Re: Sara in India !!

France - Ile de France - Herbeauvilliers

2008-10-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

Dear all

As you all know, I'm currently back in Europe. I do write Europe because after landing in London, staying 2 days in Derby, Keith and I drove back to Belgium to spend 3 days at home. Yes, only 3 days because I wasn't ready just yet... I wanted to do a tiny bit more traveling, just so I could spend some quality time with Keith, before throwing myself at finding a job and an apartment. So that's exactly what's happening now. I'm sat at MaisonBleau, typing away... To leave again tomorrow to drive to Switzerland and do 10 days of Climbing. Woo Hoo!!

Anyway, this is the last blogpost about my first ever India Adventure. And I never ever expected it to be this good. I'm still riding the wave of excitement... Really! I wasn't even that happy to leave. I clearly remember sitting in the taxi on the way to the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, thinking that I was not ready to go home. But this is mainly because of the people that joined me on the last month, especially the ones that joined me on the last 4 days. Really, thank you Ruben and LuisFernando! You've made my last days into an unbelievable, never to forget - experience. Because what you experience on the last days of any trip, will stick to you the most. That time leaves the biggest impression, has the biggest impact on the memories from the whole journey. I want to share this with the world: guys, I can't imagine what it would have been without you... I'm sure it wouldn't have been the same.

So people... It's too late to write a lot more because I'm tired and I want to go to bed early to be ready to drive to Switzerland tomorrow. But there's a last picasa album to accompany my last blogpost. There you can see what I've been up to. Always easier to comment a picture instead of writing everything down in prose.

I hope there is many more to come!! But first things first...
Let's earn some more money so I can start planning my next adventure!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarademeyer/IndiaOctoberGokarnaMumbai#

Hampi - Karnataka - India (2)

2008-10-11T01:54:00.000-07:00

Hallo iedereen

Heb niet zo heel veel tijd want den afscheidslunch staat voor de deur. "De klimmers" komen nog een laatste keer samen om de meisjes uit te zwaaien. Jawel, na ongeveer 12 dagen in Hampi te zijn geweest is het tijd om door te gaan. Ik vertrek deze avond met Jaione (Baskenland) naar Gokarna.

En 't is zeker met gemengde gevoelens dat ik hier vertrek. Ik had nooit verwacht dat ik zoveel enthousiaste, vriendelijke mensen zou tegen komen. Dus langs de ene kant zou ik graag nog een beetje blijven rondhangen. Ik zit helemaal in het ritme. We staan elke dag op om 5.30 --> tegen 6u hangen we aan de rots (tegen 10pm zijn we volledig kapot, dus early nights). 't Is de max. Ik ben het niet helemaal zeker maar heb, denk ik, twee 6A's geklommen. Voor de meesten onder jullie is dit chinees maar... Voor de klimmers aanwezig, jullie weten hoe moeilijk het is. Dus ik ben tevree.
Langs de andere kant, ben te nieuwsgierig naar wat India nog te bieden heeft dus... Gokarna komt eraan alvorens naar het Noorden, (Mumbai) weder te keren.

Maar ik had jullie natuurlijk foto's beloofd... vandaar dat ik nog een laatste keer op de PC kruip om mijn blog te updaten. Ik vermoed dat het er niet meer van zal komen nu ik nog in India verblijf. Ja ja, 't Einde is in zicht... ook hier gemengde gevoelens. Aan de ene kant content en enthousiast om er volledig in te vliegen, langs de andere kant... 't is hier zo super dat ik graag nog een wat zou blijven. In ieder geval, ben ongelooflijk tevreden en dankbaar met wat ik heb. Tot gauw...

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarademeyer/IndiaSeptemberOctoberGoaHampi#

Hampi - Karnataka - India

2008-10-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

Dear all

It's my 5th day in Hampi. And I've met some people on the bus from Palolem to this magical boulderland. So I've shared a room with an Italian girl for the first 3 nights. Apart from Laura, the Italiana, I've also been hanging out with 2 Austrian girls, 2 German dudes and a Brit. It was good, had a good laugh but... after having spend a lot of time together, I really had the desire for some quiet, calm individual 'Sara-time'. Plus, I had to go to the other side of the river to be closer to the climbable rocks area's (although there are boulders all around - I have never seen this much rock in my whole life). That 'move' happened yesterday. And it is a lot more quiet here, plus also a lot cheaper for my guesthouse. I'm paying 100Rs and I have my own private hut (with bathroom). It's cool...

