Follow the Journey

Hey everyone, this is your captain Travon Braswell speaking using Haley’s account again because I still can’t get in mine unfortunately but I am here to bring this story book to a closing so sit back and enjoy the last of our adventures. So i’ll start with the for some, long dreaded Himalayas trek and what was for others something long anticipated. It was absolutely beautiful getting out of towns and up into nature. To be in a place that was only seen on maps or in movies was phenomenal! The first day was the shortest and maybe the roughest for some. Like a new pair of shoes, we were just breaking it in, in terms of our hiker mentalities. We made it up to this abandoned temple where we were going to stay the night. It was pretty spooky. Also there was this random guardian of the temple who resided there by his/her lonesome. A friendly goat that we named George. George was the sweetest little goat. While the rest of us slept inside this room on little sleeping mats, our lady OE Avy decided to sleep outside and cuddle with George. Who while in the middle of the night had pooped all over her, peed on her book, kicked her off her mat, and then stormed in the room walking all over Blanca waking her up. Ahh yes, what a sweet little goat George was. Then came the next day. The day of our longest trek which was about 7-10 hours of wonderful sight seeing, stories, and just good bonding. It might have been longer but I don’t want to exaggerate. That was a day when there was much needed motivation and the feeling of making it to the top was in my mind one of the most accomplishing feelings ever. Also on our way up it had started snowing! I’ve never heard of it snowing in India… It was awesome! We hadn’t got to the glacier yet where all the snow was but it was still one of the most amazing sights I had ever seen. So you could only imagine the feeling of the next day when we had conquered the rest of our trek upward and got to the snow!! Everyone was so stoked and we all had a blast throwing snow balls at each other and sliding on our butts down these snow slopes. I don’t think any of us will ever be forgetting that moment. Moving on to the end of the trek the following day, we had made it down and back to Mcleoud Ganj where we were all excited to not be walking anymore. This is something we weren’t expecting. After we got back, a couple of us were at the internet cafe and all of a sudden BAM!!! Some of our friends from the Shanti group walk in and blow our eardrums with some opera type screaming. It was so good to see our friends that we didn’t think we’d see until the airport here in town and be able to share dinner with some of them. The day after that, our group was to say goodbye to another member of our family, Haley W(H Dubs). She took her leave after personal reasons that we all respect and support her for and wish her the best. This next event is a once in a lifetime, check it. Thanks to our OEs and their persistence, our group was able to go with those of the Shanti group to meet, shake hands, and take a picture with his Holiness, the Dalai Lama! How many people do you know that can say that? As I have been saying this whole trip, we did that. From there we made our way on a road trip. A nice tight and snug ride towards a city called Amritsar to see the Golden Temple. This city was something else. Continuing the trend of seeing things we’ve never seen before, we saw a Mcdonalds that said it was a vegetarian restaurant. Like whaaat?! That wasn’t the main thing though, we had gotten to the Golden temple and stayed the night in this tourist room with a bunch of other travelers. Being able to go in freely to the Golden Temple and gaze at its beauty was a sight to behold. But the real beauty came in the night time in my opinion. When the moonlight and other lights reflected off of the temple bringing out its inner golden beauty. I can’t at this moment in time put up pictures but will delegate someone to posting some for you all so that you can share these sights with us. We had the experience of eating for free at the temple as well because Sikhs are so awesome and love the people and fed us. After that we got to go down to where they were washing thousands of dishes(no exaggeration) and fight for a spot in the washing line so we could help too which was something else to see. Lots of splashing of the water and getting soap in our eyes but we pulled through. From there, we had boarded our very last night train en-route to one of many people’s favorite city Rishikesh. There we were doing some closing out activities for our group, taking flashbacks throughout our journey and just getting ready for the culture shock of returning home. It was some sad stuff. The true meaning of bitter sweet. But on the bright side, a lot of us got to go one shopping sprees to get last minute gifts that we weren’t going to have to haul around for much longer! Unfortunately just like in the beginning of the trip, people were going down with sicknesses. Luckily I wasn’t one of them. Haley M, Blanca, and I went with the OEs to do some zip lining type stuff thanks to Haley for taking on the task of setting it all up for us because it was sweet! We went on this thing called the Flying Fox where the three of us were harnessed together and sent flying off this cliff/height thing through the air super fast and man, my stomach was about to drop out of my mouth. Obviously though, we lived to tell the tale. From Rishikesh we headed towards out last sight to see, the Taj Mahal. A city that may or may not be the consensus least liked city but the Taj Mahal was incredible. Such a beautiful structure. Then that brings me to today… Our last train ride back to Dehli to complete this full circle. To think we’ll be on planes headed back home tonight is such a confusing blend of emotions. To be so eager to see family and friends only to be leaving behind this family we made here on this journey of a lifetime is really tough to process. And even though our group is back to where it all began, but this time three members short is another thought in its own. To Mathilda, Sam, and Haley W, even though you guys aren’t here for the end, doesn’t mean you’re not here in spirit. I feel blessed to have had all of you on this trip and want to say thanks for being a part of it. You might not be here but nevertheless, you’re still members of this family. That’s all I have to say so thanks to our OEs for leading and teaching us so much during our time here. Thanks to Carpe Diem for having a program that gets to bring people together in such a space that you don’t get in many places, and thanks to everyone else who has supported us in our adventures. Get ready to see your babies soon. Travon out. PEACE!