Meditation, stop smoking acupuncture

Z Meditation Center experience: I also spent 5 days in Dharamsala in a
silent retreat for beginner meditators. I actually learned quite a bit about
some types of mantra meditations (using English phrases) but we didn’t
actually practice much during the time at the center. Mostly, the one
instructor, an Indian guy, would just talk for 1 hour and [...]

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Dharamsala and the Dalai Lama

Dharamsala: In the news, the Dalai Lama is always reported to be in
Dharamsala but actually he, and thus I, stay higher up in mountains in this
very small town (3 main one lane roads) called McLloyd Gangh which stretches up and down a ridge for more than a mile. I would say only about 150 yards [...]

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Bus and Train Travel in India

Bus and train travel in India: With the equivalent of several days under my
belt, I’m a bit more aware of how things work in this area. In the chaos and
disorder of a typical train and bus station, transportation arrives and
departs largely on time – if only you could find the desired transportation
vehicle without the benefit [...]

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Source of the Ganges Trek

Gangotri: We got to Gangotri, the trailhead to Golmukh, about 11 hours after
our departure from Rishikesh because of a rear tire problem and a detour to a massive dam
that is 2/3 complete after 10 years. We stayed the night at an ashram where
Lelit knew the Swami and I was introduced as Lelit’s cousin-in-law to get [...]

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Driving “rules” in India

Driving in India: Although I will avoid it as much as I can, I’m going to
have to spend some time on long bus or car rides later and so I’ll give you
some insight into the differences between driving in India and America to
give a better picture of what future “on the road again adventures” will [...]

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Char Dam Sightings

The round trip to the Himalayas: Instead of embarking on an 11 hour each
way bus trip and then potentially doing a solo 36 kilometer trek to Golmukh,
the glacial source of the Ganges River (part of the Char Dam pilgrimage from
the second travelogue) I agreed to my friend Lelit’s idea to drive me and his best
friend, [...]

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Going to a doctor in India

Going to the doctor: After trying naturopathic medicine to clear up an
excessive ear wax problem which made understanding broken and/or heavily
accented English even more difficult than it already is as I could only hear
from one ear, I took the advice from one of my friends on the hotel staff who
also has ear problems and headed [...]

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Rishikesh and Yoga Part 2

Yoga class: The last day of class featured a really hokey ceremony and I can
add yet another useless certificate to my collection. I don’t think I
mentioned that each day had a 2 to 20 page handout about the day’s pose and
the lecture notes. While I learned quite a bit from the class, I must admit
I [...]

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Rishikesh:Yoga capital of the world

Note: Rishikesh is near New Dehli and I thought, mistakenly, would be cooler as it is in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Impressions of Rishikesh: Actually, Rishikesh is composed of 5 small towns -
two smaller towns of which are on the other side of the Ganges and connected
by two suspension foot bridges. I’m across one of [...]

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Rishikesh Yoga Class

THE YOGA CLASS – My timing was such that I was able to start in the afternoon
of the third day of a 24 day intensive yoga class. So, we have a yoga class
from about 8:15 (depending on when the instructor gets there) to 10:15 or so.
Then, we have sun salutes from 4:30 to 5 pm [...]

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