Day 3:

(5/22/12)

Today was one of our last free days before everyone is here and our programs start…. So we decided to spend it by visiting a temple! About 7 of us went to the Ishkan Temple, which was a really incredible experience. It really did not seem like a destination for westerners, meaning we were definitely the minority as we walked through. After removing our shoes, we walked through this maze of walkways up to the first of three shrines. At each shrine there were different statues, flowers, figurines, and incense burning. The final shrine was located in this huge room and was so impressive… three huge statues with this huge gold pyramid, people everywhere, Brahmins (like monks) performing different ceremonies, and one

Brahmin even did a little prayer with our group. Pretty incredible! And really neat to see, although unfortunately no pictures allowed. We bought snacks for lunch at the temple, and then eventually made it back to the suites after being taken far out of the way by rickshaw drivers who just wanted to charge us much more money than necessary. Later this evening we went to get phones as a group (by now, almost everyone is here) and then went to dinner at one of our favorite local places.