Varanasi, City of Shiva

Varanasi, the last major stop of my time in India, was the most intense city in India I had a chance to visit. I can't imagine another city in India possessing the intensity and feel as unique as Varanasi. The city is renown for pilgrims coming to burn there loved ones and allowing their ashes to drain into the holy Ganges river. The center regions of Varanasi near the banks of the Ganges are extremely crowded and have numerous narrow and winding lanes and an incredible array of shops and businesses. The ghats, the steps leading down to the river, number over 100, most of them bathing ghats with several used for cremation purposes. Many of the ghats are associated with legends and other Hindu mythology. The ghats stretch on for miles, making for some quality walking and sight-seeing. At the moment the monsoon season is over in Varanasi and the Ganges river has fallen in height considerably, at least 20-30 ft it seems looking at watermarks along the walls. It is now possible to walk much further down the steps of the gnats than would have been possible last month. During the peak of the monsoon season the river rises to heights nearly completely covering over the height of the steps, which can be quite steep and high is some areas. During this time I would imagine the city and riverfront area has a much different feel, as there is much less area on the steps for people to congregate and hang out, particularly for the morning and evening pujas.
In many areas powerful hoses and generators are out hosing out large piles of mud and sediment which deposits itself during high river time. I would imagine the operators must uncover some interesting discoveries from within the deposited mud, probably much bones and parts of bodies. I had heard that those who can't afford cremations are often tied down which heavy rocks or other apparatus and tossed into the river after they have died. Often times these corpses wash ashore when they have decayed enough to loosen out of whatever was holding them down. I never had the experience of seeing any bodies floating around however. Others I have spoken to have talked of seeing dogs gnawing away at the riverbank on decomposing corpses.

The busiest, most colorful, and probably most spectacular of the ghats is Dashashwamedh Ghat. A group of priests daily perform various pujas, or religious cermonies, in the evening at this ghat, including "Agni Puja" (Worship to Fire) wherein a dedication is made to Lord Shiva, River Ganga, the Sun, Agni (Fire), and the whole universe. It was quite fascinating watching these performances during the evening, as crowds of devout Hindus and as well as tourists flock to the ghat to observe the performances lasting for over an hr. In a center area next to a guardrail sit countless beggars and medically downtrodden, many looking plagued with leprosy and deformed or missing limbs. Pretty much all of them sit with begging pots or outstretched hands asking for money. The levels of poverty and those living in the streets are staggering. Even if you give change to one person you have hundreds and thousands more asking a moment later. Mixed in with the people on the gnats are the everpresent cows, goats, dogs, and occasional monkeys making quick raids for food. The visual stimuli is overwhelming, not too mention the noise and everpresent strench of the place.

The primary burning gnat is Manikarnika Gnat, located a little bit north up the Ganges from Dashashwamdgh Gnat. Here 24 hr burning of corpses is going on, with constant smoke and activity surrounding the area. Walking the narrow lanes in the blocks surrounding the gnat is it quite common to bump into processions of men carrying corpses on their way to their burning location. Apparently only certain lower caste and untouchable men are employed in the process of carrying the bodies. Huge piles of wood are stockpiled and waiting to be used to burn up the bodies. Apparently it is a very precise operation how much wood and what kind to be used for each body. Wood gets quite expensive so it is weighed out carefully and the exact amt needed is used. Those with more money can pay for more expensive and desireable types of wood as well.


I was walking around in the narrow alleyways and lanes surrounding the gnat when an Indian offered to show me where the bodies were burnt. I knew there had to be some kind of catch involved but I decided to follow him on the way to the burning gnat anyway. I was taken to a bld overlooking the burning grounds. Here I was immediately approached by another Indian asking if I wanted to take pictures of the burnings. I had interest in taking some pictures as it was such a unique and surreal experience, with the wrapped up bodies smoking away on the wood stacks. The guy was unfortunately asking crazy amts of money to take photos, like over $10 US a pic, saying that the money would be going towards the cost of wood or other associated costs. This I hardly believed for a second, as many Indians I have found to be masters of conning and creating ploys to make money for themselves out of unsuspecting tourists and visitors. I stuck around for a few more moments before I had an everpresent older woman approaching me with her hands out begging for money, at which point I decided I had had enough and it was time to get out of the place. Apparently the Indian wasn't pleased with me not handing out money and tried to get in my face and grab my arm as I was walking away. When I ripped it away and and headed for the steps to get out of the place, he followed me and made as though he was going to attack me or something. I felt for no second scared or intimidated by this fellow, as he was a bit smaller and wouldn't have had much chance against me. However with the seemingly infinite crowds of other Indians nearby it wouldn't have been a wise choice to start anything. Later on I heard from other Indians that it is a somewhat common occurance for fights and other altercations to occur in the burning ghats areas between tourists and aggressive solicitors. There is also a presence of organized crime and mafia in the area which I read about in Lonely Planet and heard more about later, contributing to a culture in this area as wel as the train station.

One other burning gnat in town, although of lesser importance than the Manikarnika Gnat, is the Harischandra Gnat. At this gnat I experienced much less hassle and aggravation than the previous one. I met two Indians here alongside the river and was invited up to a small Hindu ceremony a short walk away, for a small fee of course. The one Indian was supposeably a Swami or something of that nature. Before the ceremony he jumped in the Ganges and bathed with soap, attempted to clean himself in the sacred yet filthy waters. Then I was led up to a balcony area adorned with a Shiva figure and several of his tridents, along with a group of other Indians. There was a small fire going on in which began wiping ashes on various areas of himself. The Indians whipped out a chilam, an Indian style smoking pipe made of what seems like clay. Here they inserted a combination of hashish and tobacco. I decided to be polite of course and take one hit on the pipe. However I am not a big fan of tobacco as it makes me nauseous and didn't feel like getting particularly high on hashish. It was suggested that we get some bhang and made some lassis, or bhang milkshakes. Bhang is a type of Indian marijuana concoction derived from the leaves, flowers, and buds of the plants being mashed down. It is legal in Indian and can be seen sold in various locations, sometimes advertised as Official Govt Bhang Shop. At the store we went to it was sold in small pastry like balls called 'golees', similar to the little donut balls sold in the west at Dunkin Donuts. To make the bhang lassi other ingredients are added to make the shake, including either milk or water, sugar, spices, etc. I wasn't sure exactly what bhang was although I had heard much about it and didn't know much more about it other than it being derived from cannabis. Apparently it is an intoxicant and its preparations and uses are regarded as sacred to the Gods, particularly Shiva. Varanasi, being the holy city that it is, is sometimes referred to as the 'City of Shiva.' It is a very popular drink here along the ghats and is often used as boost for meditation and to help achieve transcendental states, particularly among the sadhus. After drinking the concoction is took about 30 mins before I starting feeling the effects. Everything felt amplified and it was quite amazing walking through the narrow alleys and streets and experiencing all the sensory input in the altered state, not that one necessarily needs anything to feel like they are in an altered state while in Varanasi, as otherworldly as it it. I only drank one small cup of the concoction to be on the safe side, while the other more experienced Indians had no problems helping themselves to multiple cups. This small cup turned out to be enough for me and I feel fortunate to have been able to experience such a sublime and unique Indian experience.
One other memorable ghat I visited was the Meer Ghat. Nothing particuarly noteworthy about the riverfront portion, but to the side of the Ghat was a Nepalese temple featuring Kama Sutra type carvings and sculptures. The sculptures essentially showed sexual type situations and erotic positions, which is supposed to be the only temple of its type in the city.

A great experience I had one morning in Varanasi was taking a boatride with several guys I met at my guesthouse on the Ganges as the sun was coming up. It is a popular thing to do at dawn as many pujas, or religious ceremonies, are taking place up and down the river. Arriving at the river about 5:30/6am, the city was much more peaceful and calm before the masses wake up and everyone hits the streets. At the river the 3 of us, 1 guy from Australia and the other from England, I don't remember their names, piled onto a boat with another Indian rowing us along. We rowed up the river past observing the riverfront come alive and masses of Indians making their way to the river for cleaning and prayer. Even though the Ganges river is considered sacred by Indians, it is still amazing that they go to the river for cleaning and other purposes and don't get violently sick. The river is outrageously polluted and filthy and there wouldn't be a chance I would step foot in this portion of the river. Apparently countless sewer lines dump huge amts of raw sewage into the river. Business industry and factories along the length of the river have no problem deposting waste, chemical and biological, into the river as well, creating an absolute cesspool of bacteria and potential disease. However none of this seems to perturb or put off Indians getting into the river. Occassionally you will see a foreigner with white skin swimming through the water, god knows whats going on in his mind.


It was beautiful seeing the sun coming up over the horizon and lighting up the day. It one area there were a large group of yogis dressed in orange practicing yoga and doing sun salutations at this time. All along the stretch fascinating looking sadhus, Indians which have renounced worldly life and devote themselves to spiritual enlightenment, could be seen out around the banks meditating. Their were many of boats moving through the water carrying tourists up and down the banks. One noticable boat was filled with Thai monks dressed in their orange monk garb. Activity along the banks become more busy by the minute as Indians made their way to the river.


After the boatride, we were driven to three main temples in the city, these being the Durga Temple, the Rama Krishna or Tulsi Manas Temple, and the Hanuman Temple. The Hanuman Temple was the most interesting as scores of the macaque monkeys were all over the place. In the Hindu religion Hanuman is the Monkey God, hence this temple was in tribute to him and monkeys were given free reign within the place. Typically u don't want to get too near these particular red-butted monkeys as they can be quite tempermental and will threaten attack if they feel threatened. However here they were a bit more easy-going as they are treated with the reverence of a god.

Another spot on the outskirts of Varnasi I visited was the village of Sarnath, one of the four main pilgrimmage sites for Buddhists to visit. Here the Buddha supposably made his first sermons after he reached enlightenment in Bodhi Gaya, about 6 hrs from here on train. The site was full of ancient ruins and many temples, many representing various Buddhist countries including Thailand, Tibet, China, Japan, Myanmar, etc. There was a large museum which was unfortunately closed this particular day. About 30 minutes away from Varanasi, it was a nice escape from the constant noise and chaos of the city.


