Everyone knows travel in India is slow. You expect things to be delayed. So when we decided to head to the Himalayas to stay at a commune 4-5 hours from Rishikesh, we expected 5-6 hours. We didn't expect 7.5 hours!!! 

And the crazy thing is, we didn't even encounter any delays!! It simply takes 7.5 hours to drive 80 km.. 

It took 3 hours to get to the city of New Tehri. From there we could even see our destination - a tiny village called Pratap Nagar, high up (3300m) on the mountains, on the other side of the dam. 

Awesome! We are nearly there we thought! We just have to drive over the dam we thought....

No... We had to drive AROUND the dam..  

Did I mention how BIG the dam is??

All of the roads are switch-back hairpin turns going up and around and down and around and up again. It took forever...

The scenery was mind-blowingly beautiful though! And so humbling to see farm land carved out of every surface no matter how steep the gradient. Women and children would just appear out of nowhere to jump on the bus, or disembark somewhere with no visible buildings around. It was just amazing. 

And when we finally arrived, 7.5 bum-numbing hours later, we were met with an amazing view. something we were not expecting at all, and suddenly, it was all worth it!

Wow... Maybe we will stay awhile...

Yesterday we had the amazing privilege of meeting the Dalai Lama. Although we were planning to visit his residence her in Dharamsala, we certainly were not expecting to be able to participate in one of his audiences.

After registering the day beforehand, we lined up at 7am for an hour or so to enter, and then waited some more. At about 9am we were organized into country groups and told we would be photographed with H.H. The Dalai Lama. Awesome!

And then he came in, and was not only photographed with everyone but chatted and joked and shook hands etc. Such a humble, friendly soul.

When it was our turn I was overwhelmed that he came straight to Gypsy! He shook all of our hands and then held Gypsy's hand for the photo.

After the photo Gypsy put her hands together in namaste (without being asked to) and he saw and reached out and blessed her!

And to top it off, he told Roh he looked like a Sadhu and gave him a thumbs up.

It was so powerful meeting him. We were just so overwhelmed I actually cried.

After the photos he gave a talk on happiness and the importance of living simply.

Regardless of your beliefs, he is such a knowledgable and calm, peaceful person. His energy is amazing and just makes you smile.

And here we are, featured in the article from yesterday's audience!

http://dalailama.com/news/post/1132-public-audience-for-foreigners-in-dharamsala

We came to Rishikesh to do yoga. And although there is lots of yoga to do, we left, feeling pretty disappointed and bored.

It felt to us as though Rishikesh is all about making money from yoga. "Spirituality for sale" I like to call it... Almost everywhere puts their energy into a TTC (Teacher training course) but the drop-in classes are largely ignored. We did classes at 5 different places, and found that there were only beginner classes on offer. Almost every day the advanced or intermediate classes were cancelled, or simply weren't offered at all. Maybe it was because we were there at the start of the off season, but it seemed everywhere we enquired about advanced or intermediate classes tried to push us towards a TTC (which I already have).

It was also a strange place. We are firm believers in “When in Rome, do and wear as the Romans”. In Rishikesh it is common to see people wearing malas and bindis and looking all “yogic and spiritual” and then wearing tight fitting, short, revealing clothes. Everyday we saw nipples, penises, bum cracks… All in a country that covers up. It was just so contradictory. Sure, at a music festival it would have looked great! But in India.... It was just strange.

So, after more than enough mediocre yoga classes, and too many western meals, we decided to leave Rishikesh and continue our yoga practice on our own. Gypsy has started getting into yoga lately too which is simply, too adorable for words.
Time to head to the Himalayas for some reprieve from the heat!

Rishikesh is famous for different reasons to different groups of people. To Indians, it is a holy place where the Ganges emerges from the Himalayas. Every day, but especially on weekends, thousands of domestic tourists flock to Rishikesh to pay respect to, and to bath in the Ganges. River rafting is also popular now and raft after raft, full of Indian tourists float down the rapidly flowing river, occasionally with everybody jumping overboard for a quick blessing. It is also where they come to gain blessings from the many deities at the many temples and ashrams around the area.

