Ashram Land

---

Arrived in Haridwar after a smooth 18 hour train ride yesterday morning, but since the train was late, instead of arriving at 4, it arrived at 5:30, which was good because that's exactly when I woke up. Got to Rishikesh easily and cheaply by taking a bus which was cheaper than my half of an autorickshaw to get close to where I wanted to be after arrived at the bus stand in Rishikesh. Met a girl from Michigan named Jen at the bus stand in Haridwar who looked just as confused and lost as me (none of the destinations of the buses were listed in english, all written in Hindi, which surprisingly enough, I still can't read). Her accent reminds me of Becky, especially when she says 'back' like 'bayck' in the Midwestern Style. She just got done with some huge 3 or 4 week trek up in the north with some group trip and broke of on her own with the same idea as me in taking yoga lessons for a week in Rishikesh.

I've had two lessons so far, sort of. Took a beginner class yesterday, which was kind of lame because he just showed one position and then you went into the relaxation position every time after so it was really slow and would really get boring after a couple of times. Tried to do the regular one this morning and the instructor didn't show up, but a girl from Canada who used to teach a few yoga classes a few years ago said she'd wing a class anyway. That was good and much more flowing and challenging than the beginner class yesterday. I'll go tonight to the regular one again when the real instructor should be back and maybe continue doing that twice a day for about a week. They have a meditation class right after the night yoga class so I'll check that out at least once and see if I want to do it again.

The weather here is nice. A lot like Charleston on its not too humid days. I thought it would be almost as hot as Varanasi but it isn't, only fairly hot in the middle of the day with great breezes off of the Ganga that keep you pretty cool. Good fans everywhere too. So I guess I won't go up to Gangotri since I don't have to much time left, I think this might be my only stop in Uttranchal, or for some reason this thing says Uttarakhand?, maybe the name changed recently or something. Then i'll head up to Shimla and catch a bus to Manali in Himachal Pradesh, then make the decision of whether or not I have enough time to see Leh, and then on to Dharamsala, and maybe Amristar, then back to Delhi and home. There's a few too many masses of tourists here for me, well Indian ones that is, but the scenery is beatiful. After just a 5 minute walk out of town, its pretty solitary and you can find big boulders right next to the river to just relax on and get some peace and quiet.

This internet cafe is cheap and has USB ports, so I will try my hardest to brind my camera and cable here next time just to put up a few pictures. I realized today i have only taken like 300 pictures or something and have room for like 1100 more, so maybe I should be taking more pictures...oh well, I will have the experiences, I guess only you guys will suffer, Ha!

I am dreading how little time I have left but am also looking forward to coming home, I reallly want to take the boat out for a ride. Updates to come. Bye.

---

Photos

Rishikesh
The view from Jen's sweet balcony