I had hoped to visit Bodhi Gaya and get a glimpse of the supposed tree that the Buddha achieved enlightenment nearly 2500 yrs ago. It is not the actual tree in which he gained enlightenment, as this tree is said to have been removed to Sri Lanka. From Sri Lanka a segment of the Bodhi tree was cut off and brought back to Bodhi Gaya, and has apparently grown back to a full-fledged tree. I would have been able to get a train ticket to Bodhi Gaya, but there were no tickets from Bodhi Gaya onward to Kolkata with the exception of an expensive 1st class ticket which I didn't feel like spending the money for. Bodhi Gaya is half way from Varanasi to Kolkata, and I didn't feel like traveling to Bodhi Gaya, and back to Varanasi, then all the way back in the same direction to Kolkata.
The rickshaw drivers, both motor and foot-powered, were constantly pulling along side of you if u were walking and asking if u needed their services. One of the rides on the main road leading to the busy Dasaswameth gnat from near my guest house was perhaps the craziest and most exciting ride I ever been on in my life. With the crowds and traffic near bumper to bumper capacity, the driver expertly swerved and turned, stopping mere inches from bumpers and pedestrians and each time expertly avoiding any contact or accident. Essentially he was driving no different than every other driver out there, but the Indian drivers have perfected the art of driving in this chaotic and superdense environment. I just held on tight to on eof the rails in the back seat and enjoyed the ride. I don't think the two guys from my guesthouse were as thrilled with the ride as I was. Perhaps it was too intense or scary for them. The rickshaw drivers are masters in navigating through the extreme entanglement of traffic and I had total faith in our driver. I'm sure accidents occur quite regularly but I didn't feel any fear. Afterwards I told myself I was going to have to take another one of these rides, even though I typically prefer walking as I enjoy walking and being on my own two feet, plus saving my money.

Jodhpur and Udaipur and Jaipur

After visiting Bikaner, I took a bus south for about 5 hrs to the city of Jodhpur. Here an amazing fort rises off a huge rocky cliff. It is quite a site, particularly in early evening at dusk with the sun going down. My 2nd day in the city I took a tour of the fort, called Meharangarh. Work on the fort began in the mid 1400's, not sure exactly when it was ultimatly finished. There is quite an epic history associated with the fortress, with lots of raids and battles having occurred in its time. In visiting the tour I purchased the audio tour option and learned much about the history and other information asociated with its being. There were amazing rooms and artifacts throughout the various levels and areas of the compound. One exhibit showed an amazing array of weaponry that was utilized by the inhabitats during its days. Some horrible looking knives and daggers which spread open when inserted into one's body. The views out the high windows, particularly at the top, were great. Looking down at Jodhpur from high atop the fort, I was able to glimpse panoramically the old and new city sections. Big chunks of the old city are filled with endless blue-colored dwellings, giving Jodhpur the name "the Blue City." Seven main gates were spread throughout different areas of the fort, some the entrances decorated with cannonball hits from centuries old battles.

As always it was fun walking throughout the narrow alleyways and lanes in the old city, checking out the local life and see the bizaares. People here seemed quite friendly, more so I perceived than in other spots in India. There was some amazing shopping available in areas of the city, particularly near a huge clock tower. Textiles and spices seemed to be the big items of appeal. I bought a few nice items to hang on my wall when I get a new appt back in Denver. Some very good prices and beautiful handicrafts, although I'm sure I could have done better pricewise if I had been sticking around longer and taken an excursion into one of the nearby craft villages. The clocktower seemed to be the epicenter of the current old city with tons of shops and a fair number of tourists there. There was an awesome omelette shop selling masala spiced omelette sandwiches at the great price of 15 rupees apiece - less than 50 cents - which included 2 sandwiches. It can be quite easy traveling in India to put on weight eating cheap and delicious food, particularly when your not sick and throwing up or practicing yoga consistantly each day, even if I am walking hrs and hrs a day.

Also nearby at very good prices were freshly squeezed juices, of which I gorged on too replenish myself of vitamin C and other nutrients which I was probably lacking. There were some other palaces and sights I would have liked to check out in the city, however time was not on my side. I stuck around the city for a day and a half and it was time to get moving along to my next stop. After reading up Udaipur and Pushkar, two other notable cities in the state of Rajastan, and seeking opinions from other travelers, I decided to head south to the city of Udaipur even though it was a bit out of the way.

Arriving in Udaipur after a 7 hr long busride south, I was a bit annoying after having been lied to by the Indian I purchased my bus ticket from. Nothing major but I still hate it, although I should be used to their constant attempts by now, when I am taken by the Indians. I just need to shake off these occurances and not let them get to me. In this situation I was first off promised a solo seat next to a window, of course winding up with a neighbor in my cramped seat. Then I was told it would be a 5 hr trip, which turned into another 7 hr trip. Finally I should have shopped around a little more for my ticket, as I found out later that I had overpaid just a little for my ticket. Ultimately I paid no more than .75-$1 more, a miniscule amt not worth being annoying about but a decent amt in rupies. It is the whole business of getting lied to my face which gets most annoying. However to survive in India one needs to accept the reality of Indians constantly inflating prices for tourists and trying to squeeze as much extra money out as possible. When one looks at the drastic poverty and squalor most Indians live in I suppose the over charging and double standard for a few extra rupees becomes a bit understandable. It is getting lied to that makes me most annoyed.

I was expecting a truly magical and unique city in reading the write up of Udaipur in the Lonely Planet guide. Written up as a city "watermarked by whimsey and splendor, the Venice of the east holds strage as one of India's truly seductive cities," it sounded like a very desirable city to check out. A huge lake, Lake Pichola, lies amist the city with the floating Lake Palace sitting in the middle of it. It is quite an amazing palace, with rooms apparently available for rent at upwards of $1000 a night, quite a price for India let alone anywhere in the world. It is spectacular enough that a James Bond film 'Octupussy', was partially filmed here. As a result the film is shown nightly at dozens of guesthouses and other venues throughout the city.

Another amazing destination in the city is the immense City Palace, towering over the lake and filled with balconies, towers , and lots of beautiful rooms. I took a tour of the palace and enjoyed looking at much interesting artwork and other antiquities common to the place. High up in the palace I got great views of the surrounding area and city, particularly the nearby hills closing in on the city. It was a remarable palace but I didn't find it as stunning or beautiful as the Meherangarh fort in Jodhpur.

In spite of these interesting and beautiful palaces, I found Udaipur a bit disappointing and not quite as stunning as I was expecting it to be. The major factor was the extremely low levels of the Lake Pichola. It was much more dried up than I was expecting, as much less than ideal monsoon rains had struck the area in preceding months. Large areas of the lake were covered by unsitely algae growth, while in other areas the water was so slow the bottom was exposed creating abundant grazing area for roving cows. Garbage and litter filled areas, making for a bit of an eyesore. It is a shame Indians don't take a little more pride in their treasured cities, allowing garbage and other filthy to accumulate so freely in areas. It is such a permissive culture in which littering is generally not given a second though. It doesn't help that garbage cans seem to be relatively non-existent from what i have noticed. In the street it seems to be swept up regularly. However in common areas such as lakes and rivers trash, sewage, and refuse generally collects unimpeded. Apparently several yrs ago there was record rainfall and the splendor of the lake was renewed. I was hoping there would have been a similar situation this year but that didn't turn out to be the case. I would like to come back another time when the lake and city is in better shape.

After several days in Udaipur it was time for some long trainrides heading east across the country on the way back to Kolkata for my flight back to Thailand on Sept 30. First was an overnight jaunt up to Jaipur, the capital of Rajastan and known as the pink city. Apparently in 1876 the entire old city was painted pink by the reigning ruler. The colors are supposed to come alive most vibrantly at dusk, particularly from certain vantage points I would imagine. Unfortunately my stay in Jaipur was only for about 7 hrs during the morning and early afternoon. During my stopover in Jaipur I decided to rent out a rickshaw to take a minor tour of the city. I was also hoping to check out some of the shopping bizaares the city is known for and perhaps look for some good deals. From what I saw the bizaares hadn't really got going at that time of the day. The beginning of the ride through the city I was taken to some noteworthy sites which I don't recall the name and glimpsed at quickly. After this I was taking to a jewelers shop by the rickshaw driver where about 3 or 4 manager/owners tried to aggressively persuade me into smuggling or fronting sizable quantities of gems back into the states. Promising great profits for me with next to no risk of course, they didn't seem to quite comprehend my issue of not knowing nor trusting them. Perhaps I was walking away from a lucrative career in the transportation of prescious gems back to America, at any rate I got the hell out of the office as quick as possible. It seemed like some a shady operation and they wanted me to start signing off on papers immediately, perhaps hoping they could blinding me with hopes of easy money while eliminating any time for rational thought or reflection on their proposal.

I boarded my next train shortly before 4pm on the way to Varanasi. I was expecting a 16-17 hr trip. This of course turned into a 21 hr ride, arriving at the Varanasi train station around 1pm. The train stopped about 1 km short of the train station and waited for over 1.5 hrs before resuming the remainder. I had no idea the train station was so close or that the wait would be for so long. Some British travelers in the seats across from me found out that we were allegably 1 km away from the station and we decided to jump out and walk the remainder on the tracks. Of course 1 min into the walk the train resumed moving. I decided to jump back on the train and escape the sweltering sun.

During the course of the ride I woke up in the morning with a nasty swollen eye, apparently having been bitten by a mosquito or something. I didn't feel a thing during the course of the evening as I slept soundly through the night in relative comfort, enjoying the benefits of imbibing a slight amt of opium I had acquired previous in the wk. Otherwise sleeping in the cramped up and dirty sleeper seats are not exactly much comfort, although they do allow the benefit of lying back and not having to sit upright the entire time.

