December 2009
13 posts
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Agra is a war zone. It’s a war between the foreigner and the local, the gullable and the savvy. Many foreigners feel like victims and with just cause. It’s hard for me to gauge how the Indians feel - it’s a completely different psyche. It’s a battle for personal space and peace of mind, for the best bargain and for the contents of your wallet, and even for your own health....
Happy Christmas! Jesus would be proud...
When I was a kid, we lived next to an orthodox jewish family, the 5 kids in their family matched up to the ages of my siblings. Miryam was my age. We spent a good amount of time at each others homes. I remember the day that it finally sank in that her family did not celebrate Christmas. Of course, growing up in Encino, I understood that Jews didn’t believe in Jesus and all, but Christmas was...
Traveling Solo
I can’t tell if I’m a people-person or a loner. At certain points in my life I have been a people magnet, consolidating large groups of unrelated individuals into one big happy family. At other times I have been painfully alone, watching the groups around me with sadness and a tinge of envy. This trip has not made things any clearer on that account. On days when I’m alone, I...
some photos!
Finally I found a place to upload some photos. Here is one of me and my Guru on the Ganges, in Rishikesh. He practically fades into the background. See his dred locks draped around his legs? This is atop the so-called Beatle’s Ashram. The Tibetan Prime Minister in exile, Samdhong Rinpoche The view from my hotel balcony. Yesterday some women from the farm and I hiked up to the top of...
Back to school
One great thing about India and particularly mcleod ganj is all the lessons and schools you can attend while visiting. It’s a lot like summer camp (or college, depending on your major). I’m taking Tibetan cooking class today - we are learning to bake five kinds of Tibetan bread. There’s also woodcarving which I really wanted to do but it required a 5 day commitment at 6 hours a...
McLeod Ganj
Since this is my first backpacking trip, I’m learning as I go. This style of travel is actually much more condusive to my personality, as I hate to plan. I do not know from day to day, or hour to hour what I would like to be doing at any given moment. Some call me flakey. I prefer the term ‘spontaneous’. At the very least, traveling alone makes me accountable to no one which is...
Ways to pass the days
Rishikesh is stunning. I am sitting at the DevRaj Coffee Corner at the Laxman Jhula bridge at dusk. The ganges river winds between soaring green mountians and the temples nestled on the banks look like 10 story castles in a children book. There are two walking bridges, the laxman jhula, where I am staying, and ram jhula where many of the ashrams are located, about 2 kil away. There are many...
Guru on the Gangez
I’ve seemed to have unwittingly attracted a tour guide/eager companion - a nice young guy who leads treks in the mountains and speaks English very well. Two days ago he showed me some waterfalls near town and yesterday he took me to see the Beatles ashram (of monkey-substance fame). It is a stunning piece of land with these beehive looking meditation rooms made of small stones. The ashram...
Delhi Belly
A month plus in India does not make me an expert on anything but the daily confusion of an American tourist, but let me see if I can take a stab at the source of the phenomenon called “Delhi Belly”. Delhi Belly is what occurs when foreigners get a crippling bout of food poisoning in India. Even putting this to print is really tempting my own fate, but I have always had a relatively...
This morning, I stood in a steam filled bathroom, drenched in hot water flowing like manna from heaven. I could ruminate on the pleasures of my first non-bucket shower in weeks all day long. Just wanted to share. Last night I ran in two British ladies who’d ID met at the farm, so we stuck together and had a nice dinner together. It’s nice to see familiar faces in such a foreign...
Rishikesh
Ahhh rishikesh. I feel like the locations have been getting better. Dehradun (the city near the farm) was way too intense although not as bad as Delhi. Rishikesh has a beautiful charm to it. The Ganga (Ganges river) is a stunning milky pale green. As we walked over the second bridge to laxman jula, the people hushed their voices in reverence of the holiest river in India. I had to walk about 20...
Where to go from here?
It’s really hard to put into words all that has happened over the past two weeks of the course. Today the remaining attendees are catching rickshaws, buses, trains and planes scattering them about India and the globe. I will head via bus to Rishikesh tomorrow. Yesterday during our final lecture, an older French woman asked the Prime Minister of Tibet a question. They each struggled in...
What did we do back in the olden days?
We’ve been spoiled with wireless internet on the farm all this time and when it went out last week we were like puppies without chew toys. So much has happened during the course, but I can’t go into it now because there is a queue behind me of salivating internet junkies trying to get their fix on the one computer we must share. I will write more as soon as I get some access. Doing...
