Delhi - training patience

One would expect that after having done a lot of Yoga and Meditation I should be able to face almost everything. Well, Delhi is a good place to test patience, resistance, and tolerance. I have never been in a place more crowded, polluted and loud so far, so every small task outside in the heat requires a big amount of will power in order to face the masses trying to communicate with you, mostly in order to make business. I am trying my best to keep friendly and relaxed but sometimes it becomes hard not to loose control and let the pour waiter pay for all the accumulated tension just because he was not able to bring a simple sandwich in one hour ;))) On the other hand this is the place to learn to take things and oneself less seriously and sometimes laugh even in the most annoying and surreal situations.
In the past days I discovered the Delhi Metro as the medium of transport which costs the least amount of nerves. No traffic jams, no honking, just huge crowds of people wanting to feel very close with one and other ;))) Together with a French friend I went to see Humayam´s tomb - the Taj Mahal was based on this building - and walked through Lodi garden …enjoy the pictures.

...if nothing important keeps me from doing so, I will write a closing entry making some kind of balance of the experiences made, things seen and conclusions drawn, so please bare with me for some more time even I am leaving this overwhelming country tonight. See you on the other side…


PS. I published the post about Amrizar 2 minutes ago, so keep reading and check out the photos, you will love them ;)

Amrizar - from gold to dust

As the end of this trip seems to be coming nearer in an accelerated manner I cut the time in front of the screen in order to inhale the some more breaths of the real India. Amrizar, the capital of Punjab certainly is a highlight of every Indian or visitor. The golden temple was found by the ethnical group called Sikhs, who are easy to recognize by there never cut hear and beards with their heads covered with different kinds of turbans according to their social and matrimonial status and not to forget their beautiful knifes hidden under their long, normally white shirts. Once more I got the feeling that I had entered the land of "1001 nights", observing majestic men and stunningly beautiful women walk along the lake surrounding the temple.
The Indians are demographically a very young people, so where ever you look you see babies and small children jumping around, playing, laughing and trying to get rid of their excess energy ;) It was breath taking with how much openness and friendliness the locals welcomed my travel maids and me. Many came to talk with with us with a sincerity and an interest which is hard to find. We ended up being photographed many times holding hands (in India this kind of physical contact forms part of the culture) with total strangers ;) With the perspective of my return home, I guess I will have to get used to the fact again, that in Europe it is not very popular among people if you look or smile at them openly without any apparent reason.
In golden temple more than 13000 people get fed per day for free by volunteer workers. Of course I wanted to experience this and was surprised to taste the best rice pudding, Dal Fry and Chapatis in a long time. Impressed by the friendliness and hospitality of the Sikhs towards what ever religion or ethnic group, I was tempted to stop cutting my hear and become one of them ;)))

Dharamsala - 10 day retreat

Yesterday ended the 10 day meditation-retreat and I am glad I can move freely again, communicate and have my own space. During the past 10 days all students followed a very tight and strict program starting at 4:30 am and lasting until 9:30 pm with short breaks for breakfast, lunch and a little rest. We spent about 10 hours a day sitting and meditating in a big hall learning different techniques while we lived the rest of the time in an monastery like environment in small huts or rooms for two or three persons. Basically the meditation-course was about purifying several levels of the mind by concentrating on the observation of one´s respiration or body-sensations. The fact, that according to the rules we were not allowed to communicate, read, write or do any other activity apart from meditating and satisfying our basic needs helped a lot to calm down the mind and improve it´s capacity of concentration. After a few days I managed to sit for one hour without moving at all, staying present, focusing on the changing sensations of my body. I don´t want to go much into detail here about what the meditation and what it is or is not because it is very difficult to explain something which is rather an experience than a theoretical concept, but I am happy to explain in more detail to those of you who want to know more as soon as we meet in real life again…

