Back to Delhi, Haridwar and Rishikesh

We left Vrindavan a few days ago, a bit sad to be leaving, but knowing it was a wonderful place to jump in... We took a cab to Delhi, which was just a tad more expensive then the bus, but infinitely more comfortable. My previous comments about the driving held true, as expected; another thing to realize is that the lane markers on the streets are just for fun... or to give people some work to do - not a single person, car, bike, motorcycle, rickshaw or truck gives a shite and these including the supposed double yellow. I have witnessed myself in more than a few games of chicken wtih large trucks only to close my eyes at the point where someone drives off the berm (sp?) of the road. Saddly, Larry's influence really is everwhere.

By the time we made it through the rush hour traffic getting into delhi, my lungs were thoroughly coated with smog particulates. (pop, I think I have the black lung...) A quick night in Delhi (pahargang) and then off to Haridwar. This is a change of plans and dave and I decided that a 14 hour overnight bus trip on a 20 year old school bus into the mountains on sketchy roads was not in our best interest. So, off to haridwar we go...

The ride from Delhi to Haridwar was pretty good (comfortable bus) but long (it was supposed to take 4 hours, but it took 8. note to self: never take a bus from Delhi to Haridwar during the sugar cane harvest). Traveling in this country is truly exhausting, if not the dust and pollution than the harrowing rides on lawless streets; and if not that, than the general overwhelm of being in a country to utterly different from your own. Dave is making this trip a real adventure and learning for me. He has great background and history of many Hindu traditions, the dieties and their incranations, and many ceremonies.



In Haridwar we stayed at the Hotel Teerth, right on the Ganges and had a balcony overlooking the river, with a large swath of people selling all sorts of articles from mala beads to plastic containers to be able to take water from the Ganges back home with you. (kind of like visiting Lake Erie). Haridwar is a big tourist destination as it's considered a very holy city. Many people make the pillgrimage here to bathe in the Ganga and the majority of people I have seen here are Indian tourists.

One nightly ritual here in Hardiwar is Arti on the Ganga. A truly memorable experience; a very moving expression of sites of sounds and of smells. The ceremony involves placing a banana or tobacco leaf boat filled with flowers and and a candle on the river and saying prayers/blessings. There is a great deal of chanting, and music during the ceremony and it takes place every night. It was a great experience of the beauty and significane of the daily rituals associated with hinduism. Again, dave and I were some of the only westerners there amongst thousands of Indians. I had a bindi of 4 colors placed on my forehead during the ceremonies and then by little girl giving them for 10 rupees.

We stayed in Haridwar a few more days duing which we took a skyway up into the mountains to a temple. Otherwise we've done a lot of wondering. I'm getting used to the stares, as much as you can. Seeing the many handicaped/crippled people here is overwhelming - from lepers to men covered in boils to numerous children, men and women missing limbs. At one point is was all I could do to hold it together till I got to the hotel room. Yet another reminder to be here now. Every day here is a new experience of sinking into this world.

So, now we're now in Rishikesh, the self proclaimed world center for yoga. We took an 8 person Rickshaw the 30 km here yesterday. The town is beautiful, snuggled amongst the mountains along the Ganges. The river is flowing very quickly here with lots of rocks and boulders. There are also plenty of places to play in the river, sit and listen, etc..

I had a wonderful day today... got a haircut and beard trim/shave and head and face massage... all for a total of $2. then I got some antibiotics for my ear (75 cents), then I met Dr.Demani... a nice 70 year old man who specializes in the healing arts through gems and crystals.. he and I talked for 3 plus hour, had chai.. he talked about the many paths to enlightenment.. he looked at me for the first 30 seconds and said "you do a lot of hatha yoga, as I can see your body constitution is very balanced.. but you're not enlightended."

