brettandshiv

Although my sojourn into the pristine nature of the Himalayan mountains was only 15 days in length, it felt like an eternity, exploring the timeless expanse of my inner nature. And on those occasions when the stillness of my soul reflected the austere beauty of my surroundings, I found myself above time, dwelling on that threshold between the apparent separation of spirit and creation. These were the pinnacles of my adventure; the marriage of philosophy and experience of wisdom, but they would not have been possible, nor are they less important, than those troughs of loneliness, anxiety and despair that I first had to cross. Waxing lyrical aside, the practicalities of embarking on a solo trek around the Annapurna Circuit were previously few, owing to the existence of tea-houses along the length of the trek and ... read more

For some reason I couldn't quite figure out, I ended up at this little village called Rewalsar, hidden away in the Himalayan foothills. One of the guys at the meditation retreat was a monk from the monastery there and he recommended it, so it seemed the right place after the buzz of Mcleod Ganj. Indeed, Rewalsar is a very chilled little village, surrounding a lake holy to Hindus and Buddhists. Inhabited by an eclectic mix of Hindu devotees, Buddhist monks and nuns, odd-ball villagers and pilgrims from all over the globe, it has a unique and charming character. It was only after talking to an Austrian guy, who'd spent the past month meditating in a cave above the town, that I became aware of the location's spritual appeal. About 500 A.D, an enlightened Buddhist master, called ... read more

Owing to the separatist violence that has rocked Kashmir for the past 13 odd years, the state has been effectively isolated from the encroachment of capitalism and the degradation of culture that accompanies mass tourism. It's like travelling to a medieval Muslim society, where the pace of life is so aptly described by the words often used to describe it, Shanti, shanti. Roughly translated this means quietly, peacefully. Since the political situation stabilised 2 years ago, more intrepid travellers are making the journey to savor the richness of this country within a country. Having seen amazing pictures of the place and having met a group of Europeans who were going, I decided on the spur to go with it and join them. Of course, had I known that I would have to make my peace with ... read more

"Holy Cow! That was close", I muttered involuntarily as the motorized rickshaw driver swerved out of the oncoming traffic at the last nanosecond, ending one round of what seemed to be an ongoing and perverse game of scaring the sh*t out of his passengers. "Yes sir, all cows are holy here", he shouted, as indeed, we whizzed past a stationary cow, standing calmly in the middle of the the chaos they call traffic in Delhi, an expression of sublime contemplation on his face. Enviously noting his peaceful calmness, I wondered what would happen if some driver happened to hit him, as we continued to veer through traffic with a recklessness that would make a Cape Town taxidriver sweat with nervousness. Later, in Kasmir, whilst enjoying a beef kebab, I found out from my Muslim companion that ... read more

Distracted for 2 months by the vastness and beauty of the sights in South America, we've finally arrived at the beach to expose our lily white asses to the sun and start surfing. Mancora is a very laid back little surf-village near Ecuador, blessed with warm water and numerous good surf spots. We treated ourselves to a 9 bedded apartment overlooking the sea for the first few days but the cost of this shag pad and being woken by our gay landlord with his wrinkley lovers in the jacuzzi every morning forced us to review our options. We moved into a bamboo beach bungalow with some wild friends who taught us how to really party, hence the hours we were going to dedicate to surfing reduced significantly. Nevertheless we had some great surf condtions and met ... read more