Hi there, Anyone has done yoga teacher training course at siddhartha yoga centre?

I'm planing to go India around mid may and take the yoga course in Dharamshala 1st of june to 30th of june. I'm a bit nervous about travel there myself as a female too. Any advise?.

Welcome to the site, and hope you have a wonderful trip. I love Dharamsala and have spent some time there, though not at the centre you'll be in.

Since your question is so general, hard to say what to tell you other than this - there is lots of great advice on the forum so browse away. For example, there is info on how to dress, food precautions, etc.

Couldn't tell from your post if you will be in Dharamsala all the time or if you will be traveling in other places as well. Dharamsale has a lot of non-Indian folks, so it is a different experience than some other places in respect to both food options and type of clothing.

If you have specific questions, as in the that forum.

My sister went there last Summer, seemed to have a great experience. Yogi Shivam is a good friend of hers and I have spoken with him on the phone and by email a lot too.

Thanx cat . Be honest, i didn't really know what to ask...i'd got confirmed by yoga centre and they advised how to get there but sounded very complicated... But things get better and a bit more clear now. thank again.

Check this thread:

Goa police are probing death of Russian girl

You see, I don't want in any way to discourage you, but India for a first-timer could be quite a shock and there are many scams and annoyances that are hard to avoid, that is why I strongly suggest that you get in touch with people in India who will meet you at the airport and accompany on your trip to Dharamsala. I suggest you get in touch with Tibetan monks. It would be fair if you make an offering of money as compensation with their advice and help. I am a strong proponent of group travel, so if you travel alone, I suggest you have someone to meet you.

As to the yoga group you mentioned, I don't know them. I suggest you ask the Tibetan monks about that group and do they recommend them, because they know the city and it could be that the group has bad reputation, better check.

Please write here how it goes and what you learned and managed to arrange.

But you are being negative unnecessarily, which is not very helpful especially as i know your experience of india is limited....

I don't think Gompas rent their monks out like that. Glee, before deciding that you need to go to those extremes, you might also wish to check out this member's other advice. "Travelling in groups to avoid Nazis"

India is a very different place, and there can be an element of cultures shock, but there is absolutely no reason to be afraid of travelling to Dharamsala on your own. You'll be surprised at how friendly and welcoming people are, if you travel by train it seems that your main problem will be how to politely refuse families who want to share food you don't really want!

Oh, if you do take food, make sure it's food that everyone else is eating, otherwise you will definitely be drugged and robbed. (Actually, that has happened, but the chances of it happening to you are miniscule so don't panic!)

Have a wonderful time, do be aware that getting a student visa is a bit more complicated than a tourist visa, the educational establishment needs to be recognised (don't ask me how you're supposed to know, I've never seen a list) you'll need a letter of acceptance giving the course dates, a receipt for the course fees, and a few other things. If you apply for a student visa, you might end up with a visa that only covers you for the course dates, and not for any tourism before or afterwards.

Well, when I've been in Dharamsala, I've been offered to travel with a monk all the way back to Moscow (because the monk was travelling to Russia). Its not that unbelievable, that's why I suggest to check. Many monks are traveling from Delhi to Dharamsala, she only needs to get in touch in order to be able to go with their group. If you honestly ask for assistance, you can get it.

As to airport pickup - you can try different routes. What I suggest: There is a Tibetan-run hotel in Delhi, you can arrange airport pick-up from them. What is not recommended (by everyone) is to get into the first taxi you see in the airport as taxi drivers are involved in scamming tourists and not willing to deliver tourists to hotels they have chosen because they get commission from their hotel. This is not just a common problem, but it happens ALL the time, you will surely not miss that if you disregard my advice. You can get government taxi (police taxi) - but taxi from a hotel is I think better because the driver knows where hotel is - otherwise there gonna be no 'hotel burned' scam. So I recommend Tibetan hotel and airport pickup by the hotel. I don't recommend some random hotel in Delhi. You will have much better experience in a Tibetan hotel.

As to the food - I don't think there is any problems with the food in India. Don't drink tap water, eat where everyone else is eating - and most likely you're gonna be fine. If you are offered food - i.e. someone is being proactive - refuse. But if you eat in the family or buy food in the restaurant - OK, lets try to be super careful - and you SEE where the food is coming from - such as if it is a street vendor's food stall, they have big pots and you see food in them - perfectly safe.

Again, if you have company, even dozing off due to drugs in the food becomes pretty safe. Welcoming people around you will also not be a problem if you are not alone. For example, we've been stopped by the gangsters on way to Dharamsala, but we didn't pay and nothing happened, although our driver was scared a bit.

SPACEBUM : I wish you could have seen the real India ..... you are really having a negative approach .....
You just have been it touch with Tibten people / Monks ... nothing else.

The case you have given the link .... its a crime and such kind of crimes are happening every where in the world. If you will see from the population point of view, crime rates (with tourists also ) is much less then many other countries.