Bikaner and holy rat temple

From Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj it was time to start heading on south and back east across the country for my flight out of Kolkata in several wks. On the way south I wanted to visit the Indian state of Rajastan, much of it situated in the Thar desert, and some intriguing cities in the state. The first city I was to visit was that of Bikaner, located in western Rajastan quite close to the Pakistan border. I wasn't too thrilled that the only direct route there was a day long train trip taking 13 hrs. With 2 wks left to go it is not my desire to spend and entire day cooped up in a train. My desire to visit Bikaner was to see the renowned Karni Mata Temple in Deshnok, about 30 km south. This temple is the site of 1000's and 1000's of holy rats running all over the place. They are venerated as holy according to the mythology of the Hinduism religion. Arriving at the temple after a quick 30 min busride from Bikaner on a road filled with countless camels and a quick walk down another road, I arrived at the temple and had to take off my shoes as is necessary at most temples in India. I had realized this was going to be the case before arriving even though I wasn't thrilled with the idea of walking barefoot on a filthy floor covered with rodent feces, I don't care how holy they are supposed to be. Walking into the temple, which was free in itself, I paid a small fee to use my camera and quickly spotted hordes of rats scattered throughout the premises. There were large basins filled with what looked like milk being drank by the thirsty rats. Otherwise they were scattered throughout the place, sleeping on top of each other and climbing all over guardrails and whatever else they could find to climb. In spite of being generously fed by the Indians and guests many of the rats did not appear to be in the best shape physically or healthwise. Many were quite ragged looking and corpses or nearly dead rats were lying throughout. I found out later on that a probable cause of the rat's bad health was their constantly being fed sweets and candy type products. This has the effect of creating diabetes and of health defects in the rats, inspite of their holiness. Perhaps a lesson for humans to learn in eating healthy and avoiding too much sweets.


The floor of the premises were definitely quite dirty although it wasn't quite as littered with fecal matter as I thought it may be. I still did my best to kind of tip toe around or at least mnimize my foot contact with the soiled floor. While their were many thousands of rats throughout the temple, along with a generous supply of pigeons, I was told they really come out of the walls and their hiding places after dark. I was their around noontime, avoiding absolute rodent mayhem apparently. I was told there existed 3 white rats amongst their brown pack that were considered particularly lucky or auspicious to see. Hence I was keeping my eyes open for these lucky white rats. At one point in one of the dirty corners of the facility there was a small mob of Indians trying to peek around a fenced corner, apparently in effort to see a rumored white rat. When the group scattered I attempted taking a peek myself around the corner, which was next to impossible unless I stuck my camera out and took a picture using the flash. I didn't see anything but piles of dirty brown rats and filth.


A short time later several young Indian girls who were standing in a slightly different area by themselves caught the attention of an Indian man next to me. We walked over and looked where the Indians girls were pointing and sure enough, there just happened to be a filthy white rat sleeping on a pipe or something squeezed in amongst the rest of its brown brethren. It was no doubt a white rat, although a bit discolored from dirt and other grim caked onto its holy fur. I was thrilled to be able to see one of these rare specimens and surprised there weren't more people clamored to try and get a glimpse of it. I was able to get several pics of the rat before it woke up and disappeared back into the bowels of the temple. My luck has not been too bad lately, however hopefully this occurance will add an extra punch of positive benefit to my life. I think at least if I believe in the power of the holy white rat something of fortune will happen for me. I feel lucky enough to be able to travel to such an amazing country as India and experience such moments. Perhaps also some extra luck will keep me from acquiring some obscure disease from walking around in the bizaare atmosphere and filthy floor. I was the only tourist or white person I noticed at the temple. While Bikaner and Deshnok are a bit off the beaten track, I was surprised not to see any fellow Europeans or other travelers. For such a bizaare and unique temple, one would think more travelers would make an effort to check out such a holy place.

My second night in Bikaner I wound up in a guest house in one of the neighborhoods of the city. I would up being led here by an Indian guy whose name escapes me I met at the restaurant below my guesthouse of the first night. After walking several hrs in the fascinating old city with its narrow and congested alleys, lanes and bizaares, I took a rickshaw along with my new friend to my new guesthouse. It turned out to be a nice family house several blocks in from the chaos of the noisy main street, and not too far from the bus station where I was to move on the next day. The guest house was also in the biz of leading camel safaris into the Thar desert, although I had to disappoint them in saying no to their sales pitch of such a trip. Sounded like it would a memorable experience riding a camel in the depths of the Thar desert, however I don't think it would be quite as much fun doing it by myself. Next time I am fortunate to make it to this part of India with either some friends or a nice lady I would definitely take part in one of the camel safaris. They are quite popular in this part of India, particularly in the city of Jaiselmer west of Bikaner.



My room at the guesthouse was quite nice and peaceful without their being any other guest. I only noticed 2 rooms available for room in the dwelling. Otherwise there was the owner and his wife and 4 kids, along with my friend who stays there and elsewhere from what I gathered. The weather was a bit warm and humid in my room so I decided to give it a shot sleeping with the rest of the family on the roof. The father and my friend were gone at the train station till around 2am scouring the trains and crowds for tourists newly arrived and potentially looking for a room and a camel safari. Sleeping on the roof top on a cot was quite nice for a while as their was a nice breeze flowing through the air cooling things off. On top of that the moon was mostly full and shining brightly, 2 days ago it had been full, which added to the exotic ambiance of being far off city in the Indian desert. Unfortunately the mosquitos were out in abundance as well nipping away at my feet and legs. In addition the neighbors 2 houses down had decided it was a worthwhile wk to have themselves a kirtan in their backyard. This included a number of people singing on a microphone and playing various Indian instruments. It sounded nice to listen to at first but as the hours started flying by into the middle of the night it started to get quite annoying. By around 3am I had had enough of the racket and noisy sound checks on the microphone. For whatever reason the family I was staying with had no problem whatsoever with the kirtan going into the late hours of the night. I however decided to pick up my sleeping bag inner liner and head on down into the less noisy but slightly warmer confines of my room.

The next morning, after getting up and having some tea, I took a short walk with my friend to the bus station and was on my way to Jodhpur, about 5 hrs south on a bus. This was 2 wks ago at the time of writing this journal. Several days ago I read in the news that at the main fortress in town I had stayed near and visited there was a pilgrimmage that went horribly awry. Over 160 people were killed and countless others injured an exodus of people that went crazy after some bizaare circumstances involving a rock slide or something. One reads about this sort of thing happening all the time in India during religious pilgrimmages as tens of thousands of people are walking with little to no crowd control.

Tibetan Massage Course and yoga in McLeod Ganj

I started a course today - Sept 9 - on Tibetan massage with a Tibetan man named Mr. Dhondup who is highly regarded. I had a chance to have a session with him the previous week and thought his work was very good and original. He had a different style than what I had experienced in the past. The beginning of the session was devoted to postural analysis. He did some tests seeing which side of my body I put more weight on while sitting, indicating possible overuse or tightness on certain side of my body. He also did some shoulder and neck flexibility and strength tests. After these analyses he worked on my body for a while massaging in certain areas while contorting into some various stretches, reminiscent of Thai massage. After this he brought out some heated up herbal balls and placed them in various areas of my body, including my hands, feet, back of head, and some other areas. He also rubbed the packs into various areas of my body, such as my temples, which felt real nice and smelled quite good. He then did some energy work with some Tibetan singing bowls, placing them over my various chakras while manipulating them to make some whistling type noises which supposeably resonate on a more subtle level affecting the energy body or pranic body. It was quite an interesting experience I definitely felt more opened up energetically afterwards, as well as a bit spacey. I wish I had more money to buy additional sessions, unfortunately I squandered much of my money in previous months in Thailand on many thai massage sessions.

There are many practitioners in town offering reiki, ayurvedic massage, tibetan massage, and energy work and classes. Mr. Dhondup has about 20 yrs of massage experience he proclaims. He also states he has worked on one of the physicians of the Dalai Lama in the past. He is recommended in the Lonely Planet guide to Dharamsala/MG and seems to be highly regarded in town. The course entails 2 hrs a day for 5 days at 1500 rupees. Not a bad deal for about $37, a heck of alot cheaper than it would cost in the states. In spite of being dirt poor at the moment I thought it would be a worthwhile experience for my time in MG and a wise choice of my leftover money. I am now taking out cash advanced on my credit card since my bank acct is about zero. I will have to pay this off immediatley when I get home as to not incur huge penalties.

There are 6 of us in class to start off with. classes are a different subject or body part each day on a revolving sequence. Hence if there is space people can join any day. Of the 6 in class the first day, one man just happens to be from one of the massage courses I took in Chiang Mai over 4 months ago while taking classes with Pichet, the thai massage master. Funny how you bump into some of the same people over again. I had actually bumped into him the wk before while sitting in a coffee shop. He came up and asked if I remembered him, which I didn't immediately but remembered when he said from where. He is about 50 yrs old and from near Perth, Australia on the far west end of the country. Also in class are 2 American girls, one from California who used to live in Summitt County Colorado. The other girl is from the Smoky Mtns in North Carolina. There is also 2 guys from Korea.

The rest of the wk went by well enough. I was stuck with an American girl for the next 4 days. In her late twenties I believe, she was very hard of hearing and for some reason was not wearing hearing aids, which would have been helpful. It was next to impossible to communicate with her as I would have to literally yell in her face for her to understand. I don't know how she is able to get around traveling. It is difficult enough with language differences, far more so when u can't hear your own language. She said this was her 4th time in India. The 5th and last day she had some kind of cold and was constantly sniffling and then wiping her nose with her forearms. I was completely disgusting by and really had no way of communicating with her to be more clean without having to yell and embarass her. Hence I went to the bathroom and grabbed a roll of toilet paper for her to blow her nose into, which for some reason she hadn't thought of herself. Luckily a girl at the table next to me had some hand anti-bacterial lotion which she let my partner use.