The experience of sharing one´s life with about 100 students of different social, cultural and geographical backgrounds had it´s surreal and funny aspects. The lack of movement and the two rather heavy meals (containing beans, peas, milk, chai…) per day had their consequences on the digestive systems of the students. So at times I started doubting if I was attending a meditation course or a fart-camp ;) The hilarious thing about the situation was the fact, that due to the rule of "noble silence" - no communication what so ever - nobody was supposed to react or say anything about the bio-chemical attacks of his neighbors, so some people toke advantage of that and ventilated their bodies in a shameless manner. By the 10th day I could identify the originator of a given fart or eruption by it´s sound and I started wearing ear- and sometimes even nose-plugs ;)))

Before and after the retreat I had the opportunity to explore the mountains around Dharamshala together with other travelers. We found some magical spots by accident climbing around some mountains… I leave you with some impressions. See you soon in real life. Big hug


PS. I know I am asking a lot, but I would really love to know who actually reads this… the only way for me tho find out is when you post a comment. So please don´t be shy, just imagine you are on Facebook and leave me few words or lines ;)))

Palolem - preparing for the silence

A friend had told me that at Palolem it is possible to rent a kayak and observe dolphins so I needed to go and see for myself. I went out twice and paddled to some bays near by with my eyes searching. The first day had the concurrence of some motorboats chasing after the sea-mammals but on the second day I got up early and could enjoy the silence on the sea. The dolphins seamed to be more comfortable without the noise of the motorboats too and let me come very close. I did not dare to swim with them but tried to follow them on their rounds through the bays. In two occasions a dolphin jumped out of the water a few meters next to me which was fascinating and a bit frightening at the same time ;)))

On the 1st of April I will start a 10 day retreat in Dharamsala next to the Himalayas so I will not be able to communicate in what ever form until the 12th. Have a great time meanwhile, big hug to everybody.

...one more detail which might be interesting especially for my Spanish friends. I just booked a ticket to Madrid from the 5th to the 23rd of May. Me hace mucha ilusión veros a todos de nuevo!!!

Hampi - on a motorbike through the surreal landscape

Feeling a bit like easy rider I took of to explore the monuments and ruins a bit further from Hampi, cruising over sand-roads, passing through rice fields and reaching places where the locals looked at me like they had never seen a westerner before. A beautiful thing in India is the natural and direct way people get in touch with each other and welcome strangers with open arms and a bright smile.
In the evening I went to a famous sunset spot on top of a mountain of big round rocks piled on each other. As I was a bit lazy to search for the way and already had practiced the day before I just climbed and jumped from rock to rock to reach the top. Up there a pack of monkeys was waiting for the tourists hoping to get some food or what ever they could grab to play with. I shook a finger with a young monkey and was stunned by their fearless behavior. When I had an adult monkey hanging at the strap of my rucksack I realized that these little bastards were ready to steal about everything they could lay their hands on ;)
This day I did not want to risk having to walk down in the dark so right after sunset I got on the way down, having to climb over an already locked gate of an Ashram near by in order to get out the motorbike…

People in Hampi celebrate Full moon with a huge bond-fire. Now I understand the concept of a "full moon party". In earlier days these were the occasions where people could take advantage of the bright moon light in order to stay up late and celebrate. As I am not a big fan of masses and and the crowd in ecstasy I went to sleep soon in order to gain some strength for the national "Holi-festival" the next day. I guess the pictures speak for themselves, it was great fun to throw color pigments at each other and dance to the percussion music with a child riding on my shoulders… Now I am sitting here, wondering if the stains on my skin will wash off in a few days ;) Big hug to all of you!!!

