Hotel Jaipur Inn Rishikesh

... monkeys inhabited the trees, and a few cows roamed the area.

After a bit of searching we heard the voices of a few people coming from a hotel like structure, and we headed in that direction. As we approached the voices we found murals with "happiness is a warm gun", and " all you need is love" painted across them. The smell of marijuana pervaded and I suppose this was the place. A group of Englishmen had hired a guide to take them through the Ashram, and I ...

... cooler than Delhi but not as much as I had hoped - it was probably around the 90s for most of my time here and there was some rain nearly every day. During my time in Rishikesh, there were also a surprising number of electricity cuts and unfortunately no one has generators around here, so the fans would be off for a while sometimes, making it seem even hotter. For dinner, it was back to the Little Buddha, where I was able to order some non-Indian food to ...

... to our table and bored us with his bravado. Boaz and Tamar: The Israeli couple I arrived with, and who I think I've already described. They stayed a week or so before heading off, as Boaz was to interview some Hindi poet for his journal in Israel. Shame to see them go, Boaz in particular was one of the more relaxed and thoughtful guys I've met on this trip. If we disagreed on something, he wouldn't tell me I was wrong but would offer an explanation as to why he disagreed ...

... etait offert par un autre prof mais la plupart du temps je faisais une 'self-practice' au lieu...un cours de yoga a moi-meme. 18h: souper, et je me couchais rarement apres 21h30. 2 fois par semaine, apres le souper, on chantait aussi, ce qu'on appelle kiirtan; ce sont des chants et/ou mantras en hindi chantes en groupe...la premiere fois cetait tres emouvant...jy ai vraiment pris gout...cest une facon parmi tant dautres de mediter.
POur la bouffe ctait tout sattvic ...

... bride looked especially miserable. It actually made me sad to watch her.

The Swami told us that morning that she was one of his students and stayed at the ashram for years. She fell in love with one of the monks there and they separated them through a long process that apparently took a couple years. The monk was at the wedding with us (the ashram group was about 20 in total). The only time I saw her smile was when the monk came to give his blessing ...

... s a mini bucket that you use to actually pour the water over yourself. If you're picturing something out of the movie Flashdance, think again. I probably look more like a shivering chihuahua at the dog groomer. It was fine though and nice to get some cold water in this heat.

I also found a nice restaurant that seems like a popular hangout ...

... at the Ashrams; looking for spiritual guidance, and at the more modern Yoga retreats; to study the arts of breathing, meditation, and exercise. We ourselves stayed at one of the most prominent Ashrams in Rishikesh, the Shivananda Ashram at Laxman Jhula. It is a huge Ashram whose pink buildings cover the west bank of the area. Over 300 people live there and many people come to visit and stay in the guest houses. We were lucky to be referred and ...

The moves being made to Agra that i mentioned at the end of my last email were made mighty slowly as our train was delayed for a mammoth 20 hours!!! This meant we could stay one more night at our beloved 'Cosy' in Jodhpur-in a tent on the roof might i add-so all's well that ends well! Apart from the Taj Mahal which was as breathtakingly beautiful as you may imagine, Agra was a bit underwhelming. We were stationed right beside a big mosque that blasted out prayer after prayer and there ...

... a visit to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram (which is now closed). Rishikesh is also known as the birthplace of the Ganges river (Ganga) because it's first town from where the Ganges drops out of the mountains. It's also the "World Capital of Yoga" and you many, many people from all over the world drop in to visit a local Ashram...which is basically just a place where one can go to escape the day-to-day grind for a bit of spiritual refreshing (or whatever ...

... they let the rope down and handed out little balls of sugar that are considered holy now that a holy man had prayed over it and eating it is seen as a way of cleansing. To say that the experience was moving would be a drastic understatement. The next morning at 4 am we were woken up by what sounded like a thousand bells being rung for 5 whole minuets. Then there was a full hour of chanting over the loud speaker. I was kind of glad though because I had planed to see the sun ...