Dr. Demani:



Soo... okay... I never really thought as to whether or not I am enlightened... I never thought of it in such binary terms, as in you are or you aren't.. i've always seen it as a process. (god bless the beginner mind). Either way, it was a good lead into your long conversations... discussing the trumukti, hindu phiosophy, non-dualism, krishna versus shiva, the nature of a sadhu, scripture, mantra, gurus, etc. I really enjoyed it, though I could only understand about every second word..but somehow I knew that what I was picking up was what I was supposed to pick up. He lives in a tiny room right off a dirt path in Laxman Juhl (the area of Rishikesh where dave and I are staying). He is a beautiful man living a simple life with incredible knowledge, experience and wisdom; a joy to speak with.

I plan on being here at least a few more days. This is a very peaceful town and I plan on exploring more ashrams over the next few days. From here we're gonig to head up to Dharmasala. One thing to note... it's cold in this town at night ... Dave and I each have multiple blankets and a space heater at night (though we're too scard to keep it on all night... let's just say it wouldn't pass US safetey inspections...) The days are warm, though not hot (which is a good thing, because as we know, ebie don't do hot weather)...





more to come... btw, your postings are hilarious.. keep 'em comnig.

Delhi, Vrindaban and Agra

The flight on Air India from Bangkok to Delhi put us in at 10pm. While the experience of getting on another plane was not exactly what I would have chosen, all things being equal, it was moderately painless and uneventful. The Bollywood films they played on the flight reminded me of where it was we were going.

We got into Delhi at 10pm at night on Saturday. Having heard numerous stories of the "tauts" that have hundreds of scams in which they will attempt to separate you for your money, my guard was up. Dave, howerer, had been through this before. The first quote we got for our cab ride was 900 rupees, and the second 450... so we went with the second only to find that a reasonable fare wouldn't have been over 250. Regardless, we got a cab to Pahargang in Delhi. It's defintely the backpacker hangout and it felt like being in a mix of Bladerunner and Mad Max only from the 1920's. It's also where one of the bombs went off a few weeks ago, I was to find out (sorry, mom).... I was throoughly overwhelmed by dust, congestion, foreign smells, sights, languages, culture, etc.. you name it...but the hotel (Hotel Relax) was quick and welcome sanctuary.. We sleptwell and hard, and woke up and did a nice practice and sit. It was also a good first experience for setting accomodation expectataions.

The next morning I looked out the window to see the streets teaming with people, cow's, rickshaw, both motorized and not, motorbikes, buses, trucks, produce stands, chai houses, and LOTs of humanity. It was enough to not get run over, save the steaming cow dung. We spent the day running around Delhi checking things out, and then my friend Nav picked us up.. he's a friend from work (err.... old work) who is over visiting his family for a few weeks. He took as around and showed us parts of Delhi we never would've seen otherwise.. We then went to his parent's house in the suburbs of Delhi. It was a very nice place in one of many newly built highrises. One thing I found striking was how the commercialization and consumerism is gripping the Delhi suburbs... there were horrible traffic jams on a Sunday all because of people trying to get to the malls. Nav's parent's took us to a wonderful dinner at "The Kebob Factory". I however, crashed in the middle of dinner.. it was ALL I could to keep my eyes open.... damn jet lag (and that scotch before dinner... thanks Nav :) We slept at Nav's parents house that night...

The next day we went back into Delhi and then to the Ghandi Ashrams' Khadi store (home spun cotton).. it was beautiful and I a couple bits of clothing and a wool blanket... we then had a harrowing rickshaw ride to the bus terminal (praying comes in handy in these moments, I have found), trying to catch a bus to Vrindavan (Krishna's birthplace). We soon found that "you can't get there from here." So we took a local bus tothe "other" train station and then hopped a bus for Vrindavin.... 4hours later, not being able to feel my legs, cramped in one seat withmy pack and hordes of people around me, we made it to Mathara and then hopped a rickshaw for the 10 kms to Vrindavan. I never knew rickshawacould offrode, but this one did (and had to if it was going to get us through to Vrdindavan).

Once we arrived we found out a festival was going on so it took us 2+ hours and lots of walking to find a place to stay... However, like a number of expereinces I have had since then, we found ourselves beautifully taken care of. This time it was by a woman from the states named Mahadevi. She now lives in Vrindaban and she called soe places she knew and secured us a ride to the Ananda Krishna Van ashram which had rooms avaialble.

