Hotel Samsara

... and we had no idea where we were so we caught a cab.  They said it would be 250 rupees to take us to our hotel and we agreed.  A very short ride later we realized that we were ripped off, but seeing it was only about $3, it didn't really ...

... a vast sum of money for a man to take one there and the, lesson to be learnt here. We were met by a rep from Earthbound Expeditions and taken to our hotel in the Thamel district of the city, the Samsara Resort and were met by Rajan our trek ...

... stone placed in front of entrance to a shrine. Carved in concentric half-circles, they represent the spiritual journey from samsara, the endless succession of deaths and rebirth, to nirvana and the escape from endless reincarnations. The four animals ...

... nbsp; The number of people on the streets also seems enormous, with crowds of people crushing through tiny laneways. We reached our hotel in the Thamel district by 3pm and were very pleasantly surprised after the last few places.  We have heat and ...

... helped me along the way, those amazing people, all of you. I thought of Tibetans and their dreams of freedom from this crazy samsara world. I thought of what all these pilgrims went through to get here from all over Tibet. The act of devotion was beyond ...

... give each of us one also making for some great pictures! Now after two nights of luxury (we've bunked in with Dad in his hotel!) we're off to Lukla to start the trek tomorrow morning. Squeaky bum time for Dad but hopefully all will go well. Everest (base ...

... of people, pot holes, bicycles, motorcycles, rickshaws and the occasional car along the vendor lined, very narrow alleyways. At our hotel the "I.P." is finally up and running.  I write up this story only to have it disappear into space.  I ...

... to conquer it by airplane the mountain gods decide today is not our day.  Maybe tomorrow? This afternoon Dinesh shows up at the hotel.  He is Mark Lamont of Ten Friends contact in Kathmandu.  He comes to take us to the Hopeful Home for ...

... on it, I am reminded of a Buddhist adage (forgive the technicality, but you are forced to learn something today)- "Samsara is Nirvana." Samsara, to simplify it completely, is the word that traditionally would represent everything that is 'bad' in Eastern ...

... dark and us carrying paper cups filled with wine our coach took on a new lease of life. We pulled up at a club called Samsara where we spent the evening drinking and having a photo shoot-many of the photos we would come to regret the following morning. ...

... to the soul in that moment, you are then able to face Shiva when he bends down to whisper the secret mantra of release from samsara. For centuries, people have thronged here to live here until they die. And it is not just those who have renounced the ...

... and had resorted to drinking Ganges water.  At least if we died, we would be absolved of all our sins and released from samsara, the cycle of birth and rebirth. (It is believed by many that if the last thing you drink before you die is Ganges water ...

... came to me: Hari Bol was (and is) the answer. The wikipedia reference states it well: "Hari means 'One who destroys samsara, which is the entanglement in the cycle of birth and death, along with ignorance, its cause." There are several bhajans ...

... we went in search of a hotel room, joking that, as things went, we'd probably run into them again in some cycle of samsara or another (we would indeed meet the Germans in Varanasi, fittingly). Though deep reds and whites are the official colours of Agra's ...

... a map of the city. We sat in one of the lounges and she marked up all the places of interest. My room – the Samsara Suite - is beautiful with a living room and ornate, curtained bathroom on the ground level, and a mezzanine level that holds a four ...

... ashes thrown into the Ganga they believe that the cycle of reincarnation is brought to an end and the soul breaks through Samsara and instantly reaches Nirvana, or freedom from desire and temporal existence. All along the river are Ghats or steps leading ...