to stop in Tirupathi, only a few hours by bus away. Right beside Tirupathi is Tirumala, which is a huge temple town on the side of a mountain promising massive crowds of pilgrims and a cool insight into Indian religion. It draws massive crowds of sometimes more than a hundred thousand people per day from all over India, people wait for eight or more hours for a few minutes inside the temple. Ginger took a bunch of pictures on the bus ride, while Luc slept.

Briefly awake, reading.

Once we arrived in Tirupathi we took a very crowded bus from the bus station to our hotel area.

Street view of the very loud, very chaotic corner from our hotel room. 

Elephants during the parade around Tirumala. The chains made me sad, they didn't look like happy elephants.

Small view of a big crowd. 

Being surrounded by that many people in such a sacred area was a fantastic experience. Being pulled into the parade is something Luc will never forget. The man yelling "don't give that man any money!" in reference to the fellow who pulled me in was the icing on the cake, this is India for you.

We have lots of stuff to post about still, more from Buddha Garden and our adventures in India soon. The next step of our journey will be especially scenic as we're headed to Nepal. Set to land in Kathmandu on Tuesday the sixth, just in time for it to get even hotter here in India. We can't take the heat!

We miss you all and are excited to see our friends and families, you better not have forgotten about us because we haven't forgotten you! xxoo

Buddha Garden

We still really love it here at the Buddha Garden, and feel so at home we're predictably extending our stay.  

Mending & dirty feet

grenouille.

The field outside our hut

There are beautiful sunsets every night

Blanket door keeps it cool inside

Our new cabin in the woods.

Luc assisting in tipi building

Sawdust for the compost toilet in the nearby International House, which houses volunteers in Auroville.

His & Hers compost toilets. Not actually, one is for the liquids, the other for the solids. 

5 kilos of fresh green & purple lettuce

Lettuce bouquet

7 a.m

Washing

Finding earthworms while weeding

Sitting on our second story porch

We watch the sunset every night from our hut

A local fire-dancer

There are windmills everywhere.