Hampi - night bouldering

The landscape around Hampi is so surreal, that no photo can capture it´s magical spirit. As I got briefed well about this place I hired a bicycle and started exploring the areas surrounding the town following a hand drawn map created by the biologist I had met on the beach. Over stones and sand I went with this one-gear-crap-bike which was falling apart little by little. At some point I had to leave it behind and hike and climb over big boulder-rocks (Hampi is a paradise for climbers…) to find ruins of temples and palaces.
In the afternoon I decided to search for a waterfall I had heard of. After some time and only with the guidance of a local, Fritz (a German guy I met somewhere lost in the middle of nowhere) and I reached the waterfalls, not without climbing and jumping over smaller river arms. Enthusiastic and in total bliss the two of us had a swim against the current, climbing on rocks in the middle of the stream and like this moving upstream. Swimming back to our base I felt like a Olympic swimmer because of the additional speed by the current.
Over taking photos, jumping form rock to rock, swimming, having a picnic and just enjoying the sunset we missed the right moment to get going back. Too self-confident and having underestimated the way, we got lost on the river, trying to find our way climbing over boulders, searching for a way which would not lead us through the water and high vegetation further down stream as there most likely live crocodiles (the biologist had found a dead crocodile when see was here only a few days ago) and snakes. The whole situation turned out to be a bit like in a horror-movie, where the protagonists die one after the other because of getting separated. Fritz (who had been a total stranger a few hours earlier) and I did not agree on the way, as I was not willing to walk through the water and high vegetation without seeing where I stepped… So under the threat of separating us (which was not fair at all from my side, but my urge to survive was stronger than my wish to be diplomatic and considerate at that moment) he followed me over the rocks until we reached a barbed wire fence, which we crossed to get help of the only family who seamed to be living on this Island in the middle of the river with it´s huge rocks. I guess that the river bed was about 100 meters broad, so even with the guidance of this local it took us some more time over boulders, through shallow water-passages and finally out of the river bed, where we found our bikes. Exhausted, but happy for having gotten out of there without a scratch we brought our bikes back through the moon-light of the night before full moon.

Gokarna - life sucks ;)

Among some friends we have the running gag of stating "life sucks", when ever we live moments of sheer happiness stunned by the impressions invading our wits. Gokarna is definitely a place where one would like to stay for some time, in fact almost all the people I met there stayed way longer than they had planned to ;)
Back from Kumily I tried my luck to catch a fully overbooked night train with 3 hours delay and the whole Indian Railway reservation system out of order and succeeded!!! The TT (don´t know what that means, he is kind of the chief-ticket controller of the train) accepted my appliance ticket (this ticket gives you the opportunity to ask the TT for admission in the train if there is space). Having arrived at a train-station some 30 kilometers form Gokarna I wanted to find a way to get there without having to rely on very business oriented rickshaw drivers. Luckily a nice man observed me negotiating and offered to take me in his car almost the whole way. He turned out to be a hard working physician who built up his own clinic and has become very wealthy dedicating all his efforts to his business and family. I felt a bit strange sitting next to a men, who maybe takes half a day off per week and only occasionally takes some time off in order to visit his two grow up children at the towns where they study, while I have been traveling for 4 and a half months now, spending only a few days working and a few weeks doing courses. I guess it is impossible to determine, which way of living is better, I guess this depends entirely on the dreams, wishes, possibilities and priorities of each person.
How ever it seemed that it was my job to keep the conversation flowing while the doctor did the driving ;)

The first photos you seen actually show the bus stop, where the man dropped me. I had to smile about the Indian way once more, improvising and keeping things simple. How needs signs, as long as the people and the bus-driver know where to stop?

A rickshaw ride later and 24 hours of traveling I landed at Om-beach, a nice spot with only a few restaurants and palm leaf huts. The hut I rented did not have a floor, so the beach-feeling started right after getting out of bed ;)
So every mooring I got up like a champion to do my Yoga practice and go for a swim, spending the rest of the day reading, writing and exploring other beaches in walking- or at least hiking distance. Had it not been for a nice and (maybe a bit hyper-) active biologist from Alaska, I would have taken things a lot easier, but like this I discovered Gokarna-town and 3 more beaches… According to her the dog is the only species which co-evolves with humans and thus always wants to be near us. Indian street dogs are not very considered by the locals, but they don´t get mistreated either, so these dogs are much more relaxed and friendly than most of the over-breded dogs in Europe.

