Trip: Heading East - India
There are [21] stories from my trip: Heading East - India
INDIA | Monday, 10 Mar 2008 | Views [899] | Comments [2]
I am settled at a computer on a dripping hot Tamil Nadu afternoon. No power for the fans, but the computers have a generator! I have just come down from the blissful hills of the Western Ghats which so reminded me of Scotland in its cool evenings and ... Read more >
Tags: Relaxation
INDIA | Monday, 10 Mar 2008 | Views [841] | Comments [1]
South India is dripping hot - I am sweating by 7am (I try to get some exercise walking on the mountain before breakfast.)I am visiting an old friend in Tiruvanamalai - which is where Ramana Maharshi lived and site of a mountain which VIBRATES. His ashram ... Read more >
Tags: Culture
INDIA | Sunday, 17 Feb 2008 | Views [473]
I made it to Trivandrum, South Kerala, two weeks ago after an epic two day train journey - wonderful views of life and plenty of time to read. Found a massage and explored the town but nearly died of heat and mosquitoes in the night and so headed for ... Read more >
Tags: Adventures
INDIA | Thursday, 14 Feb 2008 | Views [900]
Gujerat was an unexpected addition to my journey. I went to spend a couple of days with UK/Indian friends in Baroda to see the kite festival, and ended up spending a couple of cruisy weeks exploring the joys of this rich and pleasant State. Took a ... Read more >
Tags: Adventures
INDIA | Sunday, 27 Jan 2008 | Views [465]
We set off in style for the two hour beautiful drive from Aurangabad to Ajanta. As you wind down through the hills there is a terrible carparking area which is carefully designed so you have to walk through the 'shopping complex'/hassle city in order ... Read more >
Tags: Culture
INDIA | Saturday, 26 Jan 2008 | Views [638]
After a week in Pune I was ready to find out what the maroon robed drifty-looking people were up to in the smart 'Meditation Resort', so I turned up at lunch time for the guided tour. At the visitors Centre you are greeting by grumpy people (also in ... Read more >
Tags: Misadventures
INDIA | Friday, 11 Jan 2008 | Views [1187]
The Karla caves near Pune are fantastic –they date from the 2 nd century BC (same as early Ajanta) and have the largest and best preserved meditation hall in India. Heading out of the sprawling city there was SO much new building going on – all surrounded ... Read more >
Tags: planes trains & automobiles
INDIA | Wednesday, 9 Jan 2008 | Views [2753] | Comments [2]
My journey here was more like surreal!! I set off into the night from Bodhgaya to catch the late train to Bhubaneswar. Gaya railway station at night was the most unfriendly , chilly place and the train was two hours late, and threatening to be further ... Read more >
Tags: Sightseeing
INDIA | Saturday, 29 Dec 2007 | Views [435]
I had no idea what I was signing up for when I decided to join the Tibetan community for the 25th Kagyu Monlam at Bodhgaya. Slowly the preparations appeared: a wonderful entrance gate welcoming everyone (looked surprisingly like a Torii gate)Town started ... Read more >
Tags: Culture
INDIA | Thursday, 13 Dec 2007 | Photo Gallery
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INDIA | Wednesday, 12 Dec 2007 | Views [1214] | Comments [1]
After the holy mountain we went exploring the local hotsprings which were heaving with Indian men in their underpants. Three of our group instantly disappeared but I had set my heart on a birthday bath, and was feeling in need of a freshen up as well.... Read more >
Tags: Beaches & sunshine
INDIA | Monday, 10 Dec 2007 | Views [780]
Early start fro the great birthday pilgrimage to the magical scene of the first mahayana teaching. Over the past week I had hired a jeep and driver for 1800 rupees and invited various new friends to join the party. In the end there were five folkbrave ... Read more >
Tags: Adventures
INDIA | Friday, 7 Dec 2007 | Views [558]
There is some routine emerging in my glorious month at the Root Institute: waking early for morning practice followed by lovely hot shower in the clean shared bathroom and breakfast outside(well every meal is outside on the spacious patio - the upstairs ... Read more >
Tags: Relaxation
INDIA | Tuesday, 4 Dec 2007 | Views [546]
I signed up for this silent retreat just outside Bodhgaya a while ago, thinking it would be an excellent way to land in India. I have avoided this style of retreat for years - the Boot Camp of meditation, where you get up at 4am and sit relentlessly ... Read more >
Tags: Adventures
INDIA | Friday, 16 Nov 2007 | Views [732]
Here in Bodhgaya life is unbelievable - the many faces of Buddhism gather in the main temple compound from 4am til well after sunset to chant and prostrate and perform their paricular rituals. Large groups of white-clad Sri Lankans vy for position with ... Read more >
Tags: Culture
INDIA | Friday, 16 Nov 2007 | Views [3549]
Well - from the main streets of Delhi, across the countryside, alongside train tracks, in the hedge at the temple in Sarnath, in fact almost everywhere you look there are men urinating. In fact there are men everywhere and far fewer women in any crowd.... Read more >
Tags: On the Road
INDIA | Friday, 9 Nov 2007 | Views [711] | Comments [1]
Greetings from a cosy orange cyber cafe in the heart of the Tibetan Colony of Majnukatilla. I have a small hotel room with a view of cooling vents, but a spacious vista from the balcony at the end of the hall - looking across the fields to the river.... Read more >
Tags: planes trains & automobiles
UNITED KINGDOM | Thursday, 8 Nov 2007 | Views [400]
I went to get my Indian visa which was a small taste of things to come..I rounded the corner to India House and joined the long line of mostly Indian folk - very friendly and sharing stories. But at the window they were only issuing tickets (which give ... Read more >
Tags: The Planning Phase
UNITED KINGDOM | Wednesday, 7 Nov 2007 | Views [490] | Comments [1]
Well today I had to travel through London with my carefully packed bag. Having boasted that it was only weighing in at 13kg it has now grown to the full horror of at least 20kgs without me really knowing why! Well I did decide to take four books, and ... Read more >
Tags: The Planning Phase
NEW ZEALAND | Monday, 5 Nov 2007 | Photo Gallery
Summer 07
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