We spent 5 peaceful days at a clean, peaceful ashram in Rishikesh and spent the first new years we could remember stone cold sober. :) A few of us gathered in the yoga/meditation hall and chanted mantras for world peace, and Matt and I rocked it out. We made great friends with truly sincere and fun folks from all over the world and chatted for hours over meals and on the roofdeck. I started off the new year with a freak-out that Matt had locked me out of my room (he actually left the key) and my yoga instructor consoling me by trying to make out with me -- I guess, all in all, your typical ashram experience. On a healthier note, I started off the year with a flute and tabla lessons and think I might be lugging some home - if I don't become the master I am envisioning, mom, they're all yours!
I thought Matt was overreacting with his gloomy outlook for our first overnight train ride given that we were unable to get tickets for anything other than the lowest sleeping class car. I thought: we take a pill and pass out and then eat a few snacks, see the countryside, drink some chai and its over. Well. The sleeping part was fine, and thankfully we didn't really know that we were running over 5 hours behind until around 3:30 the next day, although the fact that we stopped more than we moved gave us some indication. This smog/fog phenomona I mentioned earlier is quite a problem this time of year and they've cancelled some train lines for an entire month because of the visibility conditions. Three cars of the train were full of schoolchildren on a class trip, and the little girls who sat enough were shy and quiet enough for the first few hours. But as the hours dragged on and some irresponsible chaperons fed those kids some chai - this coupled with the fact that we had purposely dehydrated ourselves to limit trips to the lou - our ears and heads began to throb and it became the ride from hell, take 2. (number 1 being our car ride from Delhi to Rishikesh that took 7 hours instead of 3 or 4 it should, on a one lane road where everyone is driving biking and walking and playing chicken with each other).
Getting from A to B here takes a lot of work. On the bright side, Matt and I made some new friends, and got some great pictures of visiting snake charmers and trannies...we plan to post a few shots of what we looked like as the hours wore on. (All the best pix are on his camera by the way so I'll get them posted when I return). Varanasi is one of the holiest cities for Hindus, and one of the oldest living cities on the planet, and is laid out on the Ganges River. We had heard Varanasi was noisy, polluted, and full of hassles, but it turned out to be very mellow for our visit and we soon were won over by its charms, despite our initial longing to never venture from our safe and clean ashram. The acclimation process was gentle. Once you've spent about a week in India - and spent a 24 hour train ride in sleeper class - you've pretty much seen it all and nothing is going to ruffle your feathers. Stepping through the mounds of buffalo, goat, dog, and human waste on the street? No problem. Walking by dead bodies and watching them burn? Fascinating. Bicycle rickshaw through the thousands of people and animals mobbed in the street? Great fun! I actually keep telling Matt I think the air is cleaner now, its not as smelly, and he tells me I'm crazy, I've just gotten used to it.
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