Kumily - between tea plantages and the rain forrest

A little sentimental I left behind Alleppey and took the morning bus to Kumily, a 5 hour ride over pumpy roads winding up into the hills, with branches occasionally reaching into the bus without window-screens slapping faces of inattentive or sleeping passengers. Having reached Kumily I found the place my Tirolean friends had recommended, a modest house with a few rooms for rental just next to the forrest. Luckily the owner warned me about the monkeys climbing around the balcony, playing with what ever they can find and even entering rooms in search of food or interesting items to play with.
As I got the initial impression that this village was pretty much focused on tourism only with not much else to do or see than tea-plantations, spice gardens and the national reserve, I decided to jump right into it in order to move on after 2 days. By ricksha I went to see a tea plantation, where a guide repeated his every-day sermon to a small group of travelers, trying to practice his French and English rather than actually giving useful information and actually showing the processes involved in the fabrication of tea. How ever, I learned that all the different types of black tea in the world apparently developed from only two species and I know now how to make Chai ;)
After a short stop at a spice garden where another guide pressed the play-button on his forehead in order to reproduce his mental tape about spices. Reminded of my job as a fundraiser some years ago I tried my best to get the poor man off his track by asking him things which didn't have anything to do with spices. In the evening I visited a Kalari-show -- martial art -- longing to got off the tourist path again and experience some more authentic India.
The next day at the "Periyar Tiger Reserve" I past with mixed feelings as well. In my romantic dreams I had expected tense rain forest, as far as my eye could see, many different kinds of animals crossing my way and an experience adjusted to the wishes and needs of the small group doing the safari. When the 5 of us entered the reserve we could see wide deserted hills where one day must have been a rain forest. I guess that most of the animals were not very keen on seeing us noisy, civilized and maybe degenerated humans and the reserve guide did not seem to care much about his job either, wearing a shiny red t-shirt and talking on the mobile phone in the middle of the jungle. In the end we saw a black giant squirrel, a few black macacs (monkeys) and some bisons from far fleeing into the shelter of the woods. I imagine that the only way to actually see and observe wild animals is far off the tourist-paths, with a zoologist or alone with a very good tele-objective waiting for the wild creatures to show up at a water place or crossing a lightning in the forest.
After concluding the 6 hour trek on small paths over hills and valleys I was wondering in what a bad condition our planet must be, when even in nature reserves the human imprint is omnipresent. Overpopulation, illegal hunting and corruption are stronger than the attempts of several programs to actually safe endangered species and their habitat, for instance there exist some tiger-reserves in India where not a single tiger has been spotted in many years…
Sorry if I sound a bit dark today, but I was not able to find a funny twist this time ;) Big hug to all of you.

Alleppey - the right spot to do a freelance experiment

Before meeting my Austrian friends in Kochi I already had stayed at a great place in Alleppey, so when Marlene and Wolfgang decided to check out the back waters as well I just brought them back here. Run by some young Indian Bob Marley imitations this Traveler´s home consist in 6 small double houses with verandas and something which with some fantasy reminds on a front garden.
As my friend Peter and his friend still were here I felt a bit like at home, having my friends as next door neighbors ;) We all had a great time together having Chai on the veranda, going to town to try out legendary places like "The Indian Coffee House" and doing a boat trip through the smaller channels of the back waters. In the morning Marlene and I did Yoga together, so I even had the chance to practice my teaching skills with my first student.
I already had started to get used to this sweet way of living, when all my friends left the same morning, which confronted me with being all by myself for the first time in the past two months. All of a sudden I had to create my own structure again and decide how to move on. As I have been feeling very comfortable at this place and as they have free WIFI here, I decided to stay and work on a freelance project a good friend of mine passed me on. This gives me the opportunity to find out how well I can do a job sitting on a veranda in India… For now I can tell you that it is not so easy to sit down and work while all the people around you are enjoying their holidays, but of course I prefer to work like this than sitting in an office ;))) So I try to get up early every day and start the day with Yoga and meditation before I work for some time on the computer.
A few days ago I met 2 young Tirolean couples, which makes this place feel a bit more like home again. We went to a beach near by and enjoyed incredibly tasty pineapples and other fruits on plates we had woven out of palm leaves ;)

My dear friends and family, I miss you all...