The down-side of the medal is that the average temperature is around 30C. It is SO HOT! Which isn't bad, I'm pretty used to it already. It just means that I have to alter my daily rhythm slightly. That's necessary if I want to do some climbing. In stead of getting up at 8-9am, and then having a normal day, I'd have to get up really early before the radiant sun makes it too hot.

And because I figured that any non-Israeli person on this side of the river would be a climber, I started approaching people. The first two attempts were successful, so my theory was confirmed. On top, I managed to find a copy of a local topo. And once the guys I met knew, they've spread the word. So I ended up being 'the Belgian girl with the topo' - I must say... The keen (not so efficient) boulderers who didn't manage to find a topo, were very keen to talk to me. Ha ha...

So I had my first session this morning. I got up before sunrise to meet up with Rick. He was willing to show me around. It was great but... a rather painful experience as well. Keith's words are circling around in my head: "Sara, be aware that the rock will be very sharp". As always, he was right. Because climbing on granite rock is as if you're holding on to small pieces of broken glass. The rock consists of very coarse, large & sharp crystals (thank you Keith for helping me to define this type of rock). I'm not keen for overhanging stuff anyway (purely because I don't have the strength to hold on), but for sure, at Hampi I'm not pulling on unless I have footholds to support me. Although that's were granite is easier than sandstone, because you do have a lot more grip with your feet in general.

Ok folks, enough for the day. I'm having dinner with some friends... I'm staying here for an other week (I think). But will try to upload a new picture album before I leave.

Palolem - South Goa - India

2008-09-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

Holla...

I know it's been a while but I've done lots of traveling, lots of hours on the train or bus, lots of kilometers... As described in one of the previous posts, I've got from McLeod to Amritsar. From Amritsar to Chandigarh. Then from Chandigarh to.... Goa! Where I'm currently at, united with Darius and his crew. And I must admit I was very happy to see them. Quite pleased to see a familiar face. For the first time in 2 months I didn't meet any travelers from Amritsar to South Goa (which took me 5 days) and... after having met so many people in McLeod, I was feeling a bit uneasy. Even though I could have easily made some (more) phone calls to compensate the loneliness, I didn't... Because 1. some of you might have been worried 2. these emotions are part of the game. I knew in advance I would encounter them at some point on this trip. And in a way it's even remarkable I didn't have a similar feeling before. But guess what... whilst traveling from north Goa, Arambol to South Goa, Palolem (to meet up with Daz), I bumped into an other lonely traveler. So if I wouldn't have had Daz, I would have found other company. This is how it goes... No need to worry about it.

Anyway, Palolem is great. It's a lot nicer than Arambol, a little beach village where I went to first. The beach very typically tropical: it is clean, there's white sand all around, palm trees lined up next to the long, narrow band of sand... And it's still off-season so there aren't too many people around. I arrived yesterday and after having dumped my backpack in the hotel, we immediately jumped on some Honda scooters to drive around the coastal road. It was so cool. The vista's, the sun, the wind through my hair. I must have at least swallowed a dozen of flies because I couldn't stop smiling (until it got dark and we couldn't see with or sunglasses on - then we got flies in our eyes in stead of in our mouths). And I realized I'm ticking away quite a lot of normal holiday cliches: first time I've rented a scooter - first time I've seen naturally grown palm tree on a beach, first time I've seen rice terraces... Great fun!!

For now you'll have to do with a new picasa album from McLeod to Chandigarh. The (hopefully amazing) Goan pictures are yet to be taken, have yet to come in the next album. Until the next... Take care.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarademeyer/IndiaSeptemberMcLeodGanjAmritsarChandigarh#

Mc Leod - Himachal Pradesh - India (2)

2008-09-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

Hi you all

Just a quick update to inform you that I'm still alive and kicking. I've been so busy here, unbelievable... This is actually a pretty small place. So whenever you meet somebody, have a chat with that person, and say goodbye again,... the chance is very big that you meet the same person again the day after. Especially when you're doing some activities. Like me, was doing yoga and a massage course so... Every day you meet new people and you run into the ones you met before... And this resulted in having lots of tea's, food, coffees, cakes,... Lots of hanging out in little restaurants and coffee lounges. Very cozy and enjoyable. I could easily imagine myself spending quite some more time here. But the curiosity to explore more is greater than the desire to hang around and get more involved in this friendly Tibetan community. I can always come back...

