So much to learn in India …
Well, it’s hard to believe that two weeks have passed so quickly … and I think we’ve experienced a lot in this short time.
I wrote before that Tomoko and I took a 5-day Reiki course in Dharamsala. That was really educational and inspirational. In fact, I found a good Reiki book yesterday and bought it.
It was really hard to leave McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, as we have many friends and connections there. I really felt like we had a great two weeks and spent quality time with people who are really important to our lives. I had some special times there teaching some new computer things to the volunteer organization called LHA. I taught some video editing, sound editing, and we even created ‘The Dharamsala Hill Talk’ show. This is ‘McLeod Ganj’s first weekly webcast’ and we have high hopes for it. You can find it here. Hey, download it, listen and see what you think. We’re calling it a ‘webcast’ and in the near future it will be a real LIVE webcast that will take skype calls from listeners. Right now it’s more of a podcast, but download it and see what you think.
After we left Dharamsala, we took a night bus (14 hours!!) to Dehra Dun, then a short local bus ride to Rishikesh, Uttaranchal — perhaps the ‘yoga capital of the world.’ After hearing about Rishikesh for so many years it was really nice to actually BE THERE and see it for ourselves.
On our friends’ recommendation, we went to a small yoga ashram about 5 kms. out of town and that was really a beautiful place. It was right on the GANGA river and we were up at 6am in the morning to have a swim (cold water!) in the river. Okay, I should be honest here. I swam on those mornings but Tomoko hung out on the river bank and read her book and did some yoga.
We also did some yoga on the rooftop with a picture-perfect view of the Ganga, and used the ashram’s yoga hall as well. It was a peaceful place with a lot of nature around and an excellent place to do yoga, meditation and other inward practices.
We left the ashram yesterday and spent the last night in the center of the Rishikesh area known as ‘Laxman Jhula.’ It was great for people-watching, more yoga, being close to the Ganga River, and drinking banana lassis while watching people cross the famous ‘Laxman Jhula’ bridge.
We didn’t have much time to fully experience Rishikesh, and had to get to Delhi. So, today we were up at about 4:15 am, and jumped in a taxi to Haridwar. From there we took an express train that dropped us off in New Delhi Railway Station at about noon today.
Today was spent shopping around Delhi, and it’s nice to be in this bustling city when the temperature is cool!! Starting in April, the city of Delhi can experience temperatures of 45 degrees celsius and more! But, from December to mid-March, the climate is cool and pleasant and even chilly and foggy in the middle of winter.
I just went to my favorite ‘juice man,’ and bought almost two liters of fresh carrot juice (with a little beet in it) for our journey tomorrow. Thailand is our destination and …
… we’re going to do a 7-day FAST there. It means that we’re NOT GOING TO EAT SOLID FOOD FOR SEVEN DAYS! No we’re not crazy, just looking forward to cleansing our bodies and trying a new experience.
I hope you had a chance to download the podcast that I put together while in Dharamsala. I’ll have more podcasts soon, though this month will certainly have fewer new things on my website than normal. Sorry about that!
More to come soon so please stay tuned. This is John signing out from Pahar Ganj, Delhi, India at 8:30pm on Monday, March 17th, 2006. Take care my friends.
