ginpell

I just received my Travel Document from Collette Vacations for my trip to Australia and New Zealand. So far, I'm impressed with the package they sent me, which includes my e-tickets for all my flights - including the "short" hops within Australia, and the hop from AUS to NZ. The picture is of the tour, the various places we will visit, and the duration of each stop. It's going to be a busy 23 days of the tour after a two day journey to get to Cairns to start the adventure.... read more

Yesterday I celebrated a birthday, and had a lovely day. I went to the spa in the morning for a facial, manicure and pedicure, and then did a little siteseeing in the afternoon. I wanted to keep it a quiet day, so I went to the Gandhi Museum. It is located on the site where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, and is a lovingly preserved site where you can see where he lived during the last 144 days of his life, where he went to pray each day, and information on his fight for India's freedom from British rule. There is a new set of panels showing that Gandhi's fight was only the end of a fight that went on from 1857 to 1947 when India suceeded at getting their independence. The grounds were beautiful, and everyone ... read more

Here are pictures from Agra.... read more

Our stay in Amritsar has been short, but we have been very busy. The first morning we crossed the street to the Golden Temple - we couldn't be any closer. Since we are so close, my four travel companions and I have spend a lot of time there, walking around, meditating, etc. We visited the Sikh Museum that shows this history of the ten Gurus, right up the present day Sikh leaders. The spirituality here is so strong, you can feel it as soon as you step on the grounds and are asked to leave your shoes at the gate. You wash your feet before entering the sacred area around the temple. They feed many people on the temple grounds free of charge. You can stay as long as you want and you are only expected ... read more

The yoga festival has been amazing. There are people from all over the world. I've met people from Belgium, South Africa, Australia, Finland, Sweden, and of course the US, just to name a few. The festival was organized through a yoga studio in Los Angeles, so there are mostly Americans here. We rise up every morning at 3:30 am to go to 4:00 am sadhana, which is the morning yoga practice to start the day. After breakfast, the days events start with another yoga class, and maybe a meditation or lecture. The afternoons are less strenuous with artists performing their kundalini music. Some of the most popular performers I know through the kundalini practice are here, so it's wonderful to see them up close and in this setting. All the activities are in a large covered ... read more