Yogi-ville in the mountains, big baller, new friends, touching home base, friends in the south

Rishikesh is known as the place in India for Yoga; at least from a backpackers perspective. There are so many babas here. Above is what I mean when I say a baba. This guy was always outside the door where I stayed; he was the happiest I saw, always with a big smile. What a better setting than in the mountains right along the rushing waters of the Ganges River.
While here I got busy with work, meeting with people at Ashrams, Guesthouses, Hotels, resorts, and learning the area. Being up in the mountains there are a lot of places that cover a large amount of distance so it wasn't possible to see the places I wanted by foot. Hiring a taxi for the day would have cost too much, so I talked to locals and asked if someone wanted to take me around on their motorbike. Sure enough, I found someone who I hired for about 7 hours to drive through the mountains, with wonderful views, checking out the different hotels and such. It was much more enjoyable on the back of a bike than looking through a car window. I don't know how so many people do these tourist buses around the countries; it is like watching through a TV. You have to be part of the place, smell the smells, be right up close where the action which a tourist bus doesn't allow.


One place that I went to check out was "Ananda- a health spa resort". To get here we had to drive 18 km straight up the mountain to arrive at this 5 star resort that sits on 100 acres and was an old palace. They have spa packages here for 21 days that start at about $18,000. A basic room for a night; which isn't so basic, is $560. After doing a walk through here I decided this night that I would write to the corporate office requesting they give me a complimentary night; what did I have to lose. Somewhat to my surprise they agreed and said that they would compliment me 1 night only for the room. What this meant was if I wanted massages, or special therapy sessions or meals that I would pay out of my pocket. I packed my bag with water, fruit and cookies to last me my 24 hours at the Ananda. When I checked they showed me the wardrobe that everyone wears which is a white loose pants and a white comfortable top. This is to go with the whole relaxation, therapy feel.

Everything about this place was beautiful with top of the line service and an atmosphere unlike the rest of India I knew. There were about 6-7 workers for every guest. After checking in I went down to the main spa area and alternated from hot to cold small pools where you walk on rocks and it imitates acupunture. From here I went into the steam room, followed by a cold tub dunk. My body was already more relaxed than it had been since arriving in India. Afterwards I went to the gym where I trainer did a exercise on the big rubber ball class, followed by an abs class. Later I went to a lecture by a ayurvedic doctor to learn a little more about this and then had a complete tour of the whole spa facility with all the specific massage rooms. I headed back to my room, turned on my ipod, filled the large tub that overlooked the scenic valley, lit some candles in the bathroom and spent the last of my energy thinking how I went from a $4 room to a $660 room.

I fell asleep in the most comfortable bed by 8:30 only to wake up at 6:00 with the sun rising outside my window with an undescribable view of the mountains. I woke up slow and walked to the main building for my morning yoga class. After yoga I went back to the gym where I went to a stretching class. As I was the only guest that showed, the trainer helped to stretch me while doing a sort of Thai Massage in the process. I went down to the spa one last time before my 24 hours of bliss was over. I checked out at the latest time possible and went to the main gate to meet my driver on a bike (I think I was the only visitor in the history of the Ananda to be dropped off and picked up on a motorbike by a guy who spoke no english).

I then took a public bus to Haridwar where I caught the evening ceremony where people light hundreds of little baskets filled with flowers and float them down the river. (At times of the year the number of baskets is thousands and once every 12 years it is literally millions of visitors a day that do this-2010 is the next time this happens.)

I headed back to Delhi where I met friends of friends who happened to be in the India tourist industry. I stayed at there apt and we spent all the day and night talking and getting to know each other before I headed out early the next morning on a train to head back to my family in Jaipur for a short stay before my flight to the south of the country.

I could either have taken a train to the south which would have taken 3 days or a 5 hour plane ride. I decided to splurge and go by air. I arrived in Bangalore, where I have been staying with good friends that I met a couple of years ago in Egypt and then stayed with in India, Kiran and Vibha. After my time in the north where I didn't eat meat and only had a drink one day, now I was in the south where I have eaten meat with every meal almost and I went out with Kiran, Vibha and their group of crazy friends for a wild night that took us until 4am and lead to a day of rest and recovery. After finally coming alive that next night and looking forward to a good night sleep, the clock turned midnight and it was time to sing happy birthday to Kiran. Followed by singing the doorbell ring and friends who decided to surprise him stopped over with a full meal, cake, bottles of liquor and other people. As I passed on drinking, this night continued to go on until 5:30am.


I am now caught up on sleep, emails, blogs, and the 3 days of terrorist action in Mumbai has come to an end. I have a bus to my next destination tomorrow at what lies ahead we will see.

When I arrived at the airport to fly south I read on the screen: "Explosives, weapons, and liquids over a certain amount are not allowed in Carry On bags" -does anyone else see the problem with this?