""""""""""""""yes anybody have to be careful enough to the tourists spots.... and I think that rule must being followed at every where in the world..."""""""""""""""

There are lot of countries where you can get racial comments ... Have you ever gone throug such kind of situations in India ?

Still I can accept that all people can not be same, there mind, mentality , can not be same.

I would like to request some other members also to give their views ...

ashukkb: Sorry if my posts somehow seemed offensive, but that's the way things are. In order to see the real India, tourist must be able to avoid common problems and scams. If you read some of the threads, newcomers are reading advice and get ready to face all those troubles in an intelligent manner. Other who didn't have that information (and even those who did, because there are so many kinds of troubles that one cannot prepare for them all) are having difficult time and post about unpleasant experiences they had. Those who say they enjoy India are battle-hardened and wise travellers, not newbies. Yet even they sometimes say that one needs to adopt a special fatalistic attitude in order to cope with Indian reality and still feel OK. Didn't you notice that? Its all over the forum.

So what I am doing is providing some basic advice, which for a newbie tourist is like ABC for children.

As to the link, I was actually warned by the moderator not to be scaremongering. However I think that by not being careless and using one's brain tragic incidents can be avoided. I am a big proponent of group travel. Incidents such as this can be prevented by traveling with the group. I am not saying this is common, but incidents like this do happen and can be avoided. Of course, not only in India, but in Russia as well. In this regard, what is good for Russia is also good for India. Sure, things like that happen everywhere in the world and everywhere in the world they can be avoided by using the same strategy: group travel.

Just to explain what kind of thinking lead me to this conclusion. As you may have heard, Israel is the world's leader in counter-terrorism and safety. So much that other countries's No 1 choice in advise and training related to safety are Israeli experts, both military and civilian. So, let's look at what guidelines do they give... For example, there is an organization called Hillel, it is being involved in something called Jewish campus life. They organize trips of Jewish students to Israel. I have looked at their website. They list quite a bit of rules. But one rule is printed in bold red letters and it reads:

Anyone who leaves the group without prior approval will immediately be removed from the program and forfeit his/her deposit.

If anyone is interested, read in full here:

http://www.hillel.org/israel/travel/...ravel_tips.htm

It is a page full of safety tips that are like gems. And keep in mind that these are safety guidelines for Jewish visitors of Israel, which is a Jewish state. If what I just explained is not enough evidence in support of group travel then I don't know what is. One more thing it makes sense to add - best-case scenario in group travel is when the group has a leader - a smart person familiar with the place who makes final decisions, in other words a group is not a democracy.

So, now hopefully you do understand on which basis I am giving this advice. In this particular case, as this person goes alone I suggested to read about how to avoid commons scams and hassles and hook up with a group. Since she is going to Dharamsala, I advice Tibetan monks, they know India and their city Dharamsala and they are smart. I also think they can be relied upon, as they are interested in visitors to their city having a good experience. This is actually not scaremongering in any way.

P.S. I personally think - and it is I believe corroborated by many travel stories and advice I read here on this site - that India's most severe problem is not crime, it's enormous rate of scam and generally bad organization of everything. In other words, you don't always get what you want and in due time even if the seller or service provider is honest and you are extremely likely to get scammed and not get what you need at all. Like, for example, you want to go to the railway station, but the scamming cab driver delivers you to entirely different destination and you miss your train. Here, again, finding yourself a company, traveling with a group, with pros, would help immensely in that regard.

Actually, if you want to discuss how India is perceived, scams or safe travel strategies, lets open another thread and do it there as this is a bit off topic and I also don't want to appear scaremongering.

I've had more trouble with crime and scamming in Spain, Morocco and the United States than in India. It's endemic, the world over, and India isn't anything special when it comes to scams. Anybody who's done some traveling should know what to expect. Anyone who hasn't should do a bit of research and take the usual precautions.

Hello, I am friends with Shivam. I met him through my yoga teacher while he was visiting New York. Many of my friends felt his presence in our lives was very warming, he is a sweet person. I am flying in to Delhi on Sunday, I will be arriving for the program a day late. I will take a flight from Delhi to Gaggal airport Tuesday the 2nd. Let me know if I can answer any questions. Shivam said someone would fetch me at the airport. I am regularly in contact with him. Best!

in august ,anybody else????
After 2 months of searching and thinking ,in the end why not,its looks like nice,quiet place.Considering the heat in august is the best way to go there,Dharmasala,I always wanted to go and now is the chance.
Yogi Shivan,,,,I dont know much about him,but I appreciate if someone has more information about this school or someone who allready took the classes in India.

I am also female solo first time India traveler,and have the same problem like Glee15,but not in panic...ok I am little bit scared,but I think thats normal..
I would like to find someone who is also going to Dharmasala around 26,27 of july,maybe we could go together???

Hi Natasha

Welcome to India .... Hope you will enjoy your stay with great memories for the life

hey can anybody give me the website address of siddhartha yoga centre.