Anyway, would like to share some experiences with you all. Due to Lilly I have stayed in an 80INR (1,25 euro) - Woo Hooo... It's a tiny, jail cell type room, with only two small windows onto the hall way. But it's clean and this kind of obliges me to spend as much as time possible outside. And I'm happy to share that everything is a lot cheaper here then it was up north. I'm so pleased with that because I have been spending more than expected. An other good thing... It's been great..

As you know, I wanted to do some more yoga and I had heard many great things about a Ashtanga teacher called Vijay. But I also knew there was a Iyengar Yoga studio here. And so because I am familiar with the Iyengar style, I went to the studio last Monday to inquire for information. Result, I fell in love with the place. It is a very beautiful studio, surrounded by nature, in a more quiet place of this area. The only two downsides I could think of: it was 40 minute walk from where I was staying + it was quite expensive. The teacher was charging us 2500INR (+/- 40 euro) for a 5 day course, 3 hours a day. Because I liked the place, and I thought it was the last time I was going to take yoga classes in India (for now), I decided to go for it anyway. I was totally excited about it. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the first class that much, nor the second one... I'm not saying it was a bad teacher but it wasn't my style. I didn't enjoy the classes, nor did I enjoy the walk up to the yoga hall. I was finding it hard and after the second day I was really not looking forward to the others. My curiosity for the Ashtanga classes with Vijay totally revived. Plus, Vijay studio was a 100 meters from my guesthouse. So I went over to check prices, 250INR for a 2 hour class. I thought about the money, the money I was about to loose by skipping the Iyengar classes. But I decided: if money was the only motivation for going, it was not the right one. I therefore ditched the Iyengar classes and went to Vijays ones. And guess what, not just the class, also the teacher was AMAZING. I've never ever seen such a fit, flexible, strong 50 year old man. He's very skinny but SO muscular and strong. And I've massively enjoyed the ashtanga class. I think I might even go and check the ashtanga classes out in Brussels (I say BXL because that's were I'll be moving when I'll be back in Belgium). Vijay told me that his teacher is living in BXL so this might just turn out great.

Enough about yoga, I've also mentioned that I was enrolled in a Tibetan Massage course. Which I have finished today. A bit dodgy though, it was a 10 hour course but I received a 30 hour certificate (mentioning lots of things that were not taught). Funny... But I enjoyed it. Even though I think my body is not reacting to well to the oil that was used. My body is covered in a type of rash, very itchy, not very attractive. I actually don't know what's causing the rash (it could be from sweating, it could be from the oil, it could be many things). Anyway, this event resulted in going to the 'Dalai Lama's Tibetan Hospital' today. It's nothing too bad but it is annoying me and I've heard good things about the hospital. Plus, much more keen to go to a Tibetan hospital than to a regular Indian one. I've seen both now, and my feeling was right... The Tibetan one is much cleaner and much more organised. So yeah, I'm chewing on some Tibetan pills after every meal. And I hope they'll be effective.

What else has happened? I tried to take a ride on the Kangra Toy train. The Lonely Planet was praising it for it's beautiful track through the foothills of the Himalayas. I've spend about 2 hours to get to Kangra. 1,5 hours of waiting for the train to arrive to... Spend 5 minutes on the train until it broke down. Guess they call it 'Toytrain' for a reason. So I ended up having to sit an other 3 hours at a bus to get back to McLeod. But again, a nice experience because I was the only Westerner there and... I've met a nice Indian guy who escorted me from the train to the bus and... he overloaded me with local knowledge and friendliness. If only his macho friend wasn't there (sweet talking), then I might have just spend some more time with him. Guess it wasn't meant to be.

Ok, time for bed. I'm still trying to decide if I should leave tomorrow or the day after. There are some more things that I'd like to see before going but... I realise that time is moving fast. I'll see if I feel like moving tomorrow. Bye bye...

Mc Leod - Himachal Pradesh - India

2008-09-10T02:10:00.001-07:00

Hello

Hooray... Yet an other picture album! It's a big one this time. Enjoy you all...

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarademeyer/IndiaAugustPostYGPLeh

ps: I'm starting an other 5 day yoga course tomorrow at the Himalayan Yoga center. A 5 day Tibetan Massage course later today. And I've attended a Buddhist Teaching from a 90year old Lama this morning. There's so much to do here, it's crazy... But so much fun!