End of Manoj era, india healthcare, on the move again

It is so hard to not only find the time to write a blog, but what is even more time is being in the right mind set with the right amount of energy. Too much energy and it's hard to sit still. Not enough energy and the writing will turn out blah. So here I am, long overdue.
It seems a long time ago that I left Orcha and headed with Manoj to Agra (Manoj had never seen the Taj) I didn't go see it with him since I've seen it and they charge foreigners almost 40 times what they charge locals. I did however get to stay in a wonderful homestay that I didn't have to pay for. The people who ran this place were so confident in it that they wanted me to experience it first hand as opposed to just a walk through-it was great and is somewhere I would have my clients stay!! I also had a chance to meet with some other guests staying there who were extremely nice and made the stay even that much better.

We arrived home the next day where the family was happy to see us and Manoj spent hours telling the stories and how different it is traveling with a foreigner. The following day I didn't want to leave the village, I really wanted to do nothing. However, since I was heading to the mountains I went into the city to find a thick sweatshirt. Finding a sweatshirt my size in an Indian market is like finding an Indian that really wants me to only look in their shop and not buy anything. (It doesn't exist) At the shops, many would wait until I made my request and then tell me they don't have my size, while others would see me approaching and tell me the don't have my size (it didn't matter what I wanted). I headed back to the village without my extra thick sweatshirt. Coincidentally, I woke up in a sweat and felt completely awful which lead to my village hospital visit the next morning.
Once I was cleared of Dengue fever and Malaria, they gave me a shot in my butt (first one of my life here) for the joint aches. Then, the nurse rubbed a cold pack over my stomach and chest to bring down my temperature. They filled me with hydration fluid while Ganeesh (my indian brother) rubbed my head as if I was 2 years old and told me I don't listen to him when he tells me to take care of myself and this is why this happened. 3 hours in the hospital with prescriptions cost me around $14; a tad different than the bill would have been in the US.

The next few days were for recovery. Also, I went to the bathroom every hour or so. Having this problem in India reminds me mostly of soccer conditioning. Squatting so often that my legs are sore. Sweating like I've been working my body hard and when it's over each time I am absolutely wiped out. Unlike hoping for thunderstorms during soccer conditioning, all I could do was wait it out. As my stomach continued to hurt for a couple of days, the family had a village stomach guy come over. He layed me on my back, put his thumb in my belly button and pushed my stomach muscles around. As one point he pressed hard on my foot, then raised my knees and bent my leg, and after a few minutes asked me if I was alright. Not speaking Hindi, I just said "I feel the same". He not understanding english took this as something good and left on his way. He learned what he knows from his father who learned from his and so on. Apparently, many villages have this person.
I spent the next couple of days on the couch switching back and forth between 3 english movie channels. India gets our worse movies we ever have made. Most, I have never heard of. Most, as I get into it, the power in the house cuts anyway. Power cuts are common everday to India. Most of the time when this happened I found myself somewhat relieved that I couldn't watch the rest of the movie and then drifted off to sleep. I cut back on eating heavy-ish foods and ate mostly rice.

After a few days I decided to get going and went into Jaipur to meet another friend Balveer. The meeting place was McDonalds. Now, I haven't eaten Mcd's in almost 4-5 years. I don't like the idea of them. This day was different. I craved french fries and a coke. This McD's I loved. It may have been the food, it may have been a taste of home surrounded by white people, it may have been that I got to go and sit on Ronalds throne. I think when I went into the bathroom and got comfortable, this is when every male in the restaurant decided that they too needed to use the bathroom. I heard the lock tested many times and for those who weren't sure in their ability to open doors gave a yell to see if someone was really in there.

I left that night on another train ride with Balveer and his parents to his village. We had general class tickets. This means that when the train stops you get your ass in there and get a seat or you will be standing. It is a fight at the door with pushing, shoving and sometimes punching. As the train neared I saw the mass of people pile up to the door when I then saw out of the corner of my eye Balveer jump through a window after throwing his bag through. I then handed him the other bags and we had our seats secured.

It was a nice, relaxing stay at Balveers house with his family.

Side Notes:
1. Manoj and I found another double banana.
2. I got my hair cut in the village on my day of rest. At home I find it difficult to explain to a barber how I want my hair cut. Not speaking the language and using my hands I find it doesn't differ too much, it always comes out fine, but not what I had in mind.
3. Lots of people in public transportation put their hands on my knee, always guys. I don't know why and usually I don't bother doing anything as it's usually crowded and I'm too tired to deal with it. I think this might be the lighter feel of prison where someone claims you and then everyone thinks you are with them.
4. I am attempting to find places to practice yoga for people I send to India. What westerners think of Yoga is in general what Indians think of as normal everyday life. Positions that would take me years to be able to do, everyone from little kids to grandparents do it. It is their normal ways while eating, walking, sitting, and even going to the toilet. Being calm is necessary here just for public transportation: everyone just sort of meditates while on a busy bus or train.