The did learn some new stuff in the class but it unfortunately didn't get into the stuff I was most interested in, particularly his use of herbal packs and also postural analysis. I believe one has to take a more extended class or different course to get into these subjects. For the most part it was a beginners class, which can be useful in relearning basics. In 2 wks I go back to Thailand and look forward to taking a 2 wk Thai massage course at the Old Medicine Hospital. This course I held off till I am about ready to head home, this so the material would be fresh in my mind as I arrive home and begin practicing.

Macleod Ganj is filled with yoga teachers and centers, similar to Rishikesh. Unlike Rishikesh however, most of the centers seem to be open and operating in spite of monsoon weather and lesser crowds. During my stay at Yoga Niketan in Rishikesh I had spoken with a friend in the ashram who had spent some time earlier practicing yoga in MG. One teacher in particular he noted and recommended was an Indian guy named Vijay. He said Vijay held very challenging and demanding classes and was worth checking out. Arriving in town I noticed flyers all over town plastered on the walls advertising a myriad of classes. In addition to yoga classes, there were flyers advertising everything from massage and healing centers, music lessons with various Indian instruments, Tibetan cooking classes, meditation, salsa dancing, past-life regression and teaching English to Tibetan refugees and an assortment of other activities. One other class I had noticed and found of interest was a class teaching magic tricks. I visited the residence of the teacher and was informed he was a French man away for several wks. Several wks later I revisited his place and discovered unfortunately he had packed his place up and moved back to France. I would have really enjoyed learning some magic tricks but guess it wasn't meant to be this time.

Arriving at Vijay's studio I found a rather grungy room with a stage on one side. Dirty and semi-crumbling mats from overuse were already set up in class along with blocks and straps by one of his assistants. Vijay himself is about 50 yrs old and in incredible shape. He has apparently been practicing yoga for over 30 yrs or more and is quite a master. He is about 5'8" or so and very lean and all muscle. His classes run twice a day from 9-11am and 2-4pm. The earlier class is his intense ashtanga yoga class, a style of yoga that is the most physically demanding of all the yoga styles out there. From ashtanga yoga all the styles of western power and vinyasa yoga are derived. The founder and guru of Ashtanga yoga, Pattabi Jois, is still alive in his 90's and lives in Southern India in the city of Mysore. Vijay's 9-11am class is probably the most expensive class in town at 250 rupees, 200 if you buy a package of 6 classes for 1200 rupees. Most classes in town seem to be about 200 rupees. I signed up for a package of 6 classes after trying one of the sessions and really felt much stronger after completing 3 classes. They were very challenging and long at 2 hrs. In the US most classes are 1 hr or 1.5 hrs at the most. Afterwards I felt my body buzzing with energy, although very relaxed and somewhat fatigued. Usually there is about 10-15 people in this class, typically regulars and some taking his teacher training course. I met one girl in class from Utah, otherwise it seems to be mostly Europeans with one Tibetan Buddhist monk and a younger Indian girl in her twenties.

Vijay's afternoon class is probably the most popular class in town. it is the cheapest at 100 rupees and fills up quickly.It is significantly easier than the morning class but still challenging. It is amazing watching Vijay demonstrate asanas as he is the most advanced and skillful yogi I have ever seen, not bad for a guy in his fifties. He has complete control over his body and incredible strength. Sitting on the floor with his legs in front of himself he can lift his legs off the ground without dragging them or touching the ground and bring himself up to complete handstand with relative ease. I haven't seen him but I have heard he can do 3 fingered handstand pushups. I would never desire to be as skinny as he is but I do admire his strength and dedication to practice he possesses. Being so skinny growing up and putting much work into getting stronger and more muscular, I have no desire to fall back into the position of being extremely skinny as many of the yoga masters seem to be. Perhaps I have too much attachment to being in relatively good shape and muscular. It's tough to get away from this sort of ideal as it is so promoted in the western world.

Vijay is also a very approachable person and seem to be very humble and down to earth. When class is finished he seems to make a point to make eye contact with each person and thank them for being there. I spoke with him after class one time and he mentioned to me that he may be coming to the states, possibly Denver, at the beginning of next yr. Perhaps the most important thing I learned while in his classes was his cue to keep my chest up, instead of letting it lag and collapse. In doing this I have discovered a greater energy in my chest and heart chakra and better and deeper breathing. It is amazing how subtle little cues that you hear often in class so often don't really register mentally or often not really heard. In the right circumstances or under the proper teacher the words can take on a different effect and meaning and effect oneself more profoundly.

Another teacher I frquented during my time in MG was an Indian guy named Sivadas. In his mid-thirties, he says he has been practicing yoga over 20+ yrs and is also quite an accomplished yogi. He has a very nice studio on the fourth and top floor of a bld overlooking the valley. In addition to teaching yoga, Sivadas is an Ayurvedic massage therapist, reiki master, and does sound healing classes. I frequently went to his 4pm class for Sivananda style yoga. I had often found Sivananda style yoga to be too easy and meditative for my taste back in America. His particular class however was quite challenging and I was quite exhausted but feeling good at the end of class. One thing that did bug me about his classes is that while he advertised 2 hr classes from 4-6, he would often finish class with 15 mins left till 6pm. I kind of felt as though I was getting shortchanged.

I decided to try one of his ayurvedic massage sessions as I had never experienced that particular style of massage common to India. I didn't really need a massage as I had been doing the Tibetan massage course and my body felt reasonably good. However I am always interested in learning something new and seeing a new style. Sivadas said he had been trained in Kerala, the southern Indian state known for Ayurveda. He has learned under one of the masters there, whoever that may be. His work was good and lots of oil was used during the massage, which I reckon is characteristic of Ayurvedic massage. On a cabinet next to his massage table dozens of various avurvedic oils and other potions and aromatherapy vials were sitting. The session wasn't as relaxed and slow as I would ideally have preferred at the moment. He worked quite quick and I was surprised when the session was over so quickly. I heard him go to the bathroom in order to wash his hands. This I figured he was doing in order to wash oil off and procede to a different portion of the massage. However it turned out he was finished altogether when I noticed him sitting to the side waiting for me to get up. As I got up I checked my watch and noticed that only 45 minutes had passed. Perhaps he only does 45 mins but it was my impression it was a 1 hr massage. I should have said something to him but I didn't really feel like being confrontational at the moment and ruining the relaxation of the session. Nevertheless I was quite annoyed about him stopping so soon, particularly in light of the session, at 500 rupees, costing more than most other places I had seen in the city. In a moment of passive aggressiveness I decided to not return a book of his that I had borrowed. Instead I decided to trade it in for monetary value and for another book. Probably not the best way of approaching the situation nor for my karma, but made me feel a bit even.

Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj

Dharamsala is the headquarters of the Dalai Lama of Tibet, exiled from the land by the possession and oppression of the communist Chinese govt. A very sizable Tibetan community exists here, giving it a common nickname of "Little Llasa", Llasa being the capital of Tibet. Here the Tibetans seem to coexist peacefully with the native Indians, although in observing both groups there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interaction amongst the two groups. Several kilometers up the road and a bit higher in the hills from Dharamsala is the village of MacLeod Ganj, the primary backpacker and traveler depot of the region. Located in the himalayan Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj are at about 5500 ft in elevation. The weather is a bit colder than in Rishikesh and rains for extended periods each day. Monsoon season is coming to an end soon in this area which will lessen the severity of the almost daily rainfalls. There is much incredible scenery and mountains nearby which I look forward to hiking more extensively when the rain lessens and potential of being caught in a big storm abates. It is not too much problem getting around town during the torrential rains, which can at times come down quite hard, as long as I am carrying an umbrella. It wouldn't be much fun or very worthwhile to hike longer distances in hard rain and no visibility of the mtns. All the moisture in the air makes for abundant clouds, which can be quite beautiful when they are lower in altitude and floating over the underlying valley below.

Several kilometers up one of the roads from center McLeod Gang (MG) are the small villages of Bhagsu and DharamKat. It takes about 20 mins to reach each of these villages but along the way there are some impressive cascading waterfalls which are thriving during the rainy season. Large groups of Israeli travelers congregate in these villages. India, particularly this area, is a very popular traveling location for backpacking Israelis, many having finished their mandated military duties. Beyond these villages are trails leading higher up into and around the mountains. I hope to make it to a village called Triund, about 9 kilometers away, before I am out of town. Another hr or two beyond here is snowline from what I hear. I am fairly certain about the proper trails, which don't always have proper indicators and signs, and don't wish to hire a tour guide or anything as my financial capabilities are a bit hindered at the moment. Nor do I wish to get lost.

I arrived in D/MG during the middle of the playing of the Olympic games being held in China. In the previous months various protests and uprisings had occurred in various spots throughout Asia, including Llasa and I believe Kathmandu. I'm not sure the extend to which demonstrations had occurred here in previous months, however with the large Tibetan refugee population located here there was much potential for significant protests to be held. I hear and read that protests and conflicts have occurred here in the past. While arriving in town flyers, posters, and banners were everywhere protesting the Chinese occupation of Tibet as well as the Olympics. "Free Tibet" posters, t-shirts, and flags etc are everywhere in town. It is interesting seeing how this all fits in with the Indians living here. However the Indians are a very tolerant people for the most part and I hear they have much respect for the Dalai Lama. Throughout the entire state Tibetan Buddhism is a large presence along with Hinduism, especially as one goes further north up into the himalayas and nearer the Tibetan border with India. During several of the evenings I was in MG during the Olympics the Tibetans did stage peaceful walks while chanting and carrying candles. I didn't stick around and follow the walks, which I believe were making there way towards the nearby Dalai Lama residence, but they were interesting to observe. Tibetans of all ages including maroon and saffron robed monks and nuns, and civilians along with some foreigners would be amongst those walking in the streets.