Manali - Himachal Pradesh - India (2)

2008-09-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

Hi you all

I'm back in Manali for two day. Just so I can take a bus tomorrow night at 6pm to go to Dharamsala. And because I wrote a whole summary of the last couple of days to Keith yesterday, I'll just copy my lines of the chat on here (kind of lazy, I know... but it's easier for me to do it like this):

me: I'm back in Manali
me: Had a great time on my last day in Leh... Met some really nice people actually...
me: Oh, on Wednesday I decided to walk up to Changspa, a nice little area in Leh (and hadn't been there before), I sat down in a quiet nice restaurant and... Not even 10 minutes later a guy walks up asking of I wanted to play a game of chess... He was from US, a yoga - climber - photographer... (and no, I can't play chess. I lost... But I told him in advance, he didn't care)
me: We ended up talking a while... Nice conversation. Nothing special though... But he recommended me to walk to a stupa high up,. He told me it was a great place to go to watch the sunset?
me: Anyway, I did some more things before going to the sunset... Arrived there... Beautiful place and... after shooting some pics, I walked to the side of this massive edge to have a proper look at a panorama of Leh... I take a picture and the guy next to me starts talking to me.
me: Really sweet guy from Israel... He's really into photography too, convinces me that I should start taking pictures on the Manual mode, gave me some info... SWEET!
me: Also, met a girl from US on the bus here and she's also going to Dharamsala. So we're sharing a room for two nights to then go there by bus...
me: yes she's also traveling by herself... lots of people are here by themselves. It's crazy...
me: And I'm thinking of doing some more yoga there... Before I go more south to goa, to hopefully meet up with Daz...

So, I know now that there's nothing to be worried about. On the first 24hrs by myself I ended up meeting 3 different, interesting people. It's very promising...

That was my chat yesterday... And today was really chilled! We had plenty of clouds and rain... Lots of hanging around in the restaurant/lounge of the guesthouse I'm staying. It's lovely! And there are so many different travelers here. Some in pairs, some alone. It's great. Since we're all doing the same, it's just a really nice hanging out with travelers.

Just want to share the rough plan for the rest of my stay: 10 days of Dharamsala - Mcleod Ganj (only if I can do more yoga there, but I don't think that will be a problem); if possible a couple of days for Amritsar and Shimla; back to Delhi to take the train down to Goa to meet up with Daz (Keith's brother); then to Hampi for some rock climbing; maybe just a short dip into Kerala before I go to Mumbai to fly home.

Although I hope you understand that I'm not complaining. I'm very happy with what I got... I'd just like to do so much more before coming home!! This is how I feel for now, at least. It might change... But I hope it doesn't (because that would mean I'm not having such a great time). Catch you later...

Leh - Ladakh - India (2)

2008-09-01T01:51:00.000-07:00

Julley - the word to know when being in Ladakh!

Ik ben zaterdag terug gekomen van mijn trek in de Indische Himalaya's en... Ik heb me super goed geamuseerd!! Het was echt fantastisch. Dit niet alleen door de ongelooflijke vista's, de leuke bende en het feit dat ik graag eigen grenzen verleg (wat zeker is gebeurd)... Ook de organisatie 'footprint travels' heeft hier een serieuze bijdrage geleverd. Onze gids en zijn team hebben ons ongelooflijk verwend. Een kort overzicht:

De eerste twee dagen - een groep van 6 - dezelfde groep waarmee ik naar Leh ben gereden. Vanaf dag 3 bleven alleen Kevin, Lucy, James en ik over. 7 paarden, kooktent, eettent, elk een eigen tent voor in te slapen... Elke ochtend kwamen ze ons wakker maken om 6.30am met thee. Daarna kwam er een emmer met warm water naar onze tent voor een katte wasje... Om 7am stond het ontbijt klaar en tegen 8ten begon onze trek. Er is geen enkele dag dat we na 14 uur op de volgende kampplaats zijn aangekomen dus... Absoluut geen al te zware trekdagen. In tegen deel... Het was een combinatie tussen een 5 tal uren trekken, lunchen (oh ja, het lunch pakket moesten we wel zelf dragen – dohhh) en... de rest van de dag met een boek in de hand op onze luie reet liggen in de meest adembenemende omgeving. Met de zon op onze smoel... Ja ja, geen regen... Af en toe een wolk (anders was het te warm)... En wel een stevige wind daar boven maar... In een slaapzak heb je daar weinig last van. Om 16u kwam er opnieuw thee met een kleine versnapering. Tegen 18u mochten we in de diner tent plaats nemen voor een heus 3 gangen menu (om een idee te geven, we hebben gegeten: frietjes, pizza, pasta, Indische curries, Tibetaanse Momo’s, Chinese Noodles met groenten... Niet te geloven). Ha ha, ik vind het super grappig. Nog nooit zo een luxueuze ervaring meegemaakt. En dat voor amper 24 euro’s per dag. Ook dit is India...
Ok, heb opnieuw lang genoeg voor deze computer gezeten. Ik blijf normaliter tot woensdag hier en zak daarna opnieuw af naar Manali. Wat er precies volgt moet ik nog uitpluizen maar ik hou jullie op de hoogte. Een ding weet ik zeker, nu sta ik er voor het eerst echt alleen voor. Spannend... Hi hi hi - Tot dan...

