Blogs from Himachal Pradesh, India, Asia - page 9

Geo: 31.4167, 78.25... read more

Geo: 32.2207, 76.3188After Amritsar we headed for Dharmasala, the home of the Dalai Lama. Dharmasala is a collection of guest houses, hanging precariously to the side of a mountain surrounded by Tibetan Refugee houses covered in Prayer Flags. The town is full of hippy dippy foreigners seeking enlightenment, the shops contain everything we could possibly want as foreigners… well almost. Navigating the queen mary up the very narrow roads hanging off the edge of the mountain was nothing short of scary. Trying to find a place to park was even harder. We managed to find a bit of flat land at the mountaineering institute, a kind of scout camp type place for students learning mountaineering skills. We managed to get a hot bucket shower (yes this is big news.. a hot shower is a rare event ... read more

So I just got to Baggsu. I'm at 'Siddartha Yoga', it's raining...really heavily. The yoga guy's not here so under a leaking shelter, and keep moving my bags for new drier spots. But despite this, enjoying the calm and beautiful setting. This morning I had a final kundlini session on the rooftop. The sun was out. I had my sunnies and cap on with the attached back cover to protect the neck from the sun. I genuinely don't enjoy the favourite past time of most hot country visitors, frying in the sun, or 'tops off tats out' or aka sunbathing. Why? I simply don't get it, you get hot sweaty and burned, then wait for a tan, then lose it. Then back to square 1...? So anyway I was kundlini-ing. I'd never heard of it before, ... read more

So my first 10 days here were spent doing an intensive Ashtanga course. When it ended I intended to move on and explore some other Yoga places in the area but got comfortable practicing pranas (breaths) and asanas (poses) in the studio on my own. I took it day by day and then I also started using the open rooftop. Have you heard people talk about energy that comes from nature? Yes, I know, airy-fairy nonsense, and I am by no means converted, but the difference between the studio and the open air is quite noticeable. And the view is more or less the same, the studio has large windows that look over the open valley but the energy levels deffo get a more positive sensation from being in the open air. Another factor, to justify ... read more

We left at 9am-ish and arrived the following day! The drive took that long we stopped overnight at a smaller en route town. Then we never actually went into Manali. We swerved it. There's a main street that runs right through the centre. And we took one that runs parallel skirting the town. Hahaha. However, I was docious to the whim of the OM family. 'Where next?' I only answer with a shrug of the shoulders. Honestly, they simply couldn't go wrong. Firstly there is only 1 road through the steep Himalayan valley but then once in the vicinity of Manali you can drive on whatever road going wherever and you won't start thinking the grass is green elsewhere, it's all green. Also, Manali is upmarket and expensive. I'm pretty sure that was a factor in ... read more