Time to Go

March 19, 2008 at 8:21 am · Filed under Uncategorized

Sorry we’ve been so quiet of late.  This partiular portion of our trip, spent in a different part of Rishikesh, has been pretty uneventful.  Well, except for our rafting trip :)   Mira has been a bit sick of tummy for almost a week, and it’s becoming oven-like for most of each day.  To top it off, this week has really been about turning inside ourselves, quite rewarding for us but not very exciting for a blog reader.  The next portion of our trip. a trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, will surely be more blogable, if that’s even a word.

Tomorrow morning we shove off for Delhi, where we are due to arrive just before Dennis.  From there, we’ll have two days to bum around Delhi before flying to Kathmandhu to begin our trek.   I’m very much looking forward to some chicken and a beer after 2.5 weeks in this holy yet dry and veg town!

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Rafting on the Ganga

March 15, 2008 at 5:48 am · Filed under rishikesh

At the spur of the moment we decided to go for a 20km rafting trip along the Ganga river.  I have to say, I think it was the best $10 we’ve ever spent.  It was supposed to start at 9:30am.. and in typical Indian fashion it started at 11:00am instead.  We’ve had to recalibrate IST (indian-standard-time) here as no one seems to be in a rush to do anything.  After driving north of Luxshmun Jhula for 45mins we arrived at our drop spot.  Received minimal instructions: paddle forward, paddle backwards, drop in, etc…  We were part of a larger group of Indian students from IIT.. prior to getting into the raft, the Indians pulled out snacks and a cake and had a small food break.  It reminded me of the dragon boating crew in Seattle.. paddling was always secondary to food :)

We weren’t really sure what to expect since we hadn’t seen any rapids whatsoever from the 2 bridges in Rishkesh… and anytime we saw a raft float by no one seemed to be doing anything (including paddling).  Turns out there there *are* some decent rapids, they’re just north of Luxshmun Jhula.  I was actually surprised at the size of the rapids.. it was so much fun!  At one calm point in the river our guide yelled “everyone out!”… I thought to myself “where?”.. he meant, jump out, it’s time to swim along the raft.  The Ganges isn’t exactly the warmest river, so it took a while to get used to the temperature.  Further down the river we came across some small cliffs (~20 feet) and were told to jump off them and into the river.  I had never done anything like that.  I waited for Brian to jump to make sure it was ok, then something in my head said “do it”.. and my body just ran off the cliff and jumped in the water.  It was so cool! 

In total, we spent about 3 hours rafting and I have to say it was definitely a memorable experience.  I never expected us to go rafting during our trip and it’s all the more special that it was on the Ganges.  For those of you worried that we spent so much time immersed in potentially toxic water, don’t worry.  The water is surprisingly clean up here.. I think it’s south of Rishikesh that it starts to get filthy with everyone dumping garbage into the river. 

On a different note, our friend Andy from Project Why has joined us for a few days.  As always, our plans will revolve around food.  We’ll probably wander over to Swarg Ashram to visit our favourite restaurant and eat their special Thali #2 for lunch, then get some Italian food later in the evening.  We’re also thinking of going into Haridwar and checking out a hilltop temple.. there’s apparently a cable car that takes you up to the temple and it looks neat. 

Yoga is on hold for today.. we needed a little break.. but we’ll probably pick it up again tomorrow once we find a good class in this area.

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Karma Strikes Back

March 14, 2008 at 3:51 am · Filed under Uncategorized

Namaste!

I had written a post yesterday imploring people to drop out of life and travel.  I have been having such a great time, I wanted everyone to experience the same joy.  I posted without re-reading it, and thought nothing of it.  Mira, however, was a bit perturbed at the post, as it was in generlly bad form to taunt people with unrealisitic ideas.  If people want to travel, they will travel!  They don’t need my hounding.  She was right.

Immediately after posting that piece of poo, bad things a started to happen.  We were kicked out of our hotel in favor of a large tour group.  Curiously, though, people were checking in as we were being told this.  We then spent the better part of the day trying to find a suitable landing spot in our little area, and were forced to settle on a pretty dingy establishment.  Cost = $5 per day.  We quickly came to the realization that we weren’t going to be able to spend a week there, and had to hoof it 30 minutes to another part of town to find something halfway decent.  To top it off, right as we were leaving with all of our stuff to re-walk the 30 minutes, it started to rain.  This was pretty curious, as we had not seen any weather but bright sunshine in the previous 5 weeks.  We paid our penance by sloshing through mud and poop puddles, in the dark, in the rain, with all of our gear. 

