There's nothing quite so sad as a pub with no beer Slim Dust Practice non-attachment to money.... Buddhist teaching I had been to the Money Temple (also known as an ATM) in Bangar the day before and been blessed with 10,000 rupees: 9 x 1,000 rupee notes and 2 x 500 rupee notes. I was moving up to the house in Solahnu later today – 2 hours by walking track only, straight up the mountainside. No shops there and no need for money except to give the local kids 50 or 60 rupees if I were to ask them to deliver bundles of wood for my tandoor (an early prototype of the New Zealand Massport Pot Belly Stove). And being late Autumn it was about to get cold at night. I needed to stock up ... read more

Ragupur Fort – Jalori Pass, Banjar Valley And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence “I'll wake you up early if the sky is clear” was my parting message to the two guys staying in the next cottage. I had suggested that getting up to Jalori Pass (3,223 m above sea level) on a clear morning would be spectacular for views of the Himalayas in the distance. But when I knocked on their door at 5.30am the response from somewhere in the dark room was not positive. “We might come up later” said one. So I set off alone – naturally! On the climb out of the valley, it was fresh and crisp on Gladys (my Enfield wonder bike) and I had to pull my beanie down over ... read more

The Balo Panjo “Ox fight tomorrow 6.30am” said Naryan as we finished a delicious meal prepared by Ms Cinamon (Simone – an American cook who has set up house in the Kullu mountains). We all raised our eyebrows and tried to get our heads around he was on about. Not much gained except that there was some kind of mella happening up the road in the morning involving bull fights. We were interested and left things that night with the deal that if the weather was good in the morning, I would ring Simone to both wake her and her friend Cassie, and confirm that David (a friend who had come up for the day and was sleeping in my cottage that night) and I would pick them up en route to attend the event. As ... read more

Our path is to heal. To create the circumstances where healing can begin. A Course in Miracles One of the more delightful things about India is the random event or meeting. Again the hindi word 'kudrat' (gift from god) comes to mind to describe these occasions. I was minding my own business having a day of slow walking through the northern ghats along the Ganga. Of course, access is very limited now because the river is so high – you cannot walk along the ghats; you can only take separate little side streets to explore whether they lead to the waters edge (which is now lapping high at steps above the submerged infrastructure below). Having had a swim at Lalita Ghat, and a nap in the cool tunnel (along with some babas who didn't seem to ... read more

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious” Carl Jung Waking up to a blue sky in the midst of the monsoon season said only one thing to me: “Its time to hop on that bike and go, Paul”. I had just spent 16 days in Bhubaneswar, the place I had lived and worked for 14 months in 2010/ 2011. Most of this time was spent in the laborious task of getting Gladys the wonder bike back in tip top shape. That had pretty much been achieved now, at vast expense. As I do (I am just like that!), I packed to a pre-thought plan that had been forming over many months and weeks. Even as I thought about what it all back in Australia, in the back ... read more