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Published: April 15th 2008
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i went to katmandu and stayed away from the tourist area and went to freak street next to durba square with its amazin temples. I went and fed the street kids up one of the ancient buddha temples late at night and hung out with them which was fun.
I left nepal as the elections start soon and its going to kick off big time and i miss india. In katmandu the tibetans are protesting as the chinese are doing and have been doing horrific things to the tibetans. you dont see this much in the news but it basically a form of genicide and its disgusting how the olympics are being allowed to be held in beijing. also some chinese i met recently told me of the brainwashing and robotic tactics used during schooling in china. its all a bit wrong.
during my flight to delhi i was level with the himalayan range and it was amazing. a few of us on the plane got toether and i had a guide to delhi on a napkin from my french writer friend in pokhara which we all followed.
We headed to Paraganj in Delhi which is the traveller
area and was so so hectic but kind of fun. we where all happy to b back in india as it is all so candid and friendly and we all went for chi and thali (20p) to celebrate our return. It rained hard and there was an inch layer of cow doo everywhere....nice....time to leave!
i headed up to rishikesh which is on the mother ganga 200km from its source and alot cleaner here than in varanassi. I met nicole from austria on the clapped out bus and we hung out for a week or so. she has been travelling for 2 years and we laughed at how ppl think you have to be rich or lucky to travel whilst upon the balcony of 90p a night wonderful hotel.
rishikesh is the world centre of yoga and all sorts of healing and spiritual stuff. It is has hills and footbridges and is really beautiful. we met an indian guy we really liked and did yoga in his studio every day - it was really good and i felt great. One day my knee hurt a little from yoga and an 80 year old accupressurist fixed it in 20 minutes
by inflicting severe pain by rubbing under and around my knee cap on special points...it was unreal.
i did some sanskrit mantra chantin in the evenings too with him and others (when in rome) which was good and afterwards one night lots of these flying lights/animals appeared - like flying glow worms.
my friend from new mexico in the US arrived too and we met up, we did a course in a pyramid together in guatemala 8 months ago and we caught up on lots of things and people and it was ace. I got roped into doing rapids rafting but it was amazing, lots of fun and very exciting. we had to sign a "if we die, tough titties" form first....heheh.
one day I came out of the shower in my hotel and there was a monkey in my room, he was near my wallet and phone and we had a 'face off' but he took my grapes instead - heheh. As ever, there are monkeys and cows everywhere.
there are secluded beaches further up the ice cold but refreshing ganga, and also dead people are sometimes floated down the river, the water is drunk
and blessed and worshipped and the river is in ancient vedic texts and hindu mythology as having lots of power. my yogi drinks from it and is one of the healthiest persons alive. I will stick to the occasional swim, but many travellers get caught in the current and are found miles away brown bread (dead).
every night there is live music everywhere and it is all indian style and really good, and there is a good atmosphere in the riverside bamboo cafes and restaurants.....and it is very hot here too which i did not expect, i dread to think how hot the rest if india is at the moment as I am quite far north.
After hanging out with Nick and Nicole, we all parted - Nick is off to a learn to become a yoga teacher in the himalayas at the source of the ganga and nicole is off to work in sudan healing people. My next stop is 16 hours north to Bagsu near daramsala (tibetan goverment in exile) where a reiki course, my yogi from varanassi, tibetan buddhism, more friends and the himalayas await. It is cooler further north and more quiet which is
needed.
damn, i wish i still had my desk job in england and i also miss soap operas and traffic wardens.
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