Share the road to Indian Himalayas in July?

hash666

dont know tuareg...last year i went to the kumbh mela tryin to find an enlightened baba and after spending 2 weeks with a lot of babas , most of them were just very money minded and spaced out on intoxicants...only found one very nice baba who gave me food and shelter in the middle of the nite in the pouring rain and dint take my money....

alfa

Re tureg

It was interesting to read your last few posts. Some of the posts for you to exercise caution were to prevent you from being too starry eyed.


Considering that you are getting in, with your eyes open, then Indian visit will be a great experience for you.

Rishikesh is off course, the yoga capital of India, and there are lot of details in Lonely planet guide book. It is also a good base/location to explore a whole lot of northern India.


India is troubling and disappointing for those who come here expecting everything to work like clockwork or to be over-awed by its magic in the first breath. If you bear the crowd, hustle & bustle for a first few days then you will enjoy yourself.


Let me tell you of my recent experience. I went to Dharamshala for a couple of days last week and saw a pretty looking late 30s something British lady. The interesting thing about her was that I had seen her in Nov of 2004 also. Then the place was practically deserted and she seemed like a new arrival. But even then she excuded a feeling of I am relaxed, and now she seemed to look like, I am very happy. This is very different from a few pasty faced middle aged persons whose faces were asking the question, what am I doing here. So it is all up to you.

As far as yoga & meditation classes go, they will be fun to join. I was not asking you to start talking to yourself but just discussing some basic Hindu philosophies. The course will provide you a guide path, to embark on your own journey.


Now coming back to the sadhu business, normally a good instructor will probably not have matted hair, spaced out look or missing teeth. You can easily expect a very clean, well educated, multi-lingual, worldly wise person well versed in what he is teaching you.

probably we will meet and swap a few stories.

__________________
Now is the time baby!

tuareg

Dear Alfa,

Thanks for your kind concern about my quest for enlightment.
Geez,I wish I could meet a few nice old gentle persons like you along the way in India.
Believe or not, I'll be leaving for India in a few days! I'm packed and still packing and I"m progressively excited and nervous at same time.
I included Srinagar/Kashmir area in my itinerary because I heard the places are just awesome.

Whether I'll meet a well educated and clean handsome yogi or cross eyed with toothless grinning wise man is beyond my control, so I just have to be very careful to find out if they are cheat or not.

I'm afraid I might have that pasty middle aged facial expression of " what the heck I'm doing here?" while wandering in the mountains, villages, but don't be contemptuous so easy, because we all go through that crap somtime at some points of our lives. Hey, maybe you're not!
I have a feeling you were more taken by that woman's prettiness than what was she doing there alone in Novermber ?

unclelach

Hello Tuareg,

I stayed at Hotel Fifty Five last October. The owner is an older guy who is concerned for the safety of his tourist guests(there are many touts around central Delhi who are timewasters or worse).

The rooms are rather tired but the place is cheerful and often full.

alfa

RE T

Me seen many moons to say difference between pretty and happy.

tuareg

Namaskar, Julay, Namaste!!!

Man, I just returned home after almost 2 months of journey to various yogi lands! Went to Manali via Keylong, Sarchu, Tso Moriri in blisterous long jeep drive. ended up in Leh which was similar to a tourist ghetto surrounded by most awesome mountains, and visited Rishkeshi (beautiful in rain, and saw puja ceremony, walked on a suspension bridge to reach an ashram there), bought a few hip hindi chanting music CD), Hardiwar ( too much like yogi disney land), and.... my first encounter at an ashram in Rishikeshi was a crossed eyed sadhu as I predicted on my post, really! I also visited a few caves, but no enlightened yogis were available to my great disappointment.


If you have simple mortal questions about the trip, I may give you some answers,but no gurantee of dispensing wisdom to go along with it.

Tuareg

DianeN.

Welcome back! Please do share ALL the details with us! I'm hungry to hear more!
Diane

tuareg

Hi Diane,
Thanks for your warm welcome.
I'd love to share ALL the details about the trip, but I'm sure I'll be kicked out by IndiaMike if I used up ALL the space here.

Any specific questions about the area I covered?

DianeN.

Well, I'm hoping to go to Leh next summer if finances (and kids educational needs) allow. So I read any and all bits and pieces of information and file it away in my brain. I'm sure I'm not the only one....so go ahead and use away all the IM space!!

My biggest fear about going is actually driving through the mountains. It was scary enough driving from Bikaneer to Jailsamer, and there weren't any 1000 foot cliffs there either. I always have worse case scenarios in my head when it comes to transportation (on a daily basis, though they never keep me at home)

How did you do with the altitude adjustment?

Did you find any of the spiritual enlightenment you were looking for?

Actually...write about anything...we are all interested!

tuareg

Diane,

Please have no fear about the transportation. The mountain roads between Manali to Leh are very well used by many cars/the trucks. It all depends on your patience of enduring the long hrs of bum grinding car ride, and the driver's skill (my driver managed to get stuck twice in one hr in the mud and the sand, and luckily near by nomads came running to help us, thank God). You'll mainly worry about the unset of dust, blasted by the cars before you, on the trail. Bring plenty of kleenex tissues for various purposes. I did see few cars fliped over the edges of the tough terrain, but they were there a long time. What is your preferable mode of transportation? Bus or the jeep?




*How did you do with the altitude adjustment?

Unless you fly directly to Leh which is located in very high altitude, you'll be OK if you start to acclimatize gradually from Manali. It helped me to bring HA sickness pills with me just in case. Make sure to drink LOTS of water to hydrate your oxygen starved body and rest well on the first day you arrive in Leh.

*Did you find any of the spiritual enlightenment you were looking for?

Well, that's a tricky question. Like I said, I looked for enlightment in short time from smart yogis, or the lamas in Ladakh, and either I didn't recognize them, or they didn't materialize in front of my eyes. I did have some interesting conversations with the locals along the way though. I befriended with a chai shop lady in McLeod Ganji, and I sat there for an hr everday getting to know many people who live there. They are happy to talk about their lives there. These people are usually the best resources to find various places such as finding a flute teacher, a great Tibetian medicinal massage place,etc. As of finding enlightment pronto, Basically, where ever you go, THERE YOU ARE! You can't change yourself overnight. The little nuggets of wisdom seep into you very very gradually. I must say though,there were a few moments of awe inspiring revealation on what the heck I was doing there in that moonscape part of the world.

I did try to learn the wisdom of non-attachment to worldly material things, and I ended up giving away almost half of my belongingswhen I left, to various local people in need. If you go to Dharamsala, please visit Tibetian Childeren village near Dal lake in Mcleod Ganji. I stumbled into that school by accident, and I ended up sponsering one of the most marvelous 3 year Tibetian boys from the baby class.( they have about 27 cute toddlers without parents) The school hosts many Tibetian children in different age,who need sponsers from outside to help them get better education and better care for their future.

Actually...write about anything...we are all interested!

I'm not a good travel writer, and rather bashful about it. If you have specific questions related to my itinerary, I can give you answers.

uncle.joe

would that mean to lighten, make lighter?

uncle.joe

and btw i plan to be at manali startting 01 sept for a few days? anyone intersted in doing this together? am male, mid 40s, seeking enlightment

tuareg

Uncle Joe,

I take your post as your being playful in quest of enlightment.

Well, enlightenment comes in garden variety, and you pick and choose according to your mental and intellectual ability.

I saw many seekers were stoping the search for low grade enlightment such as puffing on chillum and get doped out silly.