10 things we look forward to when we get home

The date is set for our return, a few days earlier than the original plan, but we decided to escape the heat. We will fly in to the UK on June 5th, and then on to Sweden on June 20th or so. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible soon. In the meantime, here are the top 10 things we are looking forward to...

1. Hugging family and friends.
2. Washing our clothes in a washing machine for the first time since January.

Lisa and the glamourous washing bucket

3. Seeing what my hair looks like blow dried (Lisa). Getting a haircut (Erik).
4. Enjoying a good glass of wine and a decent piece of cheese.
5. Showing off our new Indian cooking skills.
6. Probably showing off our favourite yoga asana pose.
7. Seeing if we still like beef.

Seasoning our steak - Indian style

8. No longer wearing ear plugs in the street.
9. Celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary.

Still smiling after all this time together

10.Watching England vs Sweden in the Soccer European Cup. And then basking in England's glory as they go on to beat France, Germany and finally Netherlands in the final!!!! Just testing who is really reading this posting and who reacts! You know who you are.

pAARTI in Haridwar

No... It's not what you think. No partying for us...

Haridwar is an incredibly holy city (no meat and no alcohol allowed) where pilgrims from all over India come to bathe in the Holy Ganges, and take part in the evening Ganga Aarti. This is a daily religious ceremony where priests perform a "puja" to the gods. After cleansing themselves in the water and having a jolly good time of it (NB - you don't want to know whats in that river), the pilgrims join in the ceremony by floating candle-lit offerings to the gods on the river.

We went along to watch the event, but first spent the day meandering around the city's fascinating streets and markets. Virtually every blink of the eye is a colourful "Kodak moment" in Haridwar, so we will let Erik's pictures tell the story.

Great bazaars

Getting one's head shaved is part of the cleansing

A lady being helped in her cleansing

The crowds start to gather around the temples

The deity graveyard

More cleansing - looks more like fun

Colourful saris by the thousands

Almost sunset - time for the ceremony to start

Hot and cold

Here in Rishikesh temperatures are hitting over 40 degrees on a daily basis. We had no air-conditioning where we lived in the White House up the Hill. Our room never got below 32 degrees even at night (that's almost 100 for those who do Fahrenheit) and we were starting to suffer. Imagine this, even the toilet seat was constantly warm, it reminded me of one of those groovy Japanese heated toilets. With the threat of 45/46 degrees this week, we decided to move to an air conditioned place. 

So here we are, enjoying our new cool room, and thinking back to the last time we actually felt cold. It was during our last (and highest) trip to the mountains. Chandrashila Top peaks just short of 4000 metres and promises 360 degrees views of the Himalayas. With attempts to see serious white tipped mountain ranges so far thwarted by clouds, we had to give it a go one more time. 

The 6 hour journey to the starting point was in itself an adventure. The road clung to steep mountain sides that followed the river Ganges north. In between the white-knuckle bends and climbs, we were entertained by stunning vistas, scenic toilet stops...

a collapsed bridge...

 villages chiselled into hillsides, colourful market towns of holy significance,

... and the sound of Nepalese tunes chosen by our Nepalese driver. (And a very competent driver too - hooray for Muni on those roads).

Our hotel was at 2500 metres, and we were already cold at that height the night before starting the hike up. We slept in several layers of clothes under several blankets, and I have to say, I'd chose that any day over the heat of Rishikesh.

The walk to the top was very steep, but pretty easy given that it was paved all the way until the temple.  Along the way we passed fields of rhododendron bushes... 

 met locals taking a more leisurely mode of transport...

 and saw scores of Himalayan Griffons (a kind of vulture apparently) soaring over head.

 I'm sure they could sense that I was starting to feel some signs of altitude fatigue at about 3200 metres (racing breath, funny head, spots in my eyes) and were just waiting for me to drop to my knees.

As we passed the small town surrounding the temple at 3200 metres, there was increasing amounts of snow! From 40 degrees to snow covered mountains overnight.

On we climbed, but stopped to make chai (spicy Indian tea) and porridge to warm ourselves up, and let me  catch my breath.  At about 3800 metres I told Erik to go ahead. The altitude was definitely having an effect on me. So up he climbed, but was back in minutes. "You are almost there," he panted. And since I felt better after the rest, I picked myself up and made it to the top. And was so glad I did.

 The reward was awe-inspiring and humbling views of the great Himalayas.

There's nothing like the mountains to remind you how small you are, and there are no mountains like the Himalayas. We stayed up there for well over an hour, snapping photos, drinking more tea, and taking it all in. Then the clouds stared to come in and we headed down.

We were up before dawn the next day, scarcely wanting to come out from beneath our 17 layers of clothes and bedding. (This is what we have to look forward to in Sweden, we reminded ourselves.) But we were soon cheered by the clear blue skies and crisp mountain air. Perfect conditions for the day's shorter, but still super-steep walk. 

