Blogs from Himachal Pradesh, India, Asia

23.9. Ich habe eine schlaflose Nacht hinter mir, mit Herzklopfen und Kopfschmerzen. Ja nu, wir wollen heute trekken gehen! Alle nötigen Dokumente im Sack, treffen wir etwas zu früh (Swiss time) respektive viel zu früh (Indian time) bei «Trek the Himalayas» ein, bereit für den Trek auf den Hampta-Pass. Erst werden alle Medical Forms geprüft, dann wird Blutdruck gemessen. Und da geschieht etwas Unerwartetes: wir haben beide einen hohen Blutdruck! Klar, das war es, was mich letzte Nacht geplagt hat! Es gibt scheinbar «reverse altitude sickness», vielleicht war es ja das? Wie auch immer, es gibt nichts zu rütteln, sie nehmen uns - und zwei weitere Trekker in spe, die die Blutdruckgrenze überschreiten - nicht mit. Sie hätten noch eine weitere Gruppe, die den Trek morgen startet, wir könnten es ja nochmals versuchen. Enttäuscht und auch ... read more

Dalhousie - Dharamshala / Mcleodganj - Amritsar Dalhousie - Khajjiar Andaman through ‘Make-My-Trip’ (2012), Chardham (Himalayan) with ‘Radhe-Shyam’ (2016), Sikkim with ‘Ajay Modi’ (2021), and now, Dalhousie - Dharamshala - Amritsar with ‘Kesari’ (2023). Fourth organized trip with four different agencies. Allows for good comparison. Andaman was a personalized tour through MMT. Overall good. You don’t get guide services in personalized tours. Rest all reasonably good. Chardham (Himalayan) with ‘Radhe-Shyam’ was a group tour. It was good in every way, not only because of Gujarati food but also good tour management, good guide services and good hotel accommodation. Chardham is Radhe-Shyam's specialty. Sikkim with ‘Ajay Modi’ was a bad decision. Partly our mistake - ... read more

Rewalsar, September 22nd2022 “When you do something, if you fix your mind on the activity with some confidence, the quality of your state of mind is the activity itself. When you are concentrated on the quality of your being, you are prepared for the activity” Shunryu Suzuki: Zen Mind Beginners Mind “When the mind goes out to an object, it's suffering The mind going out to an object is the arising of suffering When the mind has no object, that's the end of suffering Withdrawing the mind from all objects, that's the path to the end of suffering” Pandit Bikkhu “Everything changes, nothing remains without change” MrGuatama (aka The Buddha) “Plans are things that change” Fujio Cho I didn't plan to be exiled from India for four years. But that's a long story (and a lo ... read more

Another few days of uncertainty and obstacles have brought us to Delhi today, en route back to Montreal. It was time...to make the decision and take the first opportunity that came my way. So we’re coming home. No thanks to the Canadian government who “tried” sending 10 planes for the estimated 20,000 citizens waiting in various parts of the country. Some are choosing to stay, given the uncertainty of what their coming home to, others didn’t have the means to fly their families home at $3,000 a ticket. By some stroke of luck I was offered last minute seats on a flight taking French citizens home and jumped on it...despite having only a few hours to pack and secure a “curfew pass” to allow the private taxi I had to hire, to get through each of ... read more

I’m facing a stupa, with the Dhauladar mountain range hovering behind it. Snow still resting on the top peaks, with one mountain falling into the next. It’s a pretty incredible place to write a blog! Taylor and I have sat here in meditation everyday since we arrived (I think only 4 days ago but its so far removed from Goa that it feels like its been months). He seems to feel the same contentment that I do here…he calls it “my nunnery”. He doesn’t ask to leave, ask for new toys, he doesn’t ask for anything here. The entire 5 weeks we stayed in Goa, a place he loved, he called our apartment by his friend’s name…the friend who lived on the bottom level of the house. He never referred to it as his. Yet here, ... read more