Two Weeks in the Himalayas

After concluding seven intense weeks of Iyengar yoga in the small town of Rajpur, India, we were ready for a bit of adventure. With three and a half weeks before our ayurveda training started in Pune, India, we had time for just about anything. The India guidebook we borrowed sat atop our desk, daunting page after daunting page – the possibilities were limitless. On one of the last day of classes, we passed our new friend Tegra (think integral) on the street and asked what she was up to next. She said she had just decided to return to Nepal for the final month of her year long stay in Asia. Our ears perked up and after about five minutes of discussion, she became our newest travel buddy. The native west coast chi kung teacher couldn't have made a more sincere invitation, and since we had tossed around the idea of going to Nepal since the conception of our trip, the decision was an easy one to make.
We took an overnight train to Gorakpur, where we learned how to throw our dinner trash out the window by Tibetan monks. We then shared a jeep with the monks, who were very nice and on their way to visit family in Kathmandu, to the border of Nepal. After a slightly hectic and dusty crossing, we hopped on top of a bus to Lumbini. It seems the majority of Nepal's bus system is run by teenage boys. On the bus bumpers, the phrase “one mistake game over” is painted.



We spent the following day exploring the grounds and small town of Lumbini, Buddha's birthplace. The UN has designated Lumbini as a world peace site, and many countries with a significant Buddhist population are building monasteries there. Our rented bikes wound us through the grounds all day, and we saw the actual rock where Buddha's mother squatted and gave birth (it's under bullet proof glass). Some fotos below from our bike ride...
















Our guest house owner arranged for our transport to our next destination, Pokhara. He sold us tickets on the mail truck, which he claimed wouldn't make any stops because it had to deliver the mail by three. We boarded the de-creped beast, no mail in site, and proceeded to sit for nine and a half hours while the bus stopped every hour. Maybe the mail bus had already left. Maybe there is no mail bus. One thing is for sure, our buts were sore by the end of the day. We climbed on another bus to arrive in Lakeside, the tourist district of Pokhara. Just as the sun set, our recent bus memories faded and we walked into what could arguably be the most beautiful place we've ever seen.

The town hugs a beautiful clean lake, and behind is the Annapurna mountain range. With ten peaks ranging from six to eight thousand meters, this section of the Himalayas was truly an amazing site.

We checked into our guest house, the Wood Pigeon, and proceeded to have real cheese and organic Nepali espresso. Delightful! Nepal was closed to tourists until 1960. Judging on the types of services and foods offered here, Pokhara started catering to westerners shortly thereafter. We have visited towns where they think they know what westerners want, and they do their best to provide it. But Pokhara gets it right every time, and they've spent a few decades perfecting it. The real coffee is key - usually quite expensive if available at all in most of Asia. After adjusting to the good food and slight change in altitude, we visited the Buddhist Peace Pagoda on a mountain near by. We took a canoe to get across the lake, then hiked up.





We rented bikes for the week and went to several nearby villages to watch the rice harvest and to go swimming.







Most foreigners arrive in Pokhara to trek through the Annapurna range. Totally unexperienced at trekking (fancy code word for hiking), we didn't think we would go on one during our stay in Pokhara. However, Tegra mentioned she was going on a three day trek with her friend Pascal and we were invited to join. We are very glad we did! The views and hikes were spectacular!

We took a taxi part way up, then hiked for six hours to Panchasee mountain.





Our first glimpse of the Annapurna range was from the hike. The range had been hiding behind clouds all week!




The range is about 40 kilometers from Panchasee mountain.

We made it to the village (consisting of two guest houses) just in time for the sunset.




Morning chi quong practice was great with such a spectacular view!





Fresh harvested millet pancakes for breakfast! Mmm!

We saw lots of bee hives all over the villages we passed on our hike down.

Lots of stairs on the way home!

We hope to return to Nepal the next time we come to Asia. Back to India now!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Pokhara, Nepal!

We are so thankful for all our wonderful friends and family back home as well as all our new friends we have met while traveling the world.



We shared a large feast with about 10 other friends (from 8 different countries) in Pokhara. Except for the 3 Americans it was a first Thanksgiving celebration for most.



We feel so lucky to have come to Nepal for a break and found these wonderful mountain views!

Much love and gratitude to all the world.

