http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/ellehcimclarke/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from ellehcimclarke en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:32:20 +0000 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:32:20 +0000 Spent another 2 weeks at the Rural Development project. Running English conversation classes painting yoga Hindi...living in the village etc. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/blog-460721.html Arrived in South India after 2 nights on the train from Delhi. Going to see what's happening at Auroville an International Community and then take it from there.Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-460719.html Having already done an Intro to Buddhism course I decided to stay at the Root Institute and do my own little retreat. Lots of reading and meditation. Generally a wonderful place to be. The most spiritual place for Buddhists in the world. A real mix of Buddhists. And plenty of hassling Indians thrown in. Just kidding...maybe I want a rickshaw and can't walk anywhere Have a bicycle and the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Bihar/Bodh-Gaya/blog-454606.html Varanasi for a couple of days. The most interesting place I've been in India. Really wonderful despite huge hassle factor. You cannot imagine how many times in a day you can be offered a boat or hash Really interesting place with death in your face dead bodies carried through the streets and publicly burnt. Definitely a great place to see in India http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-454604.html Staying for at least 3 weeks in a rural community in North India. Learning about rural India development...and doing some voluntary work teaching English and will see what else when I get there. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/blog-451166.html Spending a couple of weeks seeing a bit of Rajesthan. Starting Delhi usual circuit Jaipur Pushkar Udaipur Mt Abu Jodhpur Jaisalmer Agra. Back to Delhi and then to Uttarpradesh by 8th Nov...Will write more when I've done...Lovely http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/blog-446328.html Started a 4 week 6 days per week 6 hours per day yoga course. lots of theory. very nice http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Rishikesh/blog-438722.html Hello I left my job and life in the UK in Jan '09. My trip was not planned from the start but the trip so far has been...Ipswich London train London Madrid coach SPAINMadrid Almeria train Almeria Sorbas bus Sorbas Barcelona hitch hikingBarcelona Livorno ferry ITALYItaly Munich train GERMANYMunich Berlin trainBerlin Warsaw train POLANDWarsaw Vilnius trai http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-436175.html Arrived back in McLeod today. The Dalai Lama is teaching at his Temple 15th17th Sept. Very exciting Going to do a few English Conversation classes and have a few days before the teachings. Nice to be back http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/blog-436172.html A little bit of bumbling about... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-433433.html 10 day retreat starts today...will let you know how it goes http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-428917.html Pokhara beautiful lake some swimming hiking etc.Lumbini birthplace of buddha. Buddhist temples from around the world. Hot hot hot http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Pokhara/blog-426856.html Arrived over the border from Nepal. Bus to Gorakpur then overnight train to Pathenkot. Bus to Dharamsala and then onward to McLeod. Indian cooking course Hindi lessons yoga walking Tibetan cooking meditation reading teaching a bit of english etc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Mcleod-Ganj/blog-426857.html Looking for some sort of meditation retreat I booked myself on the Vipassana course in Kathmandu. It was for 10 days and with over 10 hours of meditation a day it was quite a challenge. 4am starts complete silence no reading or writing segregation of men and women etc. After a little more of adjustment to the 'real world' I will see how it affected meThe technique of Vipassana Meditation http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/Boudhanath/blog-422220.html Crossed from Tibet into Nepal today and traelled about 3.5 hours to Kathmandu. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-416136.html We spent about 7 days in Tibet finishing at the border with Nepal. The situation currently with Tibet is you need to have a Guide and book some sort of tour as permits etc are required. Excluding food and accommodation the trip cost about 250 GBP per person which was much more reasonable than many trips. This price is based on our group being 7 people. 'Sim's Garden Guesthouse' in Chengdu is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-416135.html Heading on Saturday evening Tibet Nepal India. The tour is about 9 days and it's about 45 hours on the train from Chengdu to Lhasa. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-412391.html Visa extension chores booking tour to Tibet. The only way it seems possible to get through Tibet is with an organised tour. The hostel in Chengdu Sim's Cozy Guesthouse is really good to help organise it so am going with 6 others. Not that keen on tibet because of all the silly rules and have seen a bit but it's a passage to India. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-412390.html Having finished the hike I've now had a few days and am recovering from the altitude sickness and general 'malaise'. I'm in Lijiang and trying to think what to do next. India overland via North China...China Pakistan IndiaSouth East Asia and then IndiaGenerally by brain is like mush so a few days of recovery are required. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Lijiang/blog-409648.html For 13 days I trekked with a French guy I met in Dali the Kawa Karpo pilgrimage route around Kawa Karpo mountain. With mountain passes upto 4800m it was very demanding. With a little altitude sickness thrown in... Staying in Tibetan homes and seeing diverse and beautiful scenery was amazing. Meili Snow Mountain or Kawa Karpo 6740 m is a sacred mountain in Deqin County Yunnan China. It is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/blog-409646.html