Vrindivan/ the "Eco Village" aka ashram/ hare krishna ashram

We took a train from New Delhi to Vrindavan, where the Eco Village we were going to stay at was. The train was dirty and crowded and lots of beggars came through with missing limbs or eyes, waiting for you to give them money and screaming at you in multiple languages. Ignoring them did not work you had to scream at them in return to get them to leave. It was only a 2 hour train ride and once we got off we were bombarded by tuktuk drivers. We finally found a van cab to take us and our huge bags to Vrindavan which was 40 minutes from the station. Once we arrived at the Eco Village we realized it wasn't an eco village at all...it was an ashram. And on top of that it was a hare krishna ashram called the Vrindavan Institute for Vaishnava Culture and Studies. Straight off the bat it was 100% cultish. The guru, Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti, started telling us his views which included "secular teachings are ruining the world and giving out poor eductation," "vegetariansism is the only way to live and if you dont you are a murderer," and " you must believe in a god or else your life is meaningless and serves no purpose." He told us that the next day we were required to attend a class at 7 am, led by himself, and that we had the honor of going to the Yamuna river and "collecting" garbage. It felt more like convict roadside community service especially since many of the men in the hare krishna wear orange. The beds in our rooms were essentially small wooden tables with a cushion on them and had there not been so many bugs, I might have been more comfortable sleeping on the ground.

Vrindavan has more monkeys than people and they will steal your glasses, sunglasses, cameras in order to get food. Sometimes when they give you food they give your items back, sometimes they throw them, and sometimes they break them. Its really a toss up. They are apparently vicious too, biting people and taking large chunks of skin with them. As much as I was already feeling threatened and uncomfortable by the aggressiveness of the Indian people, now I had to fear the animals, too. India is by far the hardest place I have been in my life.