Vrindavan is an amazing place. We're approaching our 4th night here. It is the most devotional place I have ever experienced. Everywhere are Sadus, Krishna devotees and temples (large and small). It is the birthplace of Krishna and is considered the Hindu Jerusalem. It is also the base of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (also known as the Hare Krishnas...see photo below). Eveyone greets everyone with Hare Krishna or Hare Bol...Over the past few days we have walked along the Yamuna river for hours at a time, rarely seeing another westerner. I kept asking the numerous store owners if they carried Prada, but to no avail.



If you like to learn more about Vrindaban, check out this series from NPR and National Geographic. This will give you a sense of what we're experiencing:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4980453

Yesterday we did a day trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. It is as beautiful as everyone says it is... a very good trip.



I am in the midst of a world the likes I have which I have never experienced. While Delhi was a very cool experience and an assault on the senses, it is a big city, and has that energy. Vrindvan is different.. it is a small town.I have been walking up and down the main streets and side streets; approaching temples and being invited in to take part in the numerous kirtans and ceremonies that happen on an almost continuous basis. We originally planned on staying in Vrindaban two nights and we are now on our fourth. I feel that I am sinking into the energy of this town and soaking up a world completely foreign to what I have known. It feels wonderful.

In general I have found the people beautiul and kind and I sense a collective consciousness here that is almost indescribable. It's a calm sense among the people, that they are all apart of one great truth, and whatever manifests for one person implies on the other. A simple example would be traffic... The traffic here is nuts. It seems that everyone has taken a page out of Larry Rosenshein New York City driving style of one foot on the gas and the horn being substituted for the brake whenever possible. After my 100th near miss, I started to feel that this collective consciousness was at work... like people are guided through traffic in a chaotic pattern that simply works; more broadly, like everyone has given up a part of their individuality for the greater good.... like holding onto your own life a little looser so that the collective can help guide you.... This is very much how I'm feeling... I have seen myself overwhlemed simply by breathing deep and closing my eyes. The experience thus far has been more beautiful and meaningful than I imagined.

Tomorrow we are back to Delhi to catch a 14 hour overnight bus ride north to Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama in the Himalayas.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. love and blessings...

Bangkok to Delhi

The flight was long, as expected but uneventful. The 10 hour flight convinced me there is a new type of movie called "made for airplanes" - too awful for theaters of television... but good enough to show to a group of people with no escape (save alcohol and sarcasm). You don't have to listen, but you end up watching anyway, wondering what the dialog is...okay... it wasn't that bad, but I do think there is a niche market here for poor filmakers aspiring for mediocrity.

I can now say I've had sushi in Japan. It was the airport in Tokyo but it will do for now.. check.

We arrived into Bangkok late on Friday night and caught a cab to Ko Saun Road (the backpacker hangout in Bangkok) and our hotel, The Thai Cozy House. After a nice walk and some late night grub we got some well needed sleep. The room brought the word efficiency to mind, but it was clean and quiet. (though windowless). The next morning was all about our tickets to Delhi. We ended up flying out at 6pm that night as it was significantly cheaper. So with the half day we had, we meandered the streets of Kosaum, ate delicious pad thai off the street (made right in front of us over a charcoal fire), sipped a singha and got a 1 hour Thai massage for a grand total of $4.

6pm flight to Delhi with anticipation in tow...

Ready...

It amazes me how much time and effort it takes to get your belongings to a level where you can fit them into a small satchel to throw on your back.

My first attempt was much easier: a loin cloth, a rice bowl and truckload of pepto bismal.

After careful contemplation I decided that a second attempt was in order. I have a small pack, and taken the tack that everything I could potentially need, especially clothing, can be gotten in over there. Don't get me started on clothing. Some may argue that I should pack every bit of clothing I own and burn it in a ceremony on a beach in Thailand. Interesting...

Dave and I leave at 1pm today from SFO to Bangkok through Tokyo. Through my careful estimation, I have determined that we should arrive in Bangkok sometime before Christmas.

I am filled with the anticipation of experiences yet to be experienced. More from the other side of the planet...