JOO-LAY from Leh

Well... Joolay, namaste, hello , its been quite an amazing few weeks...

very sorry i gave no news...
For one.....the connection was slow, double the price, and usually non existent....
and two, well i had no money.... since i stayed in Leh, for a bit longer and did much more expensive things... and the atm didnt work.... well thank god a good friend lended me some cash.... so maybe i shpuldve taken some travelers checks.... humm... live and learn!!

So, last time i was about too do the journey from hell part deux... wellit was, could you imagine it took about 24 hours to do around 450 KM.... so all of you that say that our roads are shitty in quebec...well you havent seen much!!!

So after this 2 days, full altitude sickness day, i got there the day that his holyness the dalai lama got there, some woke up to go greet him at the airport, but i was pretty much undisposed!!! I guess that is my great mistake of this trip... if i had stayed a week more, i could have maybe heard Him speak... but had to move on.... been here a month, and only saw a few places....

so anyways leh.... well its amazing, it sits at 3500m in the indian himalayas,. has 3 of the world highest passes (did all three!!), the higghest being 5602m!, and is very relaxed, beautifull in the middle of the desert.... hum

So here goes a big hello to Federico,Edgar and Yohay, these pretty amazing, superb guys (Ha! blushing!!!).... nop seriously, we had a pretty amazing time in leh... since two of these guys only had a two week vacation (no guadalajara for them... imagine that, 2 or 3 weeks and coming and the way to leh.... chapeau guys!)... we did it all... we did rafting on my birthday ( thank you all for the great wishes!!!), rented motorcycles for three days, went on a 2 days trip to an amazing lake (pagong lake) and well ate like kings ... so i am pretty exausted , needless to say.... and it feels pretty different now that taht im back travelling...

So next stop, dharamsala, after only a 10 hour drive... god i am soooo happy ...only 10 hours.... !!

so thats that, putting my shoes on....can you imagine, its 40'C in delhi... and im going south, what am i thinking!

so ciao, im having an absolutely amazing time, meeting amazing people and eating...well amazingly good...

caro
p.s. to federico y edgar.... mira, ya que usted se fueran, tenemos mucha mas plata!!!!... que me escriben sus noticias... y que no olviden!!! ciao

Inde .... un pays de contraste

Well hello there....

well thank you so much for the messages... i have to say that many many people feel that meditation isint really me.... and i wonder why!!! I have to admit, that no , im not becoming a hyppie... as much as i really loved rishikech, i have not become a spiritual guruh .... even yoga... while being there with my legs in very odd and hurtfull poses, i have to admit that i did more inside swearing than mantras!!!!

But it was cool.... very cool....India is full of opposites, its incredible, just when you think you cant take anymore...something happens.... Ill explain... I just came back from a journey from hell, i swear, 15 hours in a government bus (aka the bus from hell encore pire quun tap.cul!) an here i arrive in manali and then you forget all about it....it is absolutely beautifull, in the middle of the mountains... (god, i feel that i am only truly happy when im in the mountains sometimes) and so relax....

Pays de contraste... you have places like delhi, where everything is too much, the smell, the noise even the people, and then you have places like here where... well, where doing 15 hours in a bus with a very hard bench and weird people staring at you non stop is worth it....

I was thinking of going south, even seeing the tajmahal, but now i dont think so.... ill stay here, go to leh (a place in the north where it takes 2 days to get there but full if buddhist monks, monastery..... then back here, maybe atrek and then dharamsala, where the dalai lamah resides....

So... maybe it seems that im not fully enjoying myself... well it isnt true, its jsut that being here is very trying sometimes.... as muchas one day can go bad... the next is amazing....

so there...
yours truly
a very serene but non yoga/meditation, so still same same
caroline

Namaste from Rishikkech!!

Alors un gros bonjour a tous...

So yes im in Rishikech.... what you mean that doesnt mean anything to you..... well considering its already pretty hard to pronounce, i could understand... well for those who want to know, its where the beattles came in india to have "spirital enlighment " with their guru.... oh yeah...

Well, lets just say im not exactly looking for that in particular, but am at a cozy end of the village, where you dont hear too many cars honking (a blessing let m tell you..) and well relaxing a lot.... so morning i do som yga for 2 hours,take it