To Yogis and Yoginis, Rishikesh is the mecca of all things Yoga. Especially Hatha yoga. There are so many Ashrams, and drop-in yoga classes, shop after shop selling yoga clothes and the type of cliché funky “indian” clothing worn to and from yoga class in the west. I can’t even count the number of places it is possible to do a TTC (Teacher training course)!. And then there are the chill-out cafes offering everything western and everything yogi.

For the non-yogi tourist, Rishikesh is famous as the place where the beatles stayed and wrote some of their most famous songs, including the entire "white album."

Just before you enter the Ashram is a little park with the most gentle monkeys I’ve ever seen. They literally take the food out of your hands one peanut at a time. But they don’t fight for the right to be fed by you. They patiently wait their turn. The epitomy of “Shanti” (peace). 

Although the ashram itself has since closed down, you can still visit the Ashram grounds today. We visited a lot of Ashrams in Rishikesh, but wow. The Maharishi Mahesh Ashram (or Beatles Ashram) as it is locally known, was another world. I can only imagine how peaceful and beautiful a place it must have been in it’s prime. 

I want one of these dome meditation rooms!!

On top of the main Ashram building you get an amazing view over all of Rishikesh.

Even the graffiti was tasteful and awe-inspiring!

It was a hot day, and quite a walk, but it was absolutely worth it. 

The guard told us next year they are going to start rebuilding it and turning part of it into luxury accommodation, and the other part into another Ashram. I just hope they are able to retain the wonderful feeling of peace and calm that it currently has.

Everybody knows India is hot. We also knew India would be hot. We were prepared for it! We are Australian after all! A little heat is fine.....
And then we arrived... And we learnt that 43C is something not to be sneezed at..
It is literally so hot that sneezing hurts your nose...
So! We decided to rent a scooter and visit a nearby waterfall for a bit of a reprieve from the Rishikesh heat.

The drive out of Rishikesh was just beautiful. It really is just such a picturesque place. The beautiful Ganges flowing through the foothills of the himalayas.... It doesn't get much more amazing.

The waterfall was pretty easy to find, and actually surprisingly easy to access. We were able to ride our scooter almost all the way to the top, and then walk the last 100 m or so. From the small swimming hole you can also continue up higher to the larger water hole.

The water in the waterfall was ICE cold. Almost too cold to swim in! It was freezing! But oh so so refreshing!! The perfect way to escape the crazy heat!! 
It was a nice place for a picnic aswell. And to people watch! Cute couples on dates all over the place. Sharing potato chips and taking selfies together...

It's the perfect place to relax and lower your body temperature. 
Until you have to leave and then literally 5 minutes later you are over-heating again... 
Welcome to India!

Road trip!

Our trip to India freakishly matched the dates one of our good friends was visiting aswell! So, as good friends do, we hitched a ride with them up to Rishikesh for a couple of days!

Travelling is ALWAYS fun, but it’s so amazing when you can rekindle with really great friends for a couple of days and explore somewhere new together!!

The drive was mostly uneventful. It was a real luxury to be in a car after 2 months in a tuktuk!! 
We did find the "flora" interesting though...

Yes, that is what it appears to be. Weed, growing as a weed by the side of the road. And not just in one small patch either, for kilometres on end!! 

Apparently even though it grows wild, it is still illegal to chop it down and sometimes policemen will hide in it waiting for someone to try to!?! Indian logic at it's best.. There is sooo much, they could make a lot of hemp clothing or rope etc if they wanted to!

OMG.. I want to buy everything. LITERALLY everything…

The clothes, the scarves, the statues, the bedspreads, hell I don’t even wear jewellery but I want it all!!

And that’s just in the main bazaar at Paharganj!! From what I’ve heard there are districts dedicated just to textiles here!! Uh Oh… I think we will be spending a small fortune here..

We can totally justify buying 5 different quilts and bedspreads right??

The only saving grace? Well the clothes they sell here, are directed to the foreign tourist market, and are not exactly appropriate for conservative India. So for now, I’ll save my rupees and instead dream of the entire new wardrobe I’ll shout myself before we leave!!

Oh, and it’s not just the tourists who shop here either. It’s sooo busy here! It’s a crazy mixture of tourists, locals, touts, beggars, dogs, cows and vehicles all trying to make the loudest sound as if the traffic in front of them will magically part if they succeed.  

Delhi is dusty, dirty, hot, stinky, sticky, architecturally diverse, ram-shackled and beautiful all rolled into one. 

Oh, and did I mention busy??