The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan gov't in exile had the choice of several locations in India during the late 50's when they were choosing where to headquarter there gov't. They ultimately chose this area and it is not hard to see why considering the areas great natural beauty. Speaking of the Dalai Lama, I had the good fortune of witnessing him in person on Sunday morning as he was making his way back to town from one of his extended trips teaching abroad. In looking at his schedule on his website one can see he maintains a pretty intense and regular schedule throughout the world. On the 24th of August he was making his way back through town on the way to his headquarters. The streets were lined with Tibetan monks, nuns, and civilians of all ages as well as other bystanders and curious onlookers hoping to catch a glimpse of him. It was definitely a charged atmosphere, waiting to see one of the worlds most admired and important spiritual leaders and teachers. I almost toally missed him as he was driven through the center of town. As him and his entourage came up a hill and into town there were about 6 cars in a row able to be seen. I had my camera ready and was hoping to get a good shot of him. I think I was expecting him to be standing in a jeep or something waving to the crowds, perhaps in the middle of the entourage of cars to provide a buffer. However this didn't turn out to be the case. I was watching the cars when my friend Dolma hollered to me too "look - there he is!" He was casually sitting in the 2nd car in the passenger seat waving to everyone with a big smile on his face. His vehicle was driven by about 10-15 ft away from me and passed by so quickly I barely had time to process the moment. It felt very surreal and powerful seeing him so close. Such a humble guy to be riding in a plain non-descript sedan without a hint of luxury. Hopefully it was at least bulletproof to protect against any possible would be assassins. I'm sure the Chinese would love to see him dead and could easily do so if they wished. Just as quickly as he was driven by the crowds on both sides of the streets dispersed and life on the streets went back to normal.



I met a very lovely and beautiful Tibetan girl in her mid-twenties by the name of Dolma who I have been spending time with. The way in which we met is definitely the most unusual way I have ever met a girl before. One afternoon the red-tinged monkeys with a meanstreak were running rampant throughout the hill and area where I was residing. My guesthouse is located on the edge of a large hill and has 3 floors with large porch areas with incredible views and connecting to adjacent dwellings. The buildings are all stuffed together quite comfortably yet separate. The monkeys were running along the floors and digging into trash bins looking for food. I was trying to scare them off with my umbrella when I bumped into Dolma running up the steps to her floor. We teamed up and ran off the remaining monkeys, then spent some time watching them as they sat off just to the side. We also had some fun trying to instigate some of the larger monkeys into making their menacing faces and gestures. It usually doesn't take too much to get their attention and get them to make threatening faces baring their teeth, or feigning that they are going to jump your way and attack. After tiring of the monkeys were talked for a while and i found out she had moved to India 11 yrs ago with her older sister, fleeing the communist Chinese occupation and takeover in Llasa, the capital of Tibet. She has not seen her parents since then, but is able to speak with them on the phone every so often. She told me about some of the atrocities and horrors she witnessed in Tibet and says she has to be careful in even calling her parents in Tibet, particularly during the time of the Olympics. The Chinese govt is very sneaky and could be listening in on her conversation. She doesn't want to put them at any risk speaking about something the authorities may find offensive or Pro-Tibet, which includes much.

While she lives in Delhi and most recently was working in Agra at a highend spa doing massage therapy and beauty work, she is escaping the extreme heat of Delhi and staying for a while here. It has been very nice to have her to hang out with and get to know. She has a television in her room which I have found myself checking out. Its amazing how popular American Professional Wrestling -WWE - is here in India. It is on almost every day and one of the big names is a huge Indian wrestler named the Great Khali. He is over 7'3" and 350 lbs, plays a villian, and can often be seen adorning Indians t-shirts. I would never watch the stuff back in the states but for some reason I find it interesting watching here. Typically I have to find creative ways to spend my time - reading, yoga, walking, coffee shops, etc - it can be nice to be a zombie and watch tv without having to think too much. Dolma also has a cute little puppy dog to play with and we have been playing gin rummy a bit lately. One part of traveling I have found difficult is meeting and really connecting with certain people for several weeks of time, then getting to that point where you have to move on with the possibility of never seeing that person again. I will really miss Dolma as I have found her to be a very sweet and simple girl with a very big heart. At least I will be able to keep in touch with her via the internet.

Yoga at Yoga Niketan Ashram

With most yoga venues and schools closed for the summer and monsoon season and various teachers apparently out of town, there remained a number of possibilities and places to take class. My lonely planet guide listed and recommended about six ashrams and teachers in town. In addition to these there were countless flyers and advertisements for yoga classes and workshops. Many of these flyers were outdated and advertised classes from the busy period earlier in the yr. My first full day in Rishikesh I made it a point to visit as many of the recommended sites as listed in L.P. as possible, in addition to some posted on the walls around town. One such place that I visited and I previously had recommended to me was the Yoga Niketan, near the Ram Jhula bridge and the extremely lively and noisy taxi/rickshaw stand. Fortunately the ashram was located many steps up a hill, covered by fence and far enough away from the chaos of the street to insulate against most of the noise.

My initial experience in attempting to visit Y.N. and find out more about their program epitimized the ever occurring frustrations and difficulties in speaking with Indians using the English language. While practically all Indians seem to speak English to varying degrees of efficacy, their style and manner of communicating it can be quite frustrating. Upon walking up the flight of steps to reach the grounds of the ashram, there was a guard station overseeing checking in and out of the grounds. In speaking with the attendent at the station I attempted to express my desire to learn more about the ashram and find out who to speak to about pertinent information. Repeatably he would answer that "it is not possible" or something to that effect, along with the standard Indian bobbing of the head, which I have yet to figure out. I attempted to rephrase my request about 3-4 more times in more basic and simple language but was still met with "it is not possible." Finally after almost throwing up my arms in defeat and frustration he seemed to comprehend my purpose in being there and my desire to speak with the administrators, located at a bld about 50 ft further along a pass. I think initially he thought I wanted to walk through the grounds by myself and see things, which is not permitted. However at last I was admitted into the grounds and was impressed by the well maintained campus and very nice gardens. Apparently lots of work had been put into the place to make it look impressive.

As it took much uphill walking to reach the ashram from the street, it was located high up enough to provide excellent views of the Ganges River and the distant views of the festivities alongside other side of the river. I found out the minimum stay at the ashram was 15 days at 500 rupees per day, approx $12.50 a day. This included a room with a luxuriously rigid bed, good for the back and spine, 3 meals a day, and 2 yoga and meditation classes a day apiece. We also had access to a decent library during certain hrs of the day which had a nice collection of yogic and associated literature, as well as some magazines. First bell rings at 4:30am with meditation beginning at 5-6am followed by yoga from 630 -730am, then breakfast at 8am. In the evening yoga was 5-6pm, meditation from 7-8pm, then dinner at the late time of 8:15pm. Food was decent, traditinal Indian vegetarian cuisine referred to as "Thali." This consisted of white rice, lentils and beans, a cooked vegetable mix, fresh cucumber slices, and chapati, this being a thin, flat, circulate cooked dough. It was good stuff and very filling, but tiring eating the pretty much the same stuff each meal. Fortunately if u wanted you could leave the ashram pretty much whenever you wanted, as long as u back inside by 10pm, and eat elsewhere if you wanted some variety and didn't mind spending some more money. Breakfast was some kind of rice ghoulash which I didn't often portake in, although it wasn't that bad.

When I arrived at the ashram there were approx 25 people, or inmates as we are referred to on the ashram literature. An eclectic mix from the U.S., Europe, Australia, lots of Japanese, and some Chinese. Interestingly there were 2 people other than myself from Denver, CO. One was a hippie with huge dreadlocks who said he lived in LoDo and sometimes took classes at Corepoweryoga in town. The other was an interesting native Chilean who recently earned his PhD in electrical engineering and was now teaching at U Colo Denver. His current apartment in the capital hill neigh of Denver was a mere few blocks away from one of my previous apartments. He seemed like a cool guy worth keeping in touch with. He is also a big soccer fan and player who I can find out more about pickup soccer games. Other Americans included a woman named Sunshine from the hills of Georgia, a refugee from the Evangelistic Christianity of the south. She had some shoulder issues and asked if I would do some massage therapy on her after finding out I was a therapist back home. First time I had done massage in a while. Another guy, Adam in his mid twenties from Florida, arrived in India several wks ago and plans on staying for about a yr or so, primarily immersing himself in yoga and the spiritual of India. His yoga practice was very mindful and controlled, enhanced and shaped by several yrs of Tai Chi practice prior to picking up yoga several yrs ago. I hope to keep in touch with him through the yr to see what kind of experiences he encounters and recommends, as I would love to make it back to India in coming yrs. My time in India is much too short to get around to experiencing everything I would like to. Another woman from Ireland I felt sorry for as she broke her arm walking down one of the sidewalks of the ashram, attempted to break her fall when she slipped.
Another dude, Paul in his 30's from Ireland and I believe another engineer by trade, I had a chance to play chess with. This the first time for me playing chess since being in the islands of Thailand. He has an amazing time coming up for himself, as he is traveling throughout Thailand, down to Indonesia and Australia and New Zealand finding beaches to surf at. One of the Chinese girls, Unki in her late twenties, was one of the most beautiful Chinese ladies I have ever met. She does some kind of modeling work back in Shanghai China and while here practicing yoga is escaping the madness of the Olympics in China.

