Ellen Besso

An Indian Sojourn would make a great Christmas gift for folks interested in travelling to India or for arm chair travellers. "An Indian Sojourn is one of my favourite reads... I often just take it off the shelf and read a few chapters or passages... you are a good writer Ellen." Susan Elizabeth Girard I journeyed with you every day. It is travel writing with depth to it. Jan Degrass, Coast Reporter... "Because I was on the trip with Ellen, I thought I knew it all. But when I read the book there was much I didn't see. Ellen's writing and insights gave me a deeper view." Don (Garton) Smith - That's me in the pic above in my fabulous Rajasthani khata.

Excerpted from: https://ellenbesso.com/books/ Both of Ellen’s books, Surviving Eldercare, Where Their Needs End and Yours Begin, published in 2009, and An Indian Sojourn, One woman’s spiritual experience of travel & volunteering, published in 2013, were a labour of love. Surviving Eldercare is a personal account of Ellen and Gleny’s journey over the next thirteen years and it is also a self help book, complete with exercises, for other women, (and men), who are caring for agi...ng parents and other family members. https://www.amazon.ca/Surviving-Eldercare-Wher//0981238106 Ellen’s spiritual travel memoir, chronicling a three month trip to India taken by Ellen and her partner, from late 2009 to early 2010, their second of five trips. Ellen had been attracted to the Indian subcontinent since she was a young woman, but life intervened, and it was thirty years before she set foot on India soil. https://www.amazon.ca/Indian-Sojourn-spiritua//ref=sr_1_1 READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AT ellenbesso.com

New blog post at ellenbesso.com: Expansion or Withdrawal - What do you Choose Thoughts on how to deal with the powerful energies entering our atmosphere. The 11:11 portal is today. https://ellenbesso.com//expansion-or-withdrawal-what-do-y/

Such a positive experience to work with this amazing group of women, helping children in faraway Namibia.

This Syrian artist paints world leaders as refugees.

Playing catchup...After Mamallapuram we spent few days in Pondicherry. Planned to stay longer but the crazy traffic got to us. We stayed in a beautiful, 150 yr old former family home, on the outskirts of the French Quarter, called Coramandel. Lovely managers, family run. The family also owns a large Indian restaurant/hotel nearby. Unfortunately South India food is pretty spicy, but the waiters were helpful, & they did have some North India offerings. A few streets from ou...r hotel was an authentic French cafe, called Fresh Bread, where we ate each morning. Omelets were on offer, but the real draw was the pastries, they were to die for! We took a walk along the waterfront & through the French Quarter one day, eating lunch at

McLeodganj Feb weather isn't as good as it seemed when we arrived on the 9th. Now back to sun for a few days & today it was actually hot on Kunga Restaurant's deck at 9 am. The Tibetan restaurants are reopening after their 3 day Losar closing. Lovely visit with Dekyi in her home down the hill yesterday; she cooked us Tibetan food. Today we meet an Indian friend & go to her home in Dharamsala, the large Indian town.

Last night we had the privilege of attending a special Losar event hosted by Chukie, the owner of Pema Thang Guesthouse where we're staying. It was for all the guests. Oddly of the 11 of us, 8 were Canadians, 6 of those from BC! Deferring to our western status, the staff prepared delicious pasta, special rice, with raisins & sweet milk, & great potatoes. A guest from Montreal, who winters here annually, baked amazing apple pie, brownies w/ icing & lemon cake. Chukie & her m...usician friend regaled us with a variety of Tibetn music before dinner as we sat beside the wood stove in the guesthouse restaurant. It was a lovely Losar. Below is a pic of the special cookies baked for Losar. (posted by a Tibetan restaurant in "Little Lhasa", Jackson Heights, NY.

Losar festivities began at 7 am this morning. We were still in bed, unfortunately, recovering from head colds, listening to the gutteral chanting of monks from the temple, just down the hill from our guesthouse. We made it over there after breakfast, joining crowds of Tibetans, a few Westerners & Indians walking down Temple Rd. When we arrived but Tibetans, dressed in their finest chubas, were streaming through the downstairs courtyard, while in the upstairs temple & the uppe...r courtyard, special prayers were taking place for Tibetans only.The temple was decked out in a fresh coat of paint & special Tibetan thanka hangings. Our friend, Lama Tenzin Tsundu, who lives in our home community is in McLeod Ganj now, participating in the Long Life prayers for His Holiness. We had a sense last night that we would run into him very soon, & suddenly, there in the lower courtyard of the temple, I hear my name called, & he was standing in front of us, giving us each a big hug. He was dressed head to toe, in new Losar clothing, all Western, much to our surprise. To say Tsundula was happy, would be quite an understatement! Note: Pics below: Tsundula, from his bio; inside temple taken by Don in 2007; crowds at Losar from dalailama.com/gallery.

India is, by definition, a messy place. In McLeod, the 2 main streets, Temple Rd. & Jogabara Rd. are paved, & good to go rain or shine. Bhagsu Rd. is unpaved off the square, always bumpy & lumpy, & quite muddy after a rainfall, like this week. We'd been watching out for our lovely friend Kelo on the street, & yesterday we ran into her. She took us to her home in "Amdo Village", a Tibetan enclave off Bhagsu Rd. not far from the town square, down in the valley. The climb down ...to Kelo's one room family apartment was a muddy mess as a new road was under construction, ruining the pathway. (Back up was even worse; Indian women coming down in flipflops carrying vegetables, elderly men & women needing to be helped down). When we got to Kelo's, we reconnected with not only her husband & one daughter, a nun who lives with them, but were surprised to meet 2 other daughters & a son, who were visiting from their respective nunnery, residential school & monastery for Losar. The youngest daughter has excellent English, & translated for us. It was heartwarming to be welcomed into the simple, loving Tibetan home of our good friends.

AFTER CHENNAI: Next stop was Mamallapuram, about 2 hours south of Chennai. It's an old hippy colony, a small town of 12,000 people. Didn't swim but enjoyed walking on the beach.

Losar Celebrations - Dharamsala & Gibsons BC: This year Losar is Feb 18th & 19th. His Holiness will be giving public talks during that time in Dharamsala. On the Canadian end, the Tibetan families on the Sunshine Coast will be putting on a Losar dinner at Gibsons United Church, beginning at 4:30 on Feb 20th. For more information, contact Terri Scallon thru facebook or [email protected].

We began our 2015 India journey in Chennai, South India, flying from Van to Toronto, to Frankfurt, to Chennai. Treated ourselves to a fancy hotel, Green Park Hotel, where we went into jet lag recovery mode.

I have also taken the journey with a mother who had Alzheimer's - "Surviving Eldercare"

Mellow New Years Eve at friends, with live music & singing. Quite lovely. It feels like many of us are moving into a peaceful place inside ourselves. Happy New Years.

SPECIAL HOLIDAY PRICE: You can purchase your copy of An Indian Sojourn for $15 instead of $20, from today until December 20th. Perfect for travellers armchair travellers. Makes good Christmas gifts. Contact Ellen: [email protected] or 886-9140.

I'll be at the Gibsons United Craft Fair this Saturday, December 6th, with my book, An Indian Sojourn. Come out & join us, it's a lot of fun. Saturday 10-2, 724 Trueman Rd.