We were heading to Deodrital, a mountain lake which features in the Mahabharata, one of India's ancient scriptures.  The lake itself was smaller than we were expecting, but wow, the views were spectacular! Real majestic, powerful, snowy mountain peaks stretching wider and higher than the eye could see. Finally... this is what we'd hoped for since we came up North 7 weeks ago.

We stopped to make breakfast (this time Indian dal) and chai, and just soaked in the views for an hour. 

Then it was time to trek back down for the long winding journey back to the heat of Rishikesh.

We were met at our car not only by super-driver Muni, but also this group of children who clearly thought we were the most fascinating creatures they'd ever seen. I had to get a picture of them... They all lined themselves up so nicely. I'd never get a bunch of Western kids to do that.

Yoga asana

Our Friday ashtanga yoga class

Can you spot Erik in class?

Our daily yoga asana practice is what gives structure to our day. We rise every day apart from Saturdays and Moon Days at 5am (an improvement on 3.30am in Mysore) to start our practice at 6am.  As the sun starts to show itself, we are usually ready to welcome it with sun salutations.

Getting straighter and higher

In the full system of ashtanga (meaning 8 limbs) yoga, the purpose of the asana "limb" is to prepare the body to be able to sit and meditate for long periods. For me, this preparation brings together so many of the other elements of yoga: correct breathing to get the energy flows going around the body; a meditative state to still the mind and focus on the practice; being physically kind to yourself so that you get enough rest, the right food and liquids to commit to the daily routine of two hours' asana practice; being kind to yourself mentally so you don't punish yourself for not getting into those poses sooner, nor injure yourself trying to do so, nor compare yourself with anybody else in the room (I am guilty of all these)... Patience, humility, perseverance and acceptance are all developed.

So, how is it going for us? We've taken some pictures to show you. I am wearing long trousers since we are out on our balcony, and women are not to show body parts in India, and Erik is bare-chested in the traditional Mysore yoga practice style.

We came to India with a mission to be able to complete the First Primary Series of ashtanga yoga - the first sequence of postures if you like. But, though the mind is willing, the body isn't quite so. We soon realised that more than 20 adult years (each) of bad posture and other varied abuse could not be whisked away in the blink of a BA flight to the "sub-continent."

But there is always progress, albeit slow and steady. Now after almost 4 months, hips are opening, quadriceps are lengthening, shoulders are rotating and backs are twisting more than before.

Can't remember what this is called, but be impressed at Erik!

Erik's backbends look like bridges now rather than tables (mine are still tables).

Erik's improving backbends

 We have conquered the dreaded Marichasana B (somewhat of a pretzel posture) - see here...

I can now get into and stay a few seconds in a full lotus pose

Jimmy the dog totally stealing my lotus

We both stand on heads (our own) for the full count of 20 slow breaths then hold our legs half way down (or close enough) for a few counts...

Twice a week, in the evenings, our instructor also leads us through a yin yoga class. In this, in contrast to the faster pace of ashtanga asana, we hold a smaller number of poses for up to 7 minutes and breath long and slow while so doing. This apparently is a way to lengthen the deeper connective muscle tissue by "letting go" and "relaxing" in the pose, rather than dynamically engaging the muscles.

I can now "bind" (grab toe from behind my back)

Yin is certainly making a big difference to our practice, but it feels a lot like yang still, and nothing like relaxing for we tight-muscled ones. Try a posture with me now... Kneel on the floor, then keeping your feet under you, lean backwards until you're lying with your back flat on the floor. (Apparently it's OK if your knees raise or separate). Then hooooooooold for 7 minutes. Oh, and don't forget to breath, and release the muscles around the ribs... only use the minimum energy needed.... Are you broken yet? Is the sweat running back up your face and into your nostrils in the 40 degree heat? It's good for you I promise.

Now, as you were.

We are super happy with how things are going, and progress comes in so many ways, fuller breaths, greater focus, more energy and vitality. But, with over 40 years of anatomical misalignments between us, don't expect any fakir shows when we come home. We remain beginners in the long journey of yoga.

Mussoorie

Mist over Mussoorie

We headed off to the town of Mussoorie recently. Sitting on a plateau at 2000 metres altitude, Mussoorie was a hill station established by the British in 1823 when India was under British rule, as a place to escape the heat of the valley. So I was merely following in the steps of my forefathers I guess.

Gandhi Chauwk - Mussoorie

Nowadays it's a bustling, commercial holiday town whose cool temperatures attracts the middle class from around Uttarakhand and Delhi. It has decent restaurants, decent shops, decent hotels with rooms that can't fail to provide stunning views.

Our hotel

It has the bonus of being somewhat vehicle free along it's main shopping street, there are some lovely hill walks, and i has the famous Lovely Omelette Centre which we can confirm makes the loveliest omelettes in India. So all in all it makes for a very pleasant short trip.

Lisa having a lovely omelette

However, only India could provide a cable car which zips you up to the top of a peak to see fine views of the Himalaya.... And then block the views with the most awful 70-style fairground stalls. We had to clamber behind the hoopla, "shoot he duck" and wear-a-silly-wedding outfit huts and teeter on the rocks next to the public toilets to actually get the view. Weird! (And it was flippin' cloudy again. No white peaks yet! Those Himalayas just keep on eluding us).

