Well after having so much with with the flag group in Bangalore I decided to head back to join them in Nagpur for the final Australia and India cricket test.
Well Nagpur is a pretty clean, but not terribly exciting city. The cricket however was not as good as it was in Bangalore. The stadium there is brand new, however because of its location out of town and steep ticket prices it was quite empty and lacking in atmosphere. Add to that not the best ever performance by the Aussies...
One of the more interesting experiences was after the last day of the test, the India crowd was in a jubilant mood after winning the series 2-0 and I decide to get a bike into town as I needed to locate a new guest house. One of the cheaper and more interesting ways to travel in India is to get a lift on a motorbike, there are thousands of them in India and they are normally more than happy to give you a lift, even when there not going in the same direction. So I quite easily found someone to take me back to town after the cricket. I found myself surrounded by jubilant Indian cricket fans on the road, all pulling up along side the bike to shake my hand and discuss the match. They where literally riding alongside for 5-10 minutes having full on cricket conversations with me and taking photos and all.
From the cricket I went a few days later to a 10 day Vipassana meditation course just outside of Nagpur. Vipassana is purpoted to be the meditation technique that Buddha used to attain enlightenment. The 10 days are spent in absolute silence with no commumication at all, not even eye contact between participants. It is very full on, with meditation starting at 4.30 am right through to 9.30 pm (with breaks for meals..), and yes OK, those that know me will not believe that I got up at 4.30 am every morning, and I will admit that I may have missed a couple of those early morning sessions... In all honesty it was very difficult and that much time alone with your own mind is very confronting, but I think I got alot out of it, at least I feel very peaceful and calm at the moment.
On the last day of the course when you are allowed to speak again the Indian woman where very interested to talk with the three western girls that where on the course, it was such a relief to be able to speak with all the people I had spent the last 10 days with! They took us of to there rooms and dressed up in Saris, make up and all.
From Nagpur I have moved down to Hampi, which consists of alot of very ancient ruins, I think I'll be here for a few days before heading to Goa.
