I totally forgot that I never shared the rest of my India pictures! Today I thought I'd share some pics of the place we stayed, Satsanga. It was really, truly, the best place I have ever stayed in my whole life. It's not lavish, but it's beautiful, serene, and feels like a home away from home. Satsanga means community in Sanskrit, and it is the perfect word to describe this place. These pictures don't do it justice, as is usual with such experiences, but hopefully some of the magic of the place comes through.
One of the things that made it so special, was all of the people working there. Satsanga employs about 25 people from the local village, mostly women, and this provided them with a good income. It can be very hard for women especially to find well-paying jobs in India. And they were amazing! They saw to every need, and always added extra touches to everything. There was one woman who went out every other day and placed fresh flowers everywhere, like on this Buddha statue. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the people. This is one thing I struggle with when traveling: taking pictures of people. They are what I want to remember the most, but not only am I too shy to ask sometimes, I also don't want to feel like I'm exploiting the people. I think it's a fine line of being respectful and treating people like they are on display for their "otherness."
This is the room where we stayed. I shared with another girl, who turned out to be an awesome and sweet spirit. The rooms were simple, but plenty comfortable, and we had our own bathroom as well. We left all the doors and windows open at night to get as much air moving as possible. The ceiling fan was a lifesaver!
A traditional temple to Shiva, where many of the Hindu staff members would leave offerings of fruit and incense on their way in.
More cozy loveliness.
This is the larger of the yoga shalas that we practiced in. Isn't it beautiful? I didn't get a good shot of the other shala, but that one is up high in the treetops. The flower pattern was on the floor one day for another group who was finishing a teacher training.
In addition to all of this amazingness, there were several cats and three dogs who live there, and they were always up for a pet. I think that really made it feel homey, and helped me to not miss my own animals as much. And the FOOD! I could do a whole post on the food...it was soooooooo good.
Satsanga mainly caters to retreats and teacher trainings, but if they have space you can also just stay there as a regular guest. If you ever find yourself in Goa...
shanti >> sondra
This where we would often hang out, or eat together in the evenings. There were so many cozy places like this.
A traditional temple to Shiva, where many of the Hindu staff members would leave offerings of fruit and incense on their way in.
This is the larger of the yoga shalas that we practiced in. Isn't it beautiful? I didn't get a good shot of the other shala, but that one is up high in the treetops. The flower pattern was on the floor one day for another group who was finishing a teacher training.
In addition to all of this amazingness, there were several cats and three dogs who live there, and they were always up for a pet. I think that really made it feel homey, and helped me to not miss my own animals as much. And the FOOD! I could do a whole post on the food...it was soooooooo good.
Satsanga mainly caters to retreats and teacher trainings, but if they have space you can also just stay there as a regular guest. If you ever find yourself in Goa...
shanti >> sondra
hey sondra, i was just wondering how you planned your india trip. did you book thru a travel agent? or yourself? how did you research the place to stay/see? thanks for any info you have!
ReplyDelete-richelle