This photo was from Manoj and I arrived back to Jaipur and it was the start of wedding season so they were preparing all the flowers to sell in the markets. I think it's funny "wedding season"
It makes me think of hunting season where they take people out and then they are married.


With that, the toilet is calling and I have had a full day of looking at hotels.
Thanks for being patient with me, and next time you are stuck in traffic, think of me between five people on a bumpy, dirty bus with at least one hand on my knee and just calm down.

Wildlife, wild temples, wild bus rides make for tired Steve

Hmmmm. First off-- Happy Birthday to my brother Mark.
After Varanasi we our goal was to get to Bandhavgarn National Park. We took an overnight train ride to Katni where we thought we had about an hour bus ride. The public bus turned out to take over 5 hours with many stops and with many people and goods on board. Before we move ahead, I met a man and his wife on the train who were very friendly and he kept asking me if he comes to get America if I can get him a visa. I explained to him that I am powerless and he has to get his own visa. By the fourth time he asked me the same question I just said that if I was able to get someone a visa, it definately wouldn't be him (I figured it didn't matter what I said because he clearly wasn't listening to me). As the sun came up when we awoke on the train I saw him smiling and looking at me. He pointed to the sun and said how beautiful it was. He told me that the sun rises in the east, and I wish I was kidding, but I'm not; he asked me if it rises in the east in America too; poor chap.

After our painfully long bus ride we arrived to a little one street town of Tala where we got a room and then went in search of white people. For the national park there is a steep fee for foreigners in a jeep as opposed to Indian tourists, so if I were to to share a jeep with Indians I would pay about 6 times more than they taking on the majority of the cost. However, after a couple of hours of walking back and forth I was unable to find any sun burned faces. I was saddened and went back to the room with Manoj. We put on some music and started reading when there was a knock at our door...white people. They wanted to share a ride out of this place the next day which we also wanted to do. So with a little luck we had a shared ride to our next destination; at least something. They left, I sat down and five minutes later there was a knock on the door. More white people. They were in search of someone to share the safari with the following morning; perfect. This is how small this town is. They went a step further than I had and asked a couple people if they knew where a foreigner was. Apparently people watch me and where I go.



The next morning we were up early on our way to the national park in hopes of spotting a tiger. Soon after we entered the park our driver pointed out footprints in the sand. All I could think was that it was suspicious and I could imagine someone walking in the morning with a foot on a stick pushing footprints in the sand (I still half think this is what they do). This was the closest we came to a tiger. It was a scenic safari trip none the less and a good change of pace.



Soon after we were off on our shared ride to Satna, more or less a stopping point. We ate some good food, got a good night sleep and had some good chats with our fellow passengers.

The next morning we left for Khajaraho, famous for it's erotic temples built over 1,000 years ago. If not for these temples there wouldn't be one visitor here. They push sales like I haven't seen, but we got a place off the main road where it was a bit quieter. We found Hariom, a 12 year old boy who claims to be 15. (again, many have no knowledge of their age, it is as trivial as what they ate 2 weeks previous) He had learned english only from talking with tourists. He was happy and very clever. I hired some bikes, sat him on the back of mine and we were off to visit half of the group of temples for the first evening.

The following morning Manoj and I went to see the more famous of the temples; the western temples. Some beautiful carvings with many of them being Kama Sutra poses. They were as horny a bunch back in the day as ever.
On this one temple there are hundreds of elephants looking straight ahead like you see on the left. However, there is this one elephant looking to the side, his face obviously laughing while looking at the two next to it enjoying themselves.



Our next destination was Orcha/Jhansi. We were told that the bus ride would take at most 4.5 hours. This story is why http://www.onelovetours.net/ will work out well. I am traveling for 6 months so I have days that I can waste, sort of. For those people who come for 2-3 weeks and try to do public transportation, without a doubt they will lose at least 1 day a week dealing with it or having something happen in the middle of it.
After arguing about the high ticket cost for being a foreigner, we agreed on a price, his big selling point that it is a luxury deluxe bus. I have to say that since I was only medium crammed in, it was a luxury bus. After about a half hour drive we heard a loud noice which sounded very unnatural. For some reason this didn't bother anyone except me. Less than 10 minutes later we were on the side of the road with a flat tire.

They told us it would take half an hour to fix which meant at least half the day. After almost two hours they put us in another passing bus which definately wasn't deluxe luxury. We did get a seat on this bus that had about 45 seats but ended up carrying about 85 people. It turned into about an 8 hour ride since for some reason we would stop every hour and a half for 30 minutes.