I deleted the offensive post on the way.  Since then, we have settled comfortably into our new hotel, and the sun has returned.  Coincidence??????  Lesson learned!

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Interested in giving?

March 13, 2008 at 5:15 am · Filed under Project Why, rishikesh

I know that a lot of people are interested in giving but it’s often difficult to decide where to donate.  You’re never quite sure if your money will reach the people and what your impact will be.  Here are two organizations in India that we’ve personally witnessed having a positive impact on children in India. 

BIG DISCLAIMER - these organizations do not have 501(c)3 status in the US so you will not be able to deduct your donation from your taxes.  For those of you at Microsoft, you will not be able to obtain a match from MS.

Parmarth Niketan
website:  http://www.parmarth.com/gurukul.html , http://www.parmarth.com/how_you_can_help.html
Parmarth operates an orphanage /gurukul in Rishikesh where 100 young boys live and study.  These are children that have been abandoned by their parents, found roaming the streets and have been taken in by the ashram.   We’ve personally witnessed these children running around the ashram, bright-eyed and filled with purpose. 

Project Why
website: http://www.projectwhy.org/support.htm , http://projectwhy.blogspot.com
We’ve written quite a bit about Project Why already.  It’s a New Delhi based non-profit organization engaged in education support and life skill enhancement of slum children and their families.  We’ve visited all of the classrooms and the women’s center and have seen the many women and children who have been positively impacted by this organization. 

I read an article by Vimala Thakar the other day which struck me as still being relevant.. here’s an excerpt:

“The world today forces us to accept, at least intellectually, our oneness, our interrelatedness. And more and more people are awakening to the urgency of arresting the accelerating madness around us. As yet, however, our ways of responding are superficial, unequal to the complexities of the challenge. We do not take or even consider actions that threaten our security or alter our habitual ways of drifting through life. If we continue to live carelessly, indifferently, emphasizing private gain and personal indulgence, we are essentially opting for the suicide of humanity.”

Have a wonderful day :)

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Pictures of Rishikesh

March 12, 2008 at 6:34 am · Filed under rishikesh

Not taken by us.. but in case you’re wondering what Rishikesh is like, here are some pics from the Parmarth Ashram website:

http://www.parmarth.com/gallery-ashram.html
http://www.parmarth.com/gallery-ganga.html
http://www.parmarth.com/gallery-aarti-yagna.html

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Whoops

March 12, 2008 at 6:33 am · Filed under god

I missed an important point in my last post, perhaps the most important.  While I personally have chosen a different path, I don’t believe Christianity to be bad at all.  For many, many people, it provides a foundation of existence, moral and spiritual guidance.  And that’s a very good thing indeed!

In the department of “the more you know, the more you don’t know anything”… one of the primary problems I’ve had with Christianity all along is the continuous desire to evangelize.  Why do you need to save people?  Can’t you just be content with your own relationship with God?  Well, ironically, I’ve become a bit of an evangelist myself, for the yogic path!  It’s hard NOT to sell people on yoga, given how much it’s done for me personally.  Guess I’ll have a side of crow with my lunch ;)

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Shout out – hey sista

March 11, 2008 at 5:01 am · Filed under Uncategorized

Quick shout out today to my sister Sue and her husband Joey!  We’ve thought about you often since we’ve arrived here.  See you in July :)

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Hunkering down in Rishikesh

March 11, 2008 at 4:57 am · Filed under god, rishikesh

Hi everyone!  We’re still here in Rishiksh, where we’ve grown quite comfortable.  This place is fairly out of the way, enough so that it’s pretty relaxed and uncrowded, which is great.  And there’s yoga everywhere, which is even better :)

Does God Exist?

I had written an epic post two days ago entitled “Does God Exist”.  But, upon further reflection, decided not to publish it.  It turned out to be too much of a condemnation of Christianity, which was not the original intent.  The bottom line is that, throughout my search for “truth” in our existence (what can be called spirituality), I’ve found that I am attracted to the notion of God as a unifying force, or universal truth, that is revealed to the seeker through the active devotion to self-knowledge through meditation.  God (I prefer the term Truth) is all around us, we must simply fine-tune our internal awareness through the practice of meditation to see it.  Religions involving an omnipresent external being, that are faith-based rather than experiental, have never appealed to me.  I’m really happy to have found an alternative to agnosticism.  And a life partner who shares the same viewpoint :)

OK, enough of the weighty topics.  On to some fun!