Kochi - between relaxation and asfixiation

As my dear friends Marlene and Wolfgang were traveling through Kerala we decided to catch up at Fortkochi, the old and more relaxed part of Kerala´s biggest city. Happy to feel our connection grown over many years on the other side of the world made my sensations oscillate between happiness, sentimentality, lightness, thoughts of home (this includes Madrid, Vienna, Tirol and in more enlightened moments the whole planet ;) old memories and the nearer future…
Together with an Austrian friend of Marlene we explored the district, walked along the sea shore and did a small self organized sight seeing tour by auto rickshah.
For dinner we had excellent fish once at a rather authentic local restaurant and the next time at a beautiful but heavily overpriced garden of some British colonial villa. When we were nipping of our white wine we somehow had the feeling of not being in India any more…
Little by little I am getting used to the frenetic live on the streets again, trying to gain/maintain the necessary discipline to keep doing a bit of yoga every day, eating not too heavy food and working on some of my personal projects.
Tired from the rickshah city tour the day before and as Wolfgang got a bit sick we decided to stay a third day in Fortkochi and relax, have tea at the famous "T-pot" cafe, read, relax and talk. After all this day turned out to be more inspiring and beautiful than a day packed with sights and impressions. Little by little we started to build up a connection with this place and found out about the spots to have an authentic south Indian dinner, watch (end even help) the fishermen pulling out the old traditional fisher nets and walk around calm neighborhoods. Somehow a street dog chose me as his new friend and playing partner, he came to salute me like an old friend, so I had no choice than playing with him. The challenge consisted in catching up with my friends again, as the dog playfully bit me into my trousers to make me stop walking and continue playing with him...

On the back waters to Alleppey

After meeting my friend Peter from the Sivananda Ashram on the beach of Varkala we decided not to get too much involved in the lethargic atmosphere of this place -- eating, drinking, sun bathing, shopping -- but keep moving. We toke a boat heading north on the famous backwaters of Kerala. I had no idea, that traveling by boat on the still waters would be so relaxing and comfortable. After a 3 hours ride we reached "Amma´s" Ashram, a place which hosts so many people that it reminded me more of a city rather than en Ashram. Mata Amritanandamayi is famous for her commitment to humanitarian aid projects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Amritanandamayi) and spreading unconditional love by giving a hug to everyone who would come near her. We knew that we would miss her by one day, as she just had started a trip around India together with a big group of people following her, but we preferred to visit this place and get some idea of it while it was less crowded and agitated. It was very impressive to see how much of a difference one person can make among the community around her…
Please don´t start worrying about me, I have not become a devoted follower of what ever ideology, but I am quite interested in how organizations like this work and what draws people towards them.
The next day we moved on by boat to Alleppey, the main gate to the Kerala´s backwaters, happy that we already had experienced the great atmosphere of moving smoothly through a landscape of mangroves and small fisher villages.

Kanyakumari - leaving the safe harbour towards new adventures

Finally, after 5 weeks of Ashram live with it´s well structured program and rules I have decided to hit the road again. Despite the healthy environment I needed to get out and digest the impressions and received teachings and find my own rhythm again, trying to integrate Yoga and meditation in my daily routine.
Two days before I left I went on a trip to the south tip of India, where the 3 oceans meet (Arabic sea, Indian ocean and one more, …I will look it up). On the way we visited several temples and jumped into the sea at a little fisher village, while the local people were pulling out huge nets just by the force of there arms. As good Yogis we did some Yoga postures on the beach as well and had great fun, inventing new postures like the head-under-water-stand.
After visiting the "Vivekananda Rock", a small island with a temple and a memorial we went to see the sunset together with hundreds of Indian locals. It was the first time in my life I actually had to pay in order to see the sun, as the whole area was protected by high walls and dry thorn bushes guarded by some security guys blowing their whistles like fanatic fans at a football match. My rather limited tolerance towards imposed authority made me jump over a wall and cause some kind of small revolution, as many people followed my example and just ignored the artificial barriers in order to watch the sunset at the sea shore.
The day trip ended with a visit at an impressing Siva temple planed according to the shape of the human body. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures. The art works, columns and stone figures showed the very sophisticated and advanced know how of their creators many centuries ago. What was even more stunning was the atmosphere inside. Time seemed to have past in a much slower pace there, the devotees celebrated their Poojas (offerings) and rituals and played instruments which made my mind wander back in time…
The photos you can see were partially taken by a Nepali girl named Sasha, I was lucky enough to have the chance to copy her pictures, as they were taken with a far more professional camera and Sasha was far more motivated taking pictures ;) Big hug to all of you and thank you for your lovely comments. Like this I get an idea,´till which extent my attempts to share my impressions with you are successful…

TTC absolved!!!