I am complaining a little, but while it happens for some reason, it doesn't bother me that much. It isn't that a flat tire happened, it isn't that they say the wrong times, or people don't care about personal space. It can only be classified as "India happened". This is why I am starting the travel company for travel in India, to eliminate all of these things that would drive people crazy or waste half of a trip away. They sometimes make for good stories though.
We arrived in Orcha which is a bit like an island between two rivers. It is very small with the main attraction being old forts/palaces that were built about 600 years ago and untouched since. They really are incredible. Beautiful buildings that sit high above the city with views of the rivers, the palace walls and the city below. We hired a guide to tell us the history of it and spent a good part of today exploring this place. There is a small part of the for that was turned into a hotel. We went an checked out the rooms (8 all together) and they were really clean and in a unique setting. These are the kinds of places that I am shooting for to make as part of my tour. There are tons of basic hotels, but to be able to stay in the fort, part of history, is something special.


I have been helping Manoj with english and he has been helping me with Hindi. For some reason he thinks that my pronunciation is really funny, I think I'm his first student.
Instead of always saying "I go toilet" I explained to him that I say "I have to go pee" or "I have to take a shit"
Then when we were walking I told him not to step in the cow shit. He was thrown off that this is also called "shit"
He said "For us it's shit"
Me: "Yes"
"For cows it's shit"
Me: "Yes"
and for dogs?
Me: "shit"
Me: "when it comes out of that place from any animal, it is shit"
Manoj: (hysterically laughing)

At least we are covering the basics.

Diwali, Varansi, all with Manoj

One of the big activities that I organized at the home was for all the women to take a night off from cooking and allow me and some of the younger boys to cook dinner for everyone. This was the first time I cooked for around 20 people. I made a big stir fry and threw some pineapple in which threw everyone off; they couldn't believe it, but it went over well. Also, the women were very happy to have a night off and it ended up being a lot of fun.

I ended up staying for the festival of Diwali and postponing to leave for travels and meetings until after.

I arranged a morning family game of cricket on Diwali so that I could learn the rules and also so that some of the family members who worked too much and hadn't gotten a chance to play in some time got to have some fun. It ended up being a tie. I ended up throwing my shoulder out (I continue to remember I'm getting older), and the others who hadn't played in some time were also quite sore after. It is much better to play than to watch, more so than other sports.

The rest of the day consisted of painting and decorating inside the home and then in the evening dressing up, listening to fireworks all night and walking around to all the other houses to pay respect and say "Happy Diwali" and "Ram Ram"-a greeting. In the end, the fireworks made the family buffalo take a big shit and then run away only to be found the next day.

The following day I was settled into India and ready to head off on the road. With me, I brought Manoj, one of the family members. Manoj is 15 or 16, it is unknown. I have learned that in India at some point in school they make a school ID and ask someone in the family the age of the child, often being a father, uncle or grandparent, who says an approximate age. This age they write down is forever ingrained on their record, even if they get a passport, it gets transferred on. Anyways, it has been good fun having Manoj, feeling like he is a younger brother I have come up with many nicknames for him along the way (he asked me not to write them in case his family ends up reading this.

We headed off the day after Diwali on a 20-some hour train ride to Varanasi. Now it is somewhat known that there is lots of bribery and cheating of foreigners in India. I have learned that there are also some advantages to being of a lighter color. Like if I want to go and sit in the lobby of an expensive hotel, nobody will question me. Also, since we bought cheap tickets on the train and I saw that it was completely full I told Manoj to follow me into the nicer, cushier train car that costs much more. Seeing me, they let us in and asked nothing, whereas if it was a common Indian, they would double check his ticket. Through the night ticket agents came and after seeing I had the wrong ticket they informed me and I played the unaware tourist for the amount of time to have them move on and leave us there.

On arrival in Varanasi we found a wonderful guesthouse where we chatted a bit with the family and Monu, the son ended up taking us for a walk around the city, explaining things and introducing us to the local foods; yummy.

Varanasi is quite a holy place where people come from around the world to study Hinduism, practice yoga and meditation and bathe in the Ganges River. Also, loads of wood are continually brought in so that bodies can be burned along the river. This is highly desired by many people and so bodies are burned around the clock as the ashes are dumped into the river. Manoj and I woke one morning at 4:30 to take a boat ride in the river, watching the sun rise as people bathed in the holy waters; this was quite a scene.

We also made a visit to the local university which is one of the largest in the country. What struck me first about this place was how clean it was compared to the rest of India that I had scene, all trees, plants, and grass, with little garbage scattered about.

We bought some bananas and saw for the first time in either of our lives, a double banana inside one big peel. After many takes this is one of the best photos of it. It took a lot of takes because for some reason I found it very funny and was laughing too hard that the photos kept looking fuzzy.

"It is like a family banana" - Monu