Old Rajpur - Uttarakhand - India

I am now in Old Rajpur, the little town were the center is situated. And it's absolutely great up here... We're surrounded by beautiful, lush mountains. And I'm staying in a big house, owned by the Rana family. They normally live in Delhi but this is their vacation home. And there are about 7 more people staying here. We each have our own room and private bathroom. Really nice vista... I was hoping for something green and not very busy but... This is way more than I expected. It's pretty quiet, I can even hear crickets in the evening. Isn't that amazing!!!

For the rest, I've had about 5 yoga classes, there really good but I am the newest in Yoga here. That was to be expected. Lots of them have many years of practice and there are even quite a few apprentice teachers / senior teachers here. But all 40 of the participants, plus the teachers of the center itself, Rajiv and Swati, are beautiful, genuine, very nice people. From all over the world. So I'm sure I'll have a great, hard time. Exactly what I was looking for.

I feel as if I need to write some more about how I'm feeling / looking back at the time I've spend in India so far. I am still really happy and excited about this journey. And I feel se grateful that I am in the position to undertake such adventure. When locals ask me what I am doing I tell them that I quit my job to come traveling in India and then you can see the astonishment on their faces. There is so little work here or better... There are so many people here that it is very hard for them to find a decent job. No wonder why they all dream / look for a different life abroad. It's bad. And then because of this problem there is so much poverty here. And they don't get payed what they should because for every position there is somebody else who wants to do it for less money. Only the very smart, very rich or very 'swindlers or thiefs' have money in India. This is how it is here...
But still, I'm doing well. And I try not to think about it too much. Or I try not to bother too much. I want to be able to enjoy this to the max so... And I just need to remind me that there is nothing I can do about it. So there is no point worrying about it.

Today I made a little hike with 3 others girls from the course and one of them made the comparison that this country is like a coin. It always has two sides, in every aspect of it's being. It's so contradictory... We've found so good & so bad. So beautiful & so ugly. I could go on and on... It's crazy.

People who haven't seen some pictures yet:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sarademeyer/IndiaJuly2008

Untill the next! ;-)

Delhi - India

Hello people, I'm back!! I know it's been quite a long time but I either didn't have time to update, or I was in a really posh place and not keen to pay 5 times of what I'm paying here. But I'm back in Delhi and here everything is really cheap. That's only after after a couple of days though, when you start to comprehend real Indian prices. Although we're probably still paying too much, but at a certain point you jut don't want to push it and you give in on the bargaining. Because it is really cheap and you see the poverty around... and you all know I'm not a rock when it comes to this. Well, you probably all know I'm not a rock, period! Although I must say that I am quit surprised with how I'm coping on the misery. There's no good way to describe what you can see here. It's bad, real bad... Luckily I was prepared for that. And it's striking that I'm slowly becoming indifferent together with Dr. Rieux, the main character of my book (The Plague - Albert Camus). It's crazy.

Because this internet place is closing in 10min I need to hurry. I'll get into details later but I'll quickly inform you on what have happened in these 6 days in this country. I've been hooked up with a Brazilian girl who's doing the same yoga course and... Because she will go home right after it we decided to travel a bit together before. We've been to: Khajuraho, Agra en Jaipur. An it was great!!! I've seen the most amazing things already. Sorry I can't share pictures yet because this is USB1 and so... I'm not even going to try to upload.

Sorry lads, I need to go. But I'm having a great time so... No need to worry. Tomorrow morning I'm heading up to Dehra Dun for the course and I promis to make some time for a proper update. Take care!!

Derby - Derbyshire - UK

Hi there,

As I am still in rainy England I can't share any 'first impressions on India' yet. What I can write is that I think that I am ready. As ready as I can be! And this state of preparedness mainly consist of having had all the necessary shots, having made hotel and taxi pick-up reservations for the first nights, having a bag full with medication (just in case), a lonely planet (just because), some clothes and some other fiction books to keep me occupied when alone.
For the rest I'm pretty clueless towards what I am about to see, hear and smell. I know people who love it and others who hate it. I've heard stories like bumping into elephants upon the arrival in the Indira Gandhi International Airport and being absolutely gobsmacked. But I've also been warned for swindlers and crooks. Plus, I've been told to trust nobody. Seems as if I'm going to a dark, dirty and evil place... Will that be the case? I don't know... I do know that I want to see it with my own eyes. I want to experience it myself. At least then I'll know what I'm talking and dreaming about. And I'm sure it will all be beautiful and enriching in one way or an other. I will enjoy this journey... In fact, I've not felt scared, worried or anxious about it. From the moment I've started creating this plan I have been psyched and eager to leave... I actually can't wait to set my first steps on the Asian continent. I've been dreaming about it for such a long time now, it's great!

India, here I come....And you'll see, I'll be back in no time!!