The yoga teachers, three of them in their late twenties and early thirties, were amazing yogis in themselves showcasing amazing strength, balance, flexibility, and focus in their demonstrations of various asanas while leading class. While the classes were only 1 hr long and occassionally going over in time, they were very challenging and styled in a way much different than I am accustomed to. One morning the yoga asanas were ended approx 20 mins into class and we were all led outside to a patio area holding some large buckets of salt water. Here we were to be instructed in the yogic practice of nasal cleaning, the exact term escapes me at the moment. We were handed miniature looking water pitchers. With these we poured the salt water into one of our nostrils with our heads tilted, the objective to have the water come out the other nostril. This I was able to successfully accomplish , thoroughly cleansing out my nasal passages of all snot and associated debris. Breathing felt much easier. The next practice was much more challenging. This involved pouring the salt water down our throats without swallowing, then bring it up and out our nostrils. After repeatably swalling the brackish water and unsuccessfully squirting it out my nose, I frustratingly gave up while beginning to feel a nauseous feeling in my stomach from the accumulation of salt water in my empty stomach. The 3rd practice we were led into was even more difficult. Here we were to insert a stiff string into our nasal passage with the intent of guiding it down the correct passageway into our throat and up out our mouths. The yoga structor made it look so easy executring with such quickness and skill. I myself didn't come close to matching his skill. I was completely unable to get the string into the proper passageway in my nose. Instead it felt like the stiff string was being guided straight up into my frontal lobe. It was an extremely uncomfortable feeling, although I'm sure I was not near deep enough to be close to brain matter. It was very difficult attempting to relax my face well enough to allow the string into the proper passage. I had one of the teachers helping me out in trying to insert it into the proper spot, but each time I would tighten my face up preventing any success. After about 6-7 tries with help from the instructor and him attempting to get me to relax my face, I started to get a very lightheaded and nausous and had to walk away. I starting walking back up to my room and almost fell over as my head and stomach were spinning out of control. Fortunately I kept everything in my stomach.

The meditation instructor was a skinny Swami with a huge beard in his 60's or something who I couldn't comprehend a single word when he was speaking for several mins before each meditation session. Fortunately I didn't enter the ashram with the intent of learning how to meditate, instead to merely deepen my practice and hopefully calm my mind down a bit more. It would have been nice if I could have understood some of his messages which I am sure were quite instructive and wise. It can be very difficult at times understanding the English spoken by Indians with their heavy accents.

My room I had assigned was spacious enough with a single bed and my own bathroom with hot water heater for the shower. The shower didn't have a traditional western faucet allowing multiple streams of water coming out. Instead it just gushed out of a pipe from the wall one thick stream. I was just grateful to have a shower in my room and not have to venture to a shared facility which often get quite filthy. It was extremely humid and often very hot during the days, making the need to shower sometimes 3-4 times a day. It was very difficult to get clothes to dry as the air was so thick with moisture. Even though I had a large overhead fan to keep things relatively cool in my room, i would still sweat much while sleeping, when I was able to at least. This would dampen up the bed and pillow sheet, which didn't typically dry too well. By the end of the wk they were smelling like strong mildew, not exactly the most fragrant smell to rest my head and nose to. Fortunately I had lots of company in my room in the form of insects to keep me from being too alone. One evening I felt something crawling on me, in turning in the lights I discovered a rather large cockroach on my leg which had crawled up from the floor. 2nd time for me in Rishikesh I have woken up with a coachroach on or around me, the previous time one tickling my toes. I was at least wearing a pair of loose pants, which I had taken up to wearing at night to protect from mosquito and other bedbug bites. It felt like I was constantly getting nipped up by something, hence wearing a pair of pants and a t-shirt for protection even though they kept me more warm than necessary I found necessary. Applying lots of tiger balm to my ankles and feet and arms had a very nice analgesic and cooling sensation, also possibly deterring insects from the distinct aroma.

I wound up ultimately staying for 17 days. Would have been nice to stay longer but felt like it way time to get moving along. By the time I was ready to leave there were few Americans or other westerners left at the ashram. Mostly Japanese and Chinese. It was still nice to be around others speaking clear English and I could get to know some during the course of several wks. Feels like the past several wks or more I had spent much of my time alone, although I am always meeting curious Indians and Nepalese while in Nepal. My yoga practice definitely felt like it was strenghened while at the ashram. I went to a few other classes and teachers while in Rishikesh but didn't feel too compelled to continue to stick around with them. I look forward to heading up north to Dharamsala and Mcleod Ganj, the headquarters of the Dalai Lama and a large Tibetan community.

Rishikesh India

Rishikesh is often referred to as the yoga capital of the world with its abundance of ashrams and yoga programs. The ganges river flows through town and hindu holy men - sadhus - are walking around everywhere, along with hordes of errant holy cows rummaging for food. Two different types of monkeys are seen in different areas of the city, the mostly white with black face langurs, plus another common red tinged Indian monkey. The langurs are larger and more easy-going and quite graceful moving around. They almost look like mini kangaroos jumping and swinging through the trees and environment with their big legs. The red tinged monkeys, some species of macaque I believe, are smaller, stockier and have much more attitude. They love to growl, threaten, and show their teeth and can be fiercly protective of their clan, as I found out one time when I mistakingly was caught in between 2 young ones and their clan.

At the moment it is off-season for tourism and most of the yoga schools, so much fewer than normal tourists and travelers are in town, making my foreign presence stick out that much more to the Indians, who often look at me as though I am an alien. In recent wks the city has been besieged by tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims making their way to Rishikesh and onward to some Shiva temple outside town. Most of the pilgrims are in their twenties and teens and in large groups, all wearing all orange attire shorts and t-shirts, emblazened with different images of Shiva. The first several times I passed them in I found them a bit threatening walking in their groups often with fierce looks on their face. However I have found out they are all quite friendly inspite of their occassional intense demeanor and constantly coming up to talk to me and find out where I am from and my name. Also constantly getting requests for photos, which sometimes can getting irritating. During the several wks of their pilgrimmage the town was absolutely swamped with pilgrims and difficult at times getting around through the crowds. Pretty noisy too as they are often chanting names of Shiva and other words I find incomprehensible. It did often sound like they were chanting words like "Bum Bum" in reponse to a leader in the front chanting some other words. This chanting and racket could often be heard late into the night as the pilgrimmage apparently didn't slow down for many during the nighttime hours. During the daytime many people take to the streets, the temples, near the river, and pretty much anywhere relatively flat to sleep and rest their bodies.. Can't be too comfortable sleeping on the asphalt over night, at least cardboard and other paper is often put down on the ground to lay upon, providing cover along with protection from the everpresent cow feces on the streets

The city is located right at the base of the himalayas, so some picturesque mountains form the backdrop of the city. Like every other Indian city, the place is noisy as hell with endless horn honking from the over abundance of cars, motor bikes, and rickshaws driving the streets and working their way through all the pedestrians and cows. Street signs and lights are relatively non-existence, with the exception of seeing some non-working traffic lights at a major intersection in the middle of the city. The vast majority of the ashrams, yoga centers, gnats, and tourist areas are several miles north of the actual city of Rishikesh. Two large suspension bridges, about a mile apart from each other, cross the Ganges and lead to separate sections of Rishikesh. Lakshman Jula is located at the north bridge, while Ram Jula is at the southern bridge. Monkeys can often be seen climbing the wires leading high across the bridge. Often they come down low to the side railings and attempt to steal peoples food. One time I put my camera up to within 3 or 4 feet of one of the agressive macaque monkeys and almost had it swiped.

Coming straight out of the mountains and likely from the glaciers, the water is cold and relatively clean, free of the pollution and sewage runoffs further along its path, particularly the Varanasi portion which is supposed to be quite filthy. Gnats are set up in many spots in the city, these being steps leading down to the river. Here many pilgrims and Indians go to bathe and clean themselves, swim, as well as fill up containers full of the holy water. During the early mornings and evenings there are ceremonies going on with singing, chanting, instrument playing and the setting off of flowers with incense and flame to the Ganges as prayer and offering. One particular substance within the flame is camphor, which is supposed to symbolize the burning of one's ego. There are actually some locations in various areas of the city with decent sized beaches to lounge at and go swimming. I took a walk one day down to one of these beaches, littered with huge boulders and errant cows with the possible intent of taking a dip into the Ganges. However, this became infeasible within minutes as small crowds of Indians started coming over to stare and talk with me. At least I was able to walk in the Ganges for a little bit and get some good pictures. Next time I will have to find a more remote spot further away from the masses.
Food on the streets is pretty good, particularly the chai tea. Although it is cooked up in filthy dark pots crusted over with old tea grinds and other residue, it pretty much always comes out tasting delicious and is super cheap, typically the equivalent of paying 10-15 cents a small cup. Ingrdients are basically black tea, cinnamon, cardamon, skin milk, water, sometimes some anise and ginger, as well as other possible ingredients tossed into the typically filthy pot, heated up, and then strained into a small glass. The pot doesn't seem to be ever cleaned and is put right back up on the stove, usually covered. It's also nice getting cups that u just watched the cooks cleaned out with their fingers.

So far I have been fortunate and haven't gotten sick at all during my time in India, about 1 month and a half. I was sick once in Nepal for several days with awful diarrhea and fever, and Thailand several times. I better tap on some wood be4 I jinx my luck. So far in traveling over 7 months I believe my body has started to acclimate itself to the bacteria and other microbes in the environment no present in the US. Doing lots of yoga has also helped to detoxify, cleanse, and protect my body against sickness. Has also been over 2 months now that I have eaten meat, with the exception of one time in Nepal. Rishikesh is a holy city and hence it is vegetarian and alcohol free. I do hear that there is a restaurant and Inn on the far side of town owned by some Pakistanis that offers meat, although I haven't been there. The mangos sold by the street vendors are incredibly juicy and delicious, usually costing me 25 cents apiece. Also available for cheap are potato samosas, which perhaps aren't the healthiest being that they are deep fried, but they are delicious and fill me up.

Back to India

After completing my 7 days at the Panditarama Meditation Center I was off and on my way to the Indian border to begin making my way towards Delhi and Rishikesh. While making my way to the middle of Lumbini to pick up the local bus to take me to the necessary stops, including Bhairahawa and Sunauli, the town right at the border. I found out the local bus was of course on strike so I would have to resort to another way off making the 22 + km. back to. I was able to get a bicycle powered rickshaw driven by a scruffy and very lean Nepalese man who didn't look as though he'd have the power to bike myself and my over-stuffed baggage for more than 10 minutes. However him and his beaten down and rickety bike were able to cycle for over 2 hrs through the country side and villages of Nepal to the border. Its amazing the power and stamina these old skinny men possess, as they have probably been riding the rickshaw bikes for half their lives. Riding through the country was magical, with all the Nepalese kids running out of their humble homes, typically consisting of huts and makeshift shacks, to wave at me and yell hello. The country has some of the friendliest people I have ever seen living in such poverty.