Leh - Ladakh - India

2008-08-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

Just informing you that I've arrived well in Leh. It was a very beautiful but pretty tough, bumpy ride. Lots of people got sick (badly --> massive headaches and breathing problems) but I was just fine... At one of the passes (+/-5000m) I was a bit too excited and I ran about 10 meters which resulted in getting somewhat weak and dizzy but after having realised that that wasn't a good idea... I went through the other pass, Tanglang La Pass (5359m), as if I was stood at sea level. I'm amazed and very happy that I didn't experience any discomforts up there.

I'm still here with the group of people from the Yoga Course (1 Irish lady, 3 UK people and 1 Canadian whose actually living in Brussels) and... Tonight we've booked a 7 day trek up here. We'll be leaving on Sunday. It'll be a less busy, pretty similar trek as the Markha Valley one. But slightly shorter and... This trek is organised in the way that we can always get back down, at any point in time (which isn't the case with the Markha Valley one and therefore more safe). We've been recommended the trekking agency by one of the Yoga people. And I must say that the guy who runs the place is very friendly and professional. I'm even going to do a home stay with him. It's common here in Ladakh and I guess one can compare it with a B&B in Europe. You just rent a spare room at one of the Ladakhi's homes. It's supposed to be pretty basic but... I'm up for it. Think it's better than staying in a hotel.

I'll be back with an update ASAP... Namaste!

Manali - Himachal Pradesh - India

2008-08-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

A quick hello to inform you that I arrived well in Manali and... That there's a new batch of pictures on picasa... Leaving tomorrow to Leh, will be arriving on Thursday evening. Now need to go to bed. Bye bye...

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarademeyer/IndiaAugustYogGangaPeriod

Old Rajpur - Uttarakhand - India (4)

2008-08-17T01:01:00.000-07:00

Yo yo yo...

This is my last post in Old Rajpur, we just had a good-bye lunch at the Chanchani's house. It was very nice and even moving in a way. Some people have been traveling for quite a while together and so this was a more permanent good bye for them as for me... (therefor moving them to tears) It is a good-bye to a lot of the people but I'm not at all sad. I will continue this journey with some people of the course. And than for others, I'm pretty sure I'll see them again in some point in life. Quite some people of the group live in UK and so... It'll be possible to meet up in the Peak some day. Others live slightly further away but... I'm very aware that the world can be such a small place. Especially when it comes to randomly meeting up with people when you do have the same interest. Than for an other few people of the group, I've established a really close friendship so in that case... I might be randomly meeting up with them at some point, and that will be so cool. But there is little doubt in my mind that I will see these people again at some point in life. The one person that I definitely want to see again is Tutti (Fernanda Neubauer - the Brazilian girl - living in Florida). And then there's also Carl (born in Germany but living in San Fransisco). He's really into yoga - hiking - biking, he's great fun and... I'd love to have a project with him one day. Since both these people are living in the US, I might just have to go there on my next trip. Ha ha... Don't know yet but I'm definitely positive that a trip to the 'US of A' is added on my 'still to visit places'-list.
Some people might still know that once, back in the days, I've declared I would never in my whole life put a step onto that continent but... Luckily I'm somewhat older now and with the maturing I've become somewhat less prejudice. Thank God for that... This can only be a good thing.

So, the plan for the next few days... Taking a taxi to Manali and then a Jeep to Leh. That plan hasn't changed yet (although there's a small chance there will be a small alteration in plan - this is still India - but than I'll inform you all about that later). I'll probably be arriving in Leh on Friday. So it's perfectly fine if you don't hear from me in the next few days... I promise to catch up with you all from the moment I get there.

For those who have my cell-phone number --> this won't be working in Leh!! So I won't be reachable until I have a new SIM-card. But again, I'll keep you posted. Bye bye...