Behind the fairground

The no-view fairground

Mother Nature treated us to a spectacular thunder and lightning show in the evening. But like good Scandinavians, we were prepared with our rain jackets and fleece jumpers, and happily ventured out into the cool 12 degrees' evening for a Tibetan/Thai dinner. Momos are so my new gyoza!

By the way, we also found the very British looking Tavern pub, and fell off the wagon (4 weeks without alcohol ) with a shared bottle of beer in honour of my Dad's birthday. We felt a little giggly after a shared beer - what wimps. Treat us kindly when we come home!!!

The temple up the hill

If you go down the hill from our house, you get to the noisy, congested, honking part of Rishikesh called Laxman Jhula. If you go uphill however, keep walking, and walking, and walking... In fact walk steeply uphill for 7km and you will get to the highest peak over Rishikesh and the peaceful little temple called Kanja Puri.

That's what we did a few weeks ago to get some good heart-rate training in. The ascent from our house goes from 300 or so metres to 2000 metres and our landlord told us it would take at least 4 hours. We thumped our chests and were convinced we'd do it in less, so planned for a half day trek. However, India's trekking trails are not well sign-posted so we took wrong turns a few times. And we stopped for chai (spiced tea) and a sandwich along the way, so it did indeed take us 4 hours up.

The last part took us through the most impressive mountain village, in a mini-valley of its own, where fields were unexpectedly being farmed for something that looked like wheat. Since we'd taken another wrong turn, we got up-close and personal with people doing their laundry in their back yards!







A fair bit of sweating later (by then it was 11am and over 30 degrees) and we reached Kunja Puri temple at the top. We spent a while admiring the lovely views of Rishikesh and Haridwar in the valley, and imagining what the Himalayan peaks would look like if only the clouds cleared. Erik took the obligatory monkey pictures, then we rang the temple bell as we set off down the mountain.

Joy of joys (not)... the path was mainly loose shingle and the gradient was very steep. So the journey down took as long as the journey up as we balanced and slipped down, and we got home 8 hours later exhausted. It was all we could do to make dinner, eat some chocolate and collapse into bed early that night.

There is something special about walking in the mountains though. Along with yoga and cross-country skiing it definitely makes the top of our list of favourite pastimes.

What about the yoga?

After reading our blog recently a friend asked, "So are you still doing yoga in India or are you guys just travelling now?" We are most certainly practicing and studying yoga - every day. But I realise that recent postings have focused on travel which may have been misleading. So, my next few postings are dedicated to yoga, the reason we came to India 3 months ago.

There is so much to write about yoga, and it is a deeply personal experience - which is probably why I have tended to write about other things. But here goes, without getting too deep or personal! 

To many people, especially we westerners, yoga means getting yourself into strange postures and/or breathing deeply. In the West, yoga has largely become synonymous with physical exercise. That is certainly how Erik and I first came to yoga at World Class Fitness gym in Stockholm 3years or so. And yes, just that aspect has brought us great physical benefits. As a result of this "body" focus, all kinds of "physical yogas types" have sprung up - power yoga, vinyasa flow, bikram, and two from New York that made us smile... "rock your chakras" and "extreme Buddha!"

However, yoga is in fact one of the 6 orthodox philosophies of India with a far greater ambition than body strength and flexibility. It is described as a system, or a set of practices, to realise the true self as other than the body, mind and senses. In this broader view, the physical posture practice (or asana as it's called) is only one of the practices to  master.

There are 8 parts, or limbs, to yoga that should be mastered in this sequence.

1. Yama - abstentions, moral restraints - how you should relate to others 
2. Niyama - ethical observances - how you cultivate your own lifestyle 
3. Asana - posture - preparing the body to sit in long periods of meditation 
4. Pranayama - breath control - fixing the mind on breath control 
5. Pratyahara - sense withdrawal - removing all engagement with sense objects 
6. Dharana - concentration 
7. Dhyana - meditation 
8. Samadhi - full meditative absorption - realization, or enlightenment 

You can see that doing yoga postures is only one part of the bigger picture. Are Erik and I following the whole system? No, nowhere near. And we don't know if we ever will. However we are trying to learn more about it.

Over the last couple of years, we have become more interested in Eastern philosophies, how they might be relevant to us and which aspects we might integrate into our lives. So we've been studying the ancient Indian scriptures, reading modern interpretations of those scriptures that are popular in the west, testing some of the theories and practices and seeing what effects they have.

Just to be clear, we're not on some hippy trip, nor are we trying to "find ourselves." Rather we are opening ourselves to learning new things and doing some things differently. We are sure to change our views the more we learn. But hey, it's a journey. I'll stop there on the personal stuff, but I wanted to make the point that what we are doing here in India is lots of yoga, but it's much more than learning how to contort our middle-aged bodies into pretzel shapes!  

But we do think it would be cool to do that!!!