My meditative calm from 7 days of meditation and the peaceful ride through the countryside was immediately disturbed upon crossing the border back into India. The crowds were immediately multiplied many times over and the madness and touts were instantly back in my face. Fortunately the busstop I need to get to wasn't too far off, not more than 100 meters, so I was able to get there and get myself onto the first bus to Gorakhpur, which took over 2 hrs and was absolutely jammed packed with Indians crammed into every last space.

In Gorakhpur I bought a train ticket for Delhi, a 13+ hr ride in a sleeper seat where I fortunately was able to lie back and relax during the overnight journey. Made it to Delhi and had to deal with the hassle of buying a bus ticket for Rishikesh, another 6 or 7 north. Its a real pain buying from the Indian ticket dealers as they are always quoting highly elevated prices for foreigners and trying to rip you off. The first place I went to inquire about tickets I was kicked out of as they didn't appreciate my calling them out about elevated prices for travelers. My patience was already a bit thin from the past 2 days, lack of sleep, and dealing with the madness of Delhi, India's capital and one of there biggest cities. Perhaps I provoked them a bit in being asked to leave, at any rate I didn't care. I checked out a few other ticket places and finally bought one. I just wanted to get out of the city and its crazy masses, insane pollution and piles of garbage, and onslaught of the overpresent touts trying to interest me in their services and goods. Maybe another time I will spent a day or two in Delhi, just not this time around. My bus left within an hr and I was on my way to Hardiwar and eventually Rishikesh, a supposed hr north of Hardiwar and considered the yoga capital of the world. The roads were floading along the way from the onslaught of the monsoon rains but eventually I made it to Rishikesh that evening, after nearly 27 hrs of almost non-stop sitting.

Lumbini Nepal

After finished up hiking in the himalayas, I stuck around Pokhara for several days relaxing and checking out the town. I had initially considering staying at one of the health and yoga centers, but being that it is off-season there wasn't much going on at them. I decided to get moving along out of town and visit the birthplace of the Buddha in Lumbini. Located in southern Nepal slightly north of the Indian border, it took a 6+ hr busride to get there. As it is the supposed birthplace of the Buddha, one of the major religions/philosophies of the world, one would think that it would be a huge pilgrammage site on the level of Mecca or Jerusalem. However, it turned out to be quite lowkey. There was a very nice and spacious garden center - referred to as Lumbini Gardens - filled with Buddhist temples representing Buddhism from various Asian countries. Also was a garden area with a holy pond and some ancient ruins with a marker indicating the exact place that the Buddha was said to have been born, over 2500 yrs ago, 500 yrs before the birth of Christ. Outside these building as I was exiting I caught site of a small snake which I was able to catch while creating a small crowd around myself. I released the snake off to the side.


In the sprawling area containing the various Buddhist temples there were two Buddhist meditation retreat centers, one of which - the Panditarama Vipassana Meditation Center - I decided to do a retreat at. Considering that the center has a pretty rigorous schedule - I wasn't sure how long I would be able to last for. The schedule calls for a morning bell at 4am and beginning meditation at 4:30am with a light breakfast at 6am. Then more hrs of meditation till 11am lunch, with a meeting with one of the meditation instructors in between to discuss progress. During the afternoon about 4 more hrs of meditation till a Dharma talk at 5:30pm and evening juice at 7pm, then more meditation in the evening. In all the schedule called for about 14-16 hrs of sitting and walking meditation throughout the day.


I wasn't sure how much of a schedule like this I would be able to handle, also considering that there is only 2 meals a day, no dinner, and complete silence the whole day. However, since I was in the birthplace of the Buddha, and although not a Buddhist myself, considered it a great place to do my first meditation retreat. I signed up for 5 days at first while hoping to complete an entire week. It took several days to get used to the routine but it turned out to be quite peaceful and calm for the most part. The schedule wasn't rigorously enforced and their was no meditation leader at the front guiding along the meditators and cracking any whips. As it was off season the center only included 4 or 5 other meditators

The heat in the area during the hot and humid monsoon season was quite oppressive at times. I would frequently be sitting in the med room and be dripping with sweat running down my forehead and arms. Fortunately we had a number of fans to help in keeping the air cooler. This didn't help however during the periodic times in which the power would go out, at least each evening for varying amts of time. I gotten used to the power outages throughout Nepal, although it is a bit annoying at times being accustomed to 24 hr electric in the west.

The mosquitos were in out in full force during the days, particularly at night. There were plenty of ditches and swamp areas filled up with water from the monsoon rains. Just had to spray myself up extra with repellant, although this often wasn't 100% effective. I could wear pants to keep covered up, but I have experienced mosquitos biting through even my pant material. Thank goodness they supplied mosquito nets around the beds. The worst part of the mosquito bites is the incessant itchiness that occurs after you get bit. It is impossible to not itch the areas, and they normally wind up turning into a rash or minor skin infection.

During the evenings one could hear packs of jackals howling and making lots of noise. It sounded at times like they were much closer than they probably were. Outside the premises were some large fields in several directions with lots of overgrown brush, making for perfect habitat and cover. It was amazing how loud they could get, all joining together in unison howling at each other and other packs in the distance. Then just like that the howling and noise would cease and there would be nothing but the sounds of crickets and insects. I never got a chance to see any of the jackals, although I was told they are somewhat a cross between a hyena and a wild dog. Also in abundance outside the med center was many types of noisy birds I had never heard before. They were especially nice to listen to during the early morning when I was still in a bit of a sleep trance and there noises were extra surreal.

Present at the center were two blind cats the center had taken in. They both had empty pits where there eyes would have been. They seemed to little problem getting around, although they didn't appear to go off too far into the surroundings. The male cat was quite loud, constantly meowing and interrupting the silence of the center.

The meditation practice itself was vipassana, or insight meditation with emphasis on breathing and observing the up and down movements of the abdomen. This was the primary object of observation in addition to walking meditation. Everything was to be conducted with as much mindfulness as possible. Doing this really allows one to be very aware of their body, breathing, and other factors contributing to moment to moment consciousness and well-being. As it is often referred to as insight meditation, insight into one's body and mind are greatly enhanced and one has a chance or opportunity to ultimately learn more about one's nature, particularly at the farther reaches of the practice which are meant to lead to enlightenment and nirvana. This however takes yrs and yrs of dedicated and focused practice.
I was not able to achieve any transcendent states of moments of rapture, but it was definitely a chance to deepen my meditation practice while practicing mindfulness and loosening up my mind. I was pleased that I was able to make it through 7 days, even if I wasn't super strict with myself in following the suggested format of the center. It was meant to be a retreat type format with opportunity to deepen one's practice. There is no way I could live this kind of lifestyle on a fulltime basis. This could be a symptom of my mind avoiding the objective of slowing and calming down
Fortunately the schedule was not enforced super strictly down to the minute and hr. I was able to go to my room when I wanted to practice yoga and do some light exercise in addition to the intense meditation. I realized my disposition is not to set up at the moment for hrs and hrs of meditation at a time. I am too physically oriented and and get too restless to be able to sit down for hrs at a time. The walking meditation started to grow on me after several days and became enjoyable. There is much for me to work on in my mind and emotions. However I was satisfied with my ability to be able to sit down for an hr at a time while doing my best to stay present with my breathing and mindfulness. Like nearly everyone else in the world, my mind has the innate tendency to jump all over the place and it takes lots of work to be able to train and discipline it and get into deeper states of mindfulness and focus. However in practicing meditation for an hr at a time there were times where I would feel greatly enhanced states of calmness and relaxation and my mind slowly starting to focus and slow down for a change.

Didn't get a chance to meet or talk with any of the other meditators at silence was observed at all times to allow for uninterrupted concentration. I was told by one of the meditation directors there - a female Burmese Buddhist nun?, her title was Venerable - that the others had been there for over a month or more apiece. One of the others was a tall German woman who had apparently been there for 2-3 months and was a Dr. back in Germany, i don't know if medical doctor or Doctorate. I was in a dorm room sharing with another guy from New Zealand. He seemed a bit out there as he would be in the meditation room far beyond the time necessary to be there for meditation. I would be trying to sleep around midnight and still hadn't heard him come back to the room. It seemed as though he was taking the retreat to the extremes, working on meditating for over 18-20 hrs a day with minimal sleep. It appeared as though he had a breakdown the one night as he appeared somewhat disturbed the next morning. For all I know he had been up the entire night trying to meditate. He was moving and acting in complete and exaggerated slow- motion and folding up his belongings as though he were exiting. The center director and primary meditative guide - a German man born in Africa and completely fluent in Burmese - I'm not sure what his title was although he was wearing the orange clothing associated with Buddhist monks, had to talk with him a while and bring him back to reality.

6 Days hiking in the Himalayas

After 1 week in Kathmandu, visiting the sites and dealing with my first case of sickness and diarrhea while in India/Nepal, it was time to move one to Pokhara, the 2nd largest city in Nepal. It took about 6 hrs heading west on a bus before reaching Pokhara, situating nearby at the base of the Annapurna Mountain Range and right alongside a huge lake. Right upon arriving in Pokhara I was relieved by the absence of large crowds and the presence of clean air and relatively clean streets. The town was very lowkey as it is monsoon season and in the middle of the off-season, with very few tourists. I was able to get a pretty good rate on a nice room as a result.

While I was in Nepal, the thing to do is trek, so in spite of the monsoon rains I made plans to get out into the mountains for at least a little bit to check out the scenery and have myself a memorable experience. Initially I planned on hiking out into the mountains myself or with anyone I met as I had bought a map of the region and discovered that there are various guest homes and tea houses all throughout the extensive trail system. As a result I wouldn't have to camp or bring food with me. However I met a cool Nepalese guy in town named Prakash who seemed competant enough and persuaded me to hire him out for a cheap price to be my guide. This turned out to be a wise choice, as he was aware of all the key strategic areas and stops worth staying at as well dealing with whatever other pitfalls may occur along the way.