Hi dear friends and family, I know it has been a bit silent here during the past month, while I was busy with the TTC. This education was very demanding and intense, so in the rather short periods of free time I tried to stay focused, relax and avoid the internet, as it tends to consume rather much time and energy. 2 days ago I absolved the final exam and can call myself a Sivananda Yoga teacher now ;) …which is not really what I was aiming for, I just wanted to gain a good foundation of Yoga for my every day life and maybe start teaching little by little one day next to graphic design- , web- and music-projects. I am happy I absolved this education and persisted during the not so easy periods. Many things started moving, old thoughts, emotions and feelings form rather profound layers started to come to the surface in order to be attended and dissolved. During this month I have become more sensitive towards my intuition and different kinds of influences and energies.
Imagine how many things change, when you do healthy physical exercise together with organic and vegetarian diet for your body, meditation and concentration training for your mind, and more subtle training on the soul-level. It was beautiful to observe how people around me transformed and started to shine during the past weeks.
Unfortunately my camera is dying (the zoom does not work any more and the flash screws up the pictures) and it would have been very difficult anyways to show the beauty of some magical moments… how ever, I uploaded some more pictures on the album of the past entry, I hope you like the pictures...

Sivananda Ashram - before the TTC

As the actual TTC (Teachers Training) will start tomorrow I take the chance to post a few lines today and tell you about my impressions here. The Sivananda Ashram is huge and accommodates up to 350 guests / students which is way more than I had expected. The ratio between women and men is 90 to 10, which gives this place a more smooth and warm energy. I met a very funny guy from the US -- he is actually a globe trotter, his suit case is his home ;) -- and we decided to have a good time here no matter how hard the training might get. With a smile on your face everything becomes more easy, no?
Yesterday we sneaked out of the Ashram -- which is not really according to the rather strict and well structured rules here -- and went to the near by lake. There we had the opportunity to observe some Indians wash an elephant. The animal really seemed to enjoy this part, I doubt that it enjoyed much wearing the heavy chains around its legs. In the Ashram we were told that there were alligators, but as the local people told us that there were none at this time of the year and I consider myself rather dangerous too I decided to risk a small bath. My 2 colleagues and and I walked for a bit to explore the next two settlements near by and find a place to have a Chai with milk and sugar like it should be here in India.
Back to the Ashram we could see the same elephant once as part of some kind of show off to some official from Thailand and I was think of setting up a conspiracy in order to free the animal.
The intermediate classes here are rather intense, especially as I am a bit out of practice right now. My headstand was rather wobbly, so the teacher´s assistant did not dare to leave me alone, as my feet seamed to be suffering a heavy hang over ;) So today in the morning I decided to take it easy and go to the beginner´s class. I am sure that within a month I will be fit like a sports-shoe. I uploaded a few impressions of the Ashram to give you an idea of my 1 month home… big hug to everybody.

Trivendrum - An Odysse

It feels strange to come to new places but having the feeling that you already know how to move there only after having looked through the guidebook a bit. When leaving Kolkatta I toke a cab to the airport, which was lazy, as already knew how to travel part of the way by metro. The flight to Trivendrum via Chennai was rather unexciting, which is good, as I tend to live some adventures at airports with delays and not arriving luggage ;)
Leaving the arrival airport I was determined not to take a taxi, but find my way to the city with public transport. I toke a local bus and somehow managed to communicate myself with some local passengers to find out, where I had to get of. Eventually I jumped off the bus, walked for a bit and got on an other bus for a few hundred meters, shouting to make the bus stop near by a Guest house mentioned in the "Lonly Planet". For some reason the guy at the reception was had serious problems articulating himself and got desperate and a bit mad at me as I did not understand a word of what he intended to say in what he held for English. I moved on, thinking that I would find a different place without any problems… what a miss perception. Apparently some swami (spiritual teacher) is in town right now and that´s why almost all budget hotels and guest houses were booked out. I walked almost through the whole town with all my luggage, taking a tuck tuck every now and then to find myself in front of an other booked out place. How ever, I was very motivated and optimistic to find an affordable place (in Indian terms, of course there were hotels available with European prices) to spend the night. After 3 hours of the authentic backpacker-spirit I finally found a room at the place right next to the first guest house I went to, so I guess this explains the title of this post ;)))
In the evening I went out to have dinner -- eating al the forbidden stuff which I would be missing in the Ashram I planned to go the next day -- and on my way back I had my first vegetable juice… made of cucumber, carrots, ginger and some really bitter fruit …arrrggg, it tasted so awkward, it must have been very healthy …at least that´s what the guy at the store told me.

