Travels With a Swami : From Hollywood to the Himalayas, an L.A. Girl's Trip of a Lifetime

In the mid-1970s, a 20-something party girl from LA becomes aware of the spiritual life in India and decides to travel there. She meets a female Swami in a Himalayan ashram, and the women then spend 5 weeks traveling together to holy shrines throughout South India.

Her travels begin in Spain and Italy, funded by the proceeds of a coffee table book she compiled and sold to Bantam Books New York. Her true journey begins when she meets a charismatic female swami and together they embark on an adventure of a lifetime, visiting many spiritual pilgrimage sites rarely seen by foreigners.

In a very personal, detailed, and intimate portrait of a special journey, author Laura D'Auri takes the reader through a world unknown to most people. She entertains her readers with one-of-a-kind experiences including:

*               Visiting various Hindu pilgrimage shrines.

*               Spending time at an ashram in the Himalayas.

*               Getting dysentery in Benares.

*               Experiencing a 2,000-year-old labyrinth.

*               Visiting a holy shrine high on a mountain.

*               Enjoying city life with friends in Chennai.

Full of heart, Travels With A Swami follows Laura's travels from the mundane, to the sacred, to the dangerous, and everywhere in between. It's a perfect read for those fascinated by travel and India or anyone interested in spirituality. Those who enjoy learning about Hinduism will relate to many of the themes and anecdotes.