Randy's 50th birthday travel adventures

In January and February 2011 I had the fabulous opportunity to travel through Northern India and Nepal. The photos and stories in this blog document my adventures and experiences; what I saw and what I learned. My travel started in Delhi, India and then led me to the spiritual town of Rishikesh, India for a week long stay at a yoga ashram - Rishikesh Yog Peeth. After that I traveled to Khajuraho, India to view the ancient Hindu erotic temples, tour a local farming town, and spend the day at a small Indian village. Next I traveled to the holy Hindu city of Varanasi where life revolves in and around the holy Ganges River. I spent a day visiting the town of Sarnath where Buddha offered his first teachings, and which served as a pre-cursor for my trip to Nepal and the Kopan Monastery to study meditation and Buddhism. After Varanasi, I flew to Kathmandu and spent a couple of days walking the streets of the city before venturing about a half-hour above the city to the Kopan Monastery for a week-long retreat to study meditation and Buddhism. Afterward I went back to Delhi and took a day trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

Rishikesh - Life on the Holy Ganges River

        Rishikesh is one of the Hindu's most religious cities. The town is quite and peaceful and filled with ashrams and Hindu pilgrims. There are Hindu temples everywhere. Each evening a religious ceremony called an Aarti is held on the banks of the Ganges River. The town has recently become the yoga center of the universe and ashrams offering yoga courses and classes are everywhere. Rishikesh has a nice slow pace with less traffic and congestion. although the streets are crowded with holy cows and of course - holy shit!

Ashram life - Rishikesh style

              The ashram is I'm staying at is called Rishikesh Yog Peeth and is located up the road from the small market area of town in an area called Krishna Cottage. It is the end of the winter here in India and the nights are very cool and the days are warm. It seems a little more like a spa than a hard core strict retreat. We wake up for herbal tea at 7:30 followed by a daily netti pot nasal cleansing and then morning yoga class. We start by repeating the chantings led by our yoga instructor - what a disaster! I'm not sure what god we are chanting to, but between my English pronunciation and the other guy's mix of French, Spanish, Chinese, and English, some Hindu deity somewhere is rolling over in Nirvana . No worries, we're in Rishikesh and everything has a religious purpose or effect somewhere or some way. Fortunately the hour and half yoga class goes better. The classes are great - reminds me of classes in Memphis with Lou Hoyt - more Iyengar style with slow deep postures.

           Our instructor is a young Indian who lives here and has been practicing for only a couple of years. His flexibility is amazing and he is a good teacher. Afterwards is breakfast - usually oat meal, fruit, toast and tea. The rest of the morning is open to enjoying the sunshine or hiking around town, trying to avoid stepping in cow shit - which in Rishikesh is called "holy shit," and checking out the holy men. It's great right now because it is slow season so there is not a mass of tourists and other yogis - in fact it's just me and the guy from France staying at the ashram right now. Besides the hordes of cows walking around town, there are lots of suddahs or as our instructor calls them - babbas. These guys (allegedly) have taken a vow of poverty and left their homes and villages to travel to the holy sites in India. A few of them are sitting around all day smoking ganja and a few others beg for food and money. The rest of them seem to walk aimlessly around until their ashram rings the dinner bell.


             Lunch time comes and then more tea and more walking around or sunning on the roof and then our afternoon of chanting, breathing exercises, and then more yoga. Wow, this is my kind of vacation! Hari Om from Rishikesh.
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