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Day Three:

An early start again today, straight in a car and on our way to Delhi as the sun rose. It's amazing how beautiful pollution and smog can make a sunrise look. I'm quite pleased to be escaping Delhi as I've been finding the dust really hard to deal with, I'm looking forward to some fresh country air (here's hoping).

We had a smooth ride along a new expressway then a random turn off and we were driving through villages on tiny roads between houses as girls in lilac uniforms were on their way to school.

We had fun pulling faces at a car full of young kids (who started it first, I promise) and then we hit Vrindarvan, the city of monkeys. I saw a monkey sitting and eating from a packet of chips just casually, hilarious. Monkeys, peacocks, pigs and camels.

I think it was as we were driving into the gates of the ashram that I finally realised I was in India. We settled into our rooms and had the most delicious breakfast, a semolina dish with saffron, cardamon and raisins which we are all hoping to learn how to cook before we leave. We had a beautiful blessing ceremony, a pooja and then we were straight to Ashok Ladiwal Embroidery School where we were greeted with another very special blessing ceremony.We each were blessed by a priest and we blessed the beginning of the school, a really beautiful way to start the next two weeks.

Ashok and his artisans showed us how to set up a loom, transfer a design and then we all oohed and aaahed over so many beautiful samples, he had set up different styles of embroidery on a series of curtains and it was very theatrical as he pulled each one aside to reveal another.

When we returned to the school after lunch it was straight into learning some sequin techniques which we very happily spent the rest of the day practicing. We were also introduced to the long needle technique, which Ashok trains his artisans to use by only allowing them to twist the needle in there right hand for three months before they can even begin to sew, we lasted about five minutes before our hands started to cramp up...

On the way home we were passed by a funeral procession which was both quite confronting but in hindsight quite a beautiful thing to experience. The ashram is very simple, thank goodness we packed some toilet paper. It will be interesting to see how we adjust to ashram life as we are all so used to our usual comforts. More on that to come.