advice on whether to go Sept or wait until November?

caliyogi

hello, i am planning on my first trip to India. I plan on staying for 3-6 months. I am most interested in immersing myself in the Indian culture, eating its fine food, listening to classical indian music, feeling the spiritual vibration, seeing spiritual sites, perhaps going to a few ashrams, getting more in touch with my soul and feelings and out of my mind. i eat a vegan diet and prefer as much raw food as possible, but i know I can't do this in india, eating dairy is OK there cos the cows are sacred!

Anyway, I am thinking of going at the beginning of Sept and starting in Ladakh, and as it gets colder to work my way down the mountains, and visit dharamsala (and any other nice places in between?), rishikesh, benares, then down south, etc.

My question is: I have not be so attracted to the tibetan culture, so will i not enjoy ladakh and that part of the Himalayas so much if I go in Sept? Will I be able to survive with my preferred diet? Or should I wait and just work 3 more months and go in November to south india, rishikesh, benares, madras, etc. then?

Thanks for any advice !

Dan

wonderwomanusa

A friend told me this before MY first visit to India: Learning to love Mother India is like kissing a beautiful goddess through inch-thick sh*t.

Your expectations of India are high, and I hope you are not disappointed.

How will you like it:

If you're in small villages where the food is only what is in season and not so nicely prepared as in those prize-winning Indian restaurants you go to at home?

When the prevailing music is from Bollywood films, not by Ali Akhbar Khan?

When at the spiritual sites, there are many people with their hand out for your money?

You will definitely get in touch with your soul through all of this, and you will see who you really are.

And quite practically: I'd wait until October or November, when the humidity is lower and the mud is cleaned off the ghats in Varanasi... especially if you aren't very interested in Ladakh.

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caliyogi

yes i am quite aware of how shocking it may for a westerner... but i really won't know until i do it. i guess what i am asking, is what am in for if i go in sept and go to ladakh and work my way down the himalayas? is it all mostly tibetan-ish or is it indian? will there be veggie food (even if it is not like my award winning rests)?

thanks

wonderwomanusa

Though I'm not sure of Ladakh, I've been to a few other places in the hills and it's all Indian -- and a lot of British influence.

You can get vegetarian food all over India. I've never been to a place that didn't offer that choice. Sometimes it's harder for us carnivores to find our chosen meals.

Inity & Iditation

hi.

sometimes the most spriritual experiences, are like the immannece of death you feel on a Bus ride in India, when you have contracted salmonela and you are alone delirious with a fever, when you see a pile of dead bodies, when you see those who have elephantisis of the leg or a goiter.

For many westerners, a visit to India is like the prince Siddharta's first trip outside the palace, you see disease, old age and death. When in America, the dead are usually seen in their sunday best and with make-up on if ever at all, the old are kept in nursing homes and the diseased confined behind the doors of hospitals.

For the most part, the ashrams you will see and things like that that cater to tourists are more of a disappointment. In India 'spirituality' is a big industry. The best teachers and most wise people I met in India were not in an Ashram or even a Temple, but regular citizens who I met through common acquaintances (i.e. they did not 'seek me out'.)

at any rate, although good Indian food is much harder to find in the Tibetan areas, vegetarian food is high quality and plentiful.

Good Luck in your journey.

rab

I will answer your exact question and try not to be tempted into commenting on your reasons and ideals, some of which you can of course do at home!

The answer is thst I don't think it matters other than that if you are trying to get to Dharamsala in November or later you may struggle 'cos of snow.

If you go too early to Delhi you will sweat but why not go to Delhi for a day and travel on to Shimla and north to Dharamsala before the winter then after that you can choose whatever else to do such as going south.

Good luck and I hope you "be yourself" and if you can't I hope you "find yourself"!!!!!!!!

rab

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Samsara

Ladakh and Dharamsala are very Tibetan, so if you are not so attracted to this, there are other parts of the Himalayas which are more Hindu and have Hindu pilgrimage sites (for example you may prefer the Garwhal Himalayas, with beautiful trekking, Valley of Flowers, major Hindu Pilgrimage sites etc )

Classical music and dance are everywhere, you can even do courses.

For food, just politely indicate that you don't eat diary, many in India have different diets. You can also cook for yourself if you stay in a place that allows this by shopping for fresh veggies and fruit etc in the markets.

There are a lot of yoga, meditation and spiritual courses everywhere. Rishikesh has a lot so that may be a good place to check out what you like by trying a few different ones and asking around.

Rishikesh is in Garhwhal Himalayas - here is a link about the area (land of many important Hindu Gods and Goddesses) -

http://www.garhwalhimalayas.com/