I've been spending most my days in Varanasi wondering along the ghats or getting lost for hours in the
endless alleyways with some of the most random little shops selling anything from bhang cookies to stuffed animals. The night scene in Varanasi was a little disappointing at first when compared to the more tourist places I've been to, but with the help of the three gals from Australia that are also staying at the hostel there is never a dull moment!
On a
less positive note, last night/early this morning I got
violently ill for the first time in India. I'm not sure if it was simply the food I ate or something else but I spent from 1-4am bent over the toilet while attempting not to wake up the rest of the hotel with horrid noises. I'm not going to go into any details as I don't want to make anyone sick but lets just say it wasn't a pleasant site (even by Indian standards).
Still feeling ill today, I've decided to take it easy and try not to venture too far from a
decent bathroom (which are far and few between in India). Maybe I'll go watch a Hindi film later today, another Bollywood or possibly a Hindi dubbed Hollywood movie.
Most random moment of the day: Eating with
Tibetan monks at a
McDonalds in Varanasi. I love how monks from Nepal and Tibet always seem to know a decent amount of English as they have provided some of the most interesting conversations during my travels!
4 comments:
Hope you feel better soon, Simon!
doing HW at Mystic Java just isn't the same without you.
Hahah, "decent" bathrooms! I feel you on that one :)
Hey Simon,
Was your stay at the Ashram free or did you have to pay or work (like do chores to cover your room and board)?
Also, were there lots of other North Americans/Europeans there?
Thanks Anne. I'm actually looking forward to the up coming nights at Mystic Java crunching some accounting coursework with you next semester! haha
For the ashram it cost 500rs/day($11) and that included all the classes, food, and accommodation. We were also assigned 'karma yoga duties' (aka chores) to help us reduce our karma for our next life :) (But it was also to create a feeling of community and the entire ashram is ran on a volunteer basis so I didn't mind helping out.)
The number of foreigners at the ashram as quite surprising. I found out that not many Indian's actually practice yoga(per capita at least) and about 95% of the people there, other then the teachers, gurus, and traveling swamis, were foreigners. The language used for all classes and lectures as English.
Nifty little fact, the Sivanada Ashram's actually started back home in Quebec, Canada after Sivanada sent his pupil Vishnudevananda to the west to show us their teachings of yoga.
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