Yog: Of the body for the mind

Since our journey began, it's been operating on a plan as you go basis. We've had a general idea of places to go and things to do, but have mostly relied on the universe to direct us to the right places at the right time. India has been no exception. Of course, there is a slight level of discomfort in the unknown. We knew we wanted to attend an Iyengar yoga school in northern India, recommended by our yoga teacher in Peru, but without a visa or a plane ticket we couldn't exactly reserve a space. Yog-Ganga's website recommends students apply for a course four months in advance. We sent our application in with 7 days to spare. Luckily, in an otherwise full year-round school, there was space for us in the next session.
Within a few days of receiving our visas in Dublin, we found ourselves in the foothills of the Himalayas in the beautiful quaint town of Rajpur, state of Uttarakhand. As our yoga teachers Rajiv and Swati say, we had a featherbed landing in India. Our prearranged lodging was in a sizable home with a marble staircase and massive garden, our dinners were cooked for us, and our twice a day yoga classes were focused and challenging. As we visited with our fellow classmates after orientation, we discovered many of them visit the school annually for several sessions in a row. By the end of our first day at Yog-Ganga, we decided to apply for the following course. The second three week session had an ayurveda focus, something we didn't want to miss out on.

Our home during the first course. Nice!

Outside the yoga school

Outside the studio

Inside the studio

They say “everything's bigger in Texas”. A similar adage can be said for this country : “everything's more intense in India”. To walk down the street is to experience extra sensory overload in many ways. On the ten minute walk home a few days into our first course, we saw a dog's ear falling off while he licked up his dripping blood from the ground, a large colorful dancing wedding procession in the middle of the street, then a preteen girl carrying a dozen bricks on her head to a construction site. It is one thing to witness these events, process them or put them in one's journal and then move on. It is another thing to stay in a place long enough to see the dog's ear heal (somewhat), and the young married girl carry bricks in the same sari for days on end. Staying somewhere makes it a bit more real, for better or worse. Perhaps staying somewhere for a very long time, like home, creates an opposite effect. We are so accustomed to our surroundings that we stop noticing things. It does seem, however, that there's simply more to look at in India.
There is no trash collection in Rajpur, but dozens of well maintained temples. Rubbish is either dumped off the sides of hills or burned. The free range cows munch on sidewalk garbage, as do monkeys and dogs. It is interesting to think that in an American city, we create much more trash, but it is neatly collected and hidden away in a landfill. Seeing the trash created due to higher consumerism makes us more sensitive to it. The trouble here is that prepackaged goods are more modern, so instead of taking your cooking oil can to the store to get it refilled, people buy plastic bottles of oil. Thus, the problem unfolds. Swati, our yoga teacher is trying to clean up Rajpur and to get trash collection going but it seems it is an uphill battle. It is probably very hard to convince people to reduce and reuse when it is opposite to the perception of progress and attainment/status.
On a lighter note, our classmates helped us celebrate Josh's birthday on October 4th by going out for breakfast after class and hiking to a nearby waterfall. Well, the hike had to be delayed for a couple days due to rain, but it was a wonderful trip nonetheless. Thanks to all our friends and family who sent warm birthday wishes via email and Skype.

Nice view on the way to the waterfall

The waterfall

Happy Birthday Josh!

We've had several chances to enjoy and participate in local cultural celebrations as well. There was a grand celebration for Patanjali's birthday (the father of yoga) at our school a week after Josh's birthday. Our class helped decorate the studio by creating sand paintings (called rangolis) and making garlands of mango leaves and marigold flowers. There was a musical performer and a wonderful feast for students and local families.

Getting ready for the celebration

Josh working on the tiger rangoli. After five hours of concentration (and some assistance) his masterpiece was finished!

Our class completed three rangolis

Our tallented classmate Rick snapped the following three pictures:

We used a lot of marigolds!

In the week between yoga courses, we were invited to Mussorie (funny enough, pronounced much like our home state) to celebrate Diwali, the biggest Hindu holiday of the year. The mountain top town has long been a honeymoon destination for Indians, and the views are spectacular. We sat in on a long puja (ceremony with readings of Hindu scriptures, offerings and prayers) and again enjoyed a wonderful feast. We also watched our yoga teacher's faces light up (literally and figuratively) as they lit small fireworks in the yard and watched bigger firework displays below. Situated high up in the hills, we were able to see the fireworks in all of the Derhadun valley below. It was a magical sight. There were no official city fireworks displays, but rather thousands of individuals all over the valley setting off their own fireworks. It was the first time we had watched fireworks from above the explosion line.

The sun sets behind a "moon line" during the winter months. One of only two places on earth (and Sweeden) where a false horizon is visible.

We also made two overnight trips to nearby Rishikesh, a holy pilgrimage site for Hindus. The Ganga river runs through the city, and there are many ashrams and yoga schools to visit. We especially enjoyed shopping for Indian printed English books. Our ten kilo shipment home consists mainly of ayurveda books that cost three times more in the states.

The Ganga is a beautiful shade of blue

Six weeks of Iyengar yoga classes have almost passed; we feel very fortunate to have found Yog-Ganga. We recommend the school to anyone who wishes to deepen his or her yoga practice, even if you haven't studied Iyengar before. The only danger is, Rajiv and Swati might just turn you into an Iyengar practitioner!

Our classmate performing a traditional Indian dance for our class

Our traditional pumpkin carving...

Happy Halloween everyone!



Om Shanti!