Still healthy and with an optimistic traveler enthusiasm I got up the next day in order to visit the huge main temple of Trivendrum, already sure, that I would leave this rather loud and ugly town right afterwards. The temple was nice from outside, I can not tell you much about the inside, as not Hindus were not allowed to enter ;)
I moved on to find out about the bus connections and asked my way through the town, "visiting" unexpected places like the train station, the police station, two bus terminals which were not the ones I needed, a nice Chai place…
With patience I found the place were my bus was supposed to leave, harvesting un-understanding looks, why a supposingly rich western guy would not take a taxi for the 30 km to the Sivananda Ashram in Neyar Dam. Now I am sitting on my bed and writing this post in a text document, so that I can publish it, when the Internet place here is opened during one hour in the evening. I am lucky I brought my own lap top, as like this it is easier to get a free spot (cable). I am not sure how often I will be able to post during this month, as the training will be very intense and strict, but I will do my best to keep you informed. All the best from the Ashram, big hug.

Kolkatta - Sylvester at the old capital

As I told you in my last post, I was pretty sure, I would come back to this city once more in order to explore it a bit more. Tired form the spiritual trip to Guwahati and Rampurhat I reached Kolkatta on the 31st and found a room at the rather trashy Paragorn Guesthouse. As I needed some more space to recover and feel comfortable I decided not to take one of the prison like single rooms but toke a double room with the bathroom some 30 meters away. You can imagine how often I walked this way back and forth only to brush my teeth ;)
Happy to be in the civilized world again -- which means internet, a mobil signal and the chance to wash my laundry -- I went to a rather funny internet cafe -- the owner was a very nice guy who even came to talk to some of my sisters and brothers in Australia over Skype, while outside there was already going on some kind of pre-sylvester party. So I spent some time talking to my siblings and friends before I went to my room in order to prepare myself for the new year. How ever exhaustion beamed me of into the astral world even before my head reached the pillow, so I did not "slip" over to 2011 as the Austrians would say, I slept over ;)
The next day the other guests and me became vitness of a tragic finding. A guy living a few doors next to mine died in the morning of the 1st of a drug overdose and left some people I met and me in doubt, if he would have had a chance of survival if the ambulance and police had taken less time to come. According to the Indian law no one except the police is allowed to legally break in a locked door, so the hotel staff did not open the door for more than an hour, which might have kept this young swiss from loosing his life in such an unnecessary and stupid way ;(

With Johanna and Kem, two very nice room neighbors I went once more to conquer this city which I believe is much more of a metropolis as Delhi. We entered the "Victoria Memorial" this time and strolled around the "Maiden" park watching people playing cricket. I got hit by a ball on my back head. Kem saw it, but hoped for some kind of miracle which would keep the ball from hitting me. Hard ball-on-head-training during my childhood saved me from any kind of injury ;)

We continued with visiting the flower market next to the Hoogly river, crossed the famous bridge and toke a ferry back. The next day we went by metro to the "Kali temple", a burning ghat next to it and strolled around a beautiful district in colonial style. The way back we toke a bicycle rickshah the three of us, so we chose a very strong guy who would be able to do that. So the days passed by until I had decided how to continue my journey and booked the tickets.

I will do a Yoga Teachers Training at the Sivananda Ashram near Neyar Dam (South India) for a month starting in 2 days? I am really looking forward to it, as this will give me a strong foundation for my Yoga practice and an international certificate which allows me to teach where ever on the planet. My intention is to move on with graphic design, but who knows, maybe I can combine the two or even found my own business one day ;)