The first day we started a big late around 11am at the village of Phedi and hiked till about 5 till it started raining pretty hard. Fortunately I was prepared for the rain and had rented myself out a full-length rain jacket covering myself and the lone bag I was carrying. Didn't need to carry too much since I was only planning on being out on the trail for about a week or so. Also didn't need to carry food or tent, although I did stock up on some candy bars and trail mix before heading out. The first stop was a pretty cool little place featuring a farm with buffalos and goats in addition to rooms and a small kitchen with clay hearth for a stove, fired by pieces of stick and wood. The guy there said I could come back anytime I wanted and walk on the hillside with him and his family. Said he has several others who stop in from time to time and do such a thing, several Europeans.

Also got to experience for first time the imfamous leeches that I had heard so much about. However they really weren't as bad as I thought they would be, as they were tiny little creatures and were easily plucked off or dabbed with salt to remove. They do however have an amazing ability to attach to your shoes, socks, and legs and begin their blood sucking business. I saw several Japanese guys later one during the trip who had leeches which had gotten in their shoes and socks and created a bloody mess.



The second day started off with rain in the morning but thankfully cleared up within an hr or so. Finally started to get into some interesting terrain and some of the climbs were quite grueling. At times nothing but uphill for an hour or two. Was an incredible workout for my legs and I'm glad I wasn't carrying more weight. It is amazing how some of the porters and sherpas are able to carry some of the incredible loads they do, typically while wearing regular street shoes and nothing much suitable for the trails in the mountains, at least according to western standards. The clouds started to disperse some come late morning, although not completely, opening up some amazing vistas. Also amazing while hiking during the rain in the middle of the monsoon was the intensity of some of the waterfalls along the way, which were absolutely raging. Seemed like a virtual waterpark during the moments of hard rain which water bursting from all over the place. Really had to be careful and totally mindful on the trails not to slip.



Fortunately the trails were in incredible condition and much work was put into the trail system. Many of the trails have been in use for hundreds of yrs I'm sure with the existance of innumerable little villages living up in the mountains farming and ekeing out an existence. The second night we stayed at a guest house ran by 3 beautiful Nepalese women and with natural hotsprings nearby. This took another 20 min hike back down the mountain to the edge of the raging river where there were 3 hot springs pools available, although one had been covered up by the rising river. Alongside the river and up the hills was dense jungle. Hard to believe such jungle is so close to the highest mountains in the world. Surprisingly there was another group of travelers down soaking at the time, including a good looking 20 yr old American girl from Idaho who was in Nepal volunteering and hiking with some of her fellow volunteerers. The springs felt great and really helped loosen up my body and particularly legs after all the hiking. At the guest house I met a guy who was currently living in the tiny yet very rich country of Monaco in Europe. Originally from Australia, he had set up some sort of business in Monaco and was making big bucks. He was able to hire out a porter to carry his gear in addition to a guide. He had a chicken killed and filleted for himself that evening by the lovely women working in the kitchen.
The next several days were lots of up and down climbing throughout the Annapurna Sanctuary. I had originally hoped to make it up to the Annapurna basecamp but reconsidered as I wasn't carrying enough money on me. The prices at the guest and tea houses along the way get more and more expensive the further up one gets, considering the work it takes to carry it all the way up that way. Many times I saw caravans of donkeys weighed down by huge loads being transported into villages in the mountains. It would have been a nice accomplishment to make it too basecamp but I was happy enough to be out in himalayas experiencing what I could, in spite of the monsoon and lack of clear viewage. I did get one look at the high peaks for about 15 minutes the morning of my 3rd day. It was amazing seeing these high peaks, reaching heights of 25,000 ft and higher, almost twice as high as in Colorado. Another vista which I had hoped to view was Poon Hill, a popular spot providing a wide and amazing view of the Annapurnas and other various high peaks in the area. Unfortunately in the morning in which we were planning to making the ascent of the hill the weather was very cloudy and foggy, cancelling out these plans.
On the morning of the 6th day I was to make it back to the trailhead, a different one than I had started from, to catch the local bus back to Pokhara. However, there was a bus strike that day which meant no busrides back to town. We would have make it to the bus stop around noon, but kept walking for several hours more to make it several villages closer to Pokhara. Around 5pm were had reached a town not far from Pokhara where Prakash wanted to stay, i'm sure to try and wring out an extra days worth of pay from me. I however had no desire to sit put for the rest of the evening and kept walking. 4 hrs later I made it back to Pokhara, extremely exhausted, tired, and pleased to have made it back to town. In all I hiked 13 hrs minus perhaps an hour or more for food break that day. The most I had ever hiked in a day and my feet and ankles were absolutely killing me. Never felt so good to lie back on my bed and relax under the fan.

Kathmandu

Kathmandu was a very intriguing with its mix of ancient temples, historical Buddhist and Hindu sites, and crowded alleyways and narrow streets filled with masses of people and day to day life. Sacred cows, buffalos, goats, an dogs are to be seen quite nearly everywhere, milling around eating grass and picking through garbage and at times holding up traffic. In contrast to these interesting sites of Kathmandu is the immense traffic and crowds, dust and pollution, and mounds of trash heaps with no apparent landfill destination. The rivers flowing through the outskirts of the city are tremendously polluted with piles of rubbish and runoff from sewage drainage. Often you can see families and kids out in the water, playing around as well as cleaning themselves off with soap. Surrounding the valley of Kathmandu are a range of small mountains beyond which lay lie the high himalayan peaks.

One important site that I visited in Kathmandu is the ancient Buddhist stupa of Swayam bhunath, commonly known as the 'Monkey Temple'. Here hordes of monkeys run amok through the trees, buildings, electrical lines, and grounds creating a nice backdrop for the mainly Tibetan Buddhist site. The site consists of a large hilltop with temple at the top. At the bottom circling the site are endless prayer wheels filling with Buddhist prayers and mantras that devotees and other folks walk by spinning, sending prayers into the world.
I walked up to this site one evening and kept walking into the countryside, observing the villages and people at work in the fields. It was a very peaceful scene with all the children constantly saying 'hello' and 'Namaste'. The kids seemed super friendly and happy running around and playing games with each other, in spite of the lack of any toys with the exception of some soccer balls and some bicycles here and there. Walking back in the twilight and impending darkness was quite surreal as I was a bit high up into the hills and able to get a great view down into the valley of Kathmandu. Electricity is also turned off on particular nights for hrs at a time saving power. As this occurs the people of the city and village light up candles and lanterns in the midst of the darkness. Traffic also gets very sparse as their are no street lights working to lighten up the streets. Makes it much less hazardous to get around. Also makes me appreciate the 24 hr electrical flow in the states as well as much of Thailand and how spoiled we are in the western world. Also no real sense of danger or crime, at least that I sensed or felt, that is so common in American big cities and elsewhere. People for the most part seem quite at peace in spite of their poverty and lack of toys. They rely more on each other and have a greater sense of interdependence. It seems like pretty much everyone knows each other on a block and the community is much more cohesive, working together in the fields and just being there for each other. Many times in America I have barely met or really spoken with my neighbors , as everyone is busy living their scattered lives and locked behind doors watching television.

Another very interesting site I visited was the important Hindu temple of Pashupatinath. It is included on the list of the world's Heritage Sites and is a centre for pilgrims and sadhus - holy men - from all over the subcontinent. Here corpses are prepared and burnt, then the ashes and remains shoveled into a rather polluted river that eventually runs into the Ganges much further south in India. It was a rather surreal site itself observing the preparations of the burning sites and corpses, then seeing all the smoke filling the air. I was allowed into the area set aside for lower caste members of society to be cremated and allowed to take some pictures. Further up the river in a prohibited area is the site where higher caste Hindus are cremated. Here is where the royal family which was massacred by one of its own was cremated back in 2001 after the tragic event. Running throughout the area are mobs of monkeys making lots of noise getting into various mischief, climbing up trees and blds and running on the electrical lines. Also cows walking around in the river right below which corpses are burnt and ashes dumped into the river.

Not too far from Pashupatinath is the site of Bodhnath, or Boudha, another huge Buddhist stupa and World Heritage Site and also a centre for a large and thriving Tibetan community. Here lies dozens of Buddhist monasteries and centers of learning. There were large crowds of people circling the immense Buddhist stupa, some on the ground very devoutly prostating themselves fully the entire way around the stupa. On the outskirts of the site were craftsmen creating and fashioning Buddhist artwork and crafts to be sold in the area.

The touts in the Thamel section of the city were quite relentless, consistently in your face trying to sell travel packages, rides on rickshaws, items from their shops, as well as drugs like ganga and hashish. It didn't help that it was off season and much less tourists than normal in the area. This just made me all the more a target for the touts, as there were fewer tourists to focus on and a greater need to make money to get by during the seasonal slump in the midst of the monsoon season. The city life and culture was much different than Thailand. Here the men are much more assertive and in your face, trying to be friendly and well as figure out ways they can make money off of you. It seems like if you get a Nepalese talking to you for more than 10 seconds at one of the heritage or tourist sites, they are asking for money in return for them having explained some history or significance of the area. It is a very poor country and economy and jobs are not in great abundance. Many like to take on the role of guide or friend to try and earn some rupees. The women for the most part are very shy and in the background, much more so than in Thailand. In Thailand the women are often quite vocal in trying to interest you in massage and other services as your moving along. The men in Thailand are much shyer and reserved, with the exception of the tuk tuk and taxi drivers.
It's also interesting watching the Nepalese people interacting with each other. They are very touchy feely with other, particularly men with their male friends and women with their female friends. While the culture is quite conservative with primarily Hindu values and gay behavior is not accepted, it is not uncommon to see two guys walking down the street holding hands or with their arms around each other. Same thing with girls and their friends.