Potpourri 

Some funny things that happen on a daily basis here:

  • Sunday night, about 9pm, we’re walking home from dinner.  Out of the ashram gate rolls a ridiculous looking contraption.  As we get closer, we realize it’s a gigantic speaker system on wheels, complete with 6 brass horns and 2 massive subwoofers.  And it’s 15 feet tall.  And it’s accompanied by a 10 piece band.  We wait to see what will happen (this place rarely dissapoints with no result).  Sure enough, they cranked it up, and we nearly lost an eardrum.  Yes, random bands on a Sunday night, loud enough to wake the dead.  But not loud enough to wake the Sadhus sleeping 10 feet away.  That’s India.
  • Poop.  Nothing is so prevalant in India as poop.  It’s everywhere.  Cows, dogs, sheep, humans, all seem to produce an inordinate amount of solid waste here.  Just the other day, Mira stepped in a nice little pile on a walk, while wearing sandals.  It was all over her foot.  Unfazed, she simply said “it’ll dry”, and continued walking onward.  That’s India.
  •  The monkeys are pretty hilarious, at least once you understand their game.  They are constantly lurking, ready to jump the unsuspecting pedestrian.  Many times, we’ve seen a monkey jump from a roof to quickly snatch a bag of food from a stunned passer-by.  Never carry an exposed food bag!  Many places employ a monkey-chasing dog to ensure the safety of their building.  The more advanced locales also employ a man equipped with a slingshot, which seems the most effective monkey-control device.  At the end of the day, though, the monkey usually gets its chappati.
  • The range of products and services on offer to the white man is staggering.  At the sight of my pale skin, armies of vendors mobilize.  “Ganesh?”, “Post Card?”, “Tea?”, “Elephant Ride?”, “Internet”?, “Taxi?”, and on and on and on.  It’s pretty funny to watch the wave of sleepy faces suddenly awaken to the potential jackpot that I represent.

That’s all for today.  Thanks for reading!

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The 98-year-old yogi

March 9, 2008 at 1:04 pm · Filed under rishikesh, yoga

The yoga festival is now over.  One of my favourite memories from the festival is of the 98-year-old yogi.  We had a humbling experience in his yoga class.  The class started at 6am, the tent had about 150 people and the whole thing lasted 2 hours.. all of us were tired from getting up early, but not the swami.  I’ve never met someone so old who had so much energy.  He was one fired up yogi.  He walked us through his daily routine which consisted of breathing and physical exercies.  Every once in a while he would stop whatever exercise we were doing and exclaim “I normally do this 40 times every morning, but I’ll only make you do 5″.  None of us doubted him.  My favourite exercise was the roaring tiger.  He had all of us make clawing motions and roar with him.. as I looked over at Brian roaring, I almost peed myself laughing.  What’s happened to us??  At the end of the session, the swami asked if we would be ok with starting the class earlier, say 5am?  The entire class groaned and responded, no.. hehee.. :)   This yogi had us all in a sweat but he was the *cutest* man.  Everyone I talked to wanted to go over and hug him.  I wish I could post a picture of him.. but as Brian mentioned, our pics are currently infected with a virus.  I promise to post of a picture as soon as possible.

Moving on, we’ve decided to spend another week or so in this Rishikesh/Haridwar area.  We’re hoping to take a few hours of yoga each day to help us prepare for our upcoming hike.  It’s really nice to stay in 1 city for a while.. we’re starting to establish a routine. 

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So much for our pictures…

March 8, 2008 at 9:01 am · Filed under Uncategorized

I know that 90% of you would rather just look at pictures than endure our rambling posts.  For that majority, I have some sad news.  We attempted yesterday to use a card reader at an internet cafe to upload our pictures from camera to internet.  In the process, it seems we got a virus on our memory card, and it’s now quarantined safely in our bag.  We will hopefully be able to  salvage our pictures, but we do not want to take the chance of using these shady internet cafe machines to do the recovery work.  So it might be a couple of months until we’re able to post the pictures from the last 2 weeks.  Sorry :(

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