Old Rajpur - Uttarakhand - India (3)

2008-08-10T00:40:00.000-07:00

Hello people,

I'm back! I know it's been quite a while but with the heavy rainfall of the last couple of days Internet places just seem to shut down due to very frequent power cuts. And we were actually promised to have Internet access in the house on the day we arrived but... The course is coming to an end slowly and even though there is a modem in place, Internet connection is not possible. Let's hope there will be some Internet-installation-action in the next week. Although obviously this is not a necessity, merely very practical and luxurious.

Anyway, I am very pleased to inform you all that the weather was absolutely beautiful on the day we were supposed to be hiking to Mussorrie and so... I did my first amazing beautiful mini trek in India. This is such a nice stunning country. Or at least what I've seen about it so far... I am completely bewitched by its beauty. And I can't wait to do some more treks in the area. Starting tomorrow, if the weather allows us to go of course. We're having 3 days off and I'm going to Rishikesh for 2 days with some people from the course. There seem to be some very nice temples in the area so I'm hoping to get a glimpse of them soon.

On top, I have found 4 more people who want to go to Ladakh after the course so... We have arranged a taxi drive to Manali on the 18th - will stay there to sort out jeep drive to Leh, have planned to leaving there as soon as possible (just because these other people don't have a lot of time). Afterwards I still have all the time in the world to come back down South - slowly, slowly... And submerge myself deeper in the wonderful green and lush valleys of the North. Looking forward to it... Just loving it!

For the rest everything is excellent and I'm still having great sensations of gratitude and psychedness to be here. Will keep you all posted.

Old Rajpur - Uttarakhand - India (2)

2008-08-04T01:52:00.000-07:00

Hallo, nu een keertje in het nederlands!

Nog steeds in dit kleine dorpje aan de rand van Dehra Dun. En ik heb het nog steeds naar mijn zin... Alleen jammer, het is hier behoorlijk nat! Het regent hier bijna alle dagen. En 't is hier blijkbaar de ergste moesson in jaren. Desalniettemin, we houden ons bezig met als standaard accessoire een paraplu in de hand. Als we dan toch eens door een hevige bui worden verrast duurt het wel dagen tot onze kleren opnieuw droog zijn. Tenzij de wolken een paar uur achterwege blijven, dan is er de stralende zon omringt door een prachtige blauwe hemel. En dan zijn de kleren droog 'in no time'... Echt grappig soms, vanzodra de zon schijnt begin iedereen kleren te wassen.

Ik hoop echter dat het morgen een beetje droog blijft. Morgen hebben we onze eerste dag vrij. En we kunnen te voet naar Mussoorie, door de bergen!!! Zou een 4 tal uren duren. Zou echt fantastisch zijn! Ik hoop dat het lukt. Duimen jullie mee?

Ik zal de rustdag echt wel kunnen gebruiken. De laatste 6 dagen heb ik tussen de 2,5 en de 5 uur op de mat gestaan en... Ai ai ai, wat ben ik stijf. Ik heb het gevoel dat mijn spieren amper kunnen recupereren.

Daarnaast ben ik wel een beetje verrast door de spiritualiteit die hier zo sterk in het dagelijkse leven verweven zit. Ook in de yoga cursus gaat het er heel erg spiritueel aan toe. Heb er toch even aan moeten wennen. Gelukkig sta ik voor alles open en kan ik me vrij gemakkelijk aan deze situatie aanpassen. Voor elke les wordt er gebeden voor Patangali en... Het gaat om veel meer dan alleen maar asana en pranayama oefeningen (Ashtanga Yoga: Yama · Niyama · Asana · Pranayama · Pratyahara · Dharana · Dhyana · Samadhi). Ja ja, yoga is een religie en een filosofie. Ik kan er echt niet om heen... Onze leraar hecht er dan ook echt super veel belang aan. Elke dag opnieuw wordt het in onze hoofden gepompt. Maar geen nood, ik haal er alleen uit wat ik zelf belangrijk vind. En zo is het met elk geloof, weet je... Er zijn amper zaken waar je je niet in kan vinden, het lijkt allemaal logisch en het zet je aan het denken. Ik vind het echt wel boeiend en interessant.

Ik hou jullie op de hoogte lieverds...
And next time I'll be writing in English again!

Old Rajpur - Uttarakhand - India

2008-07-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-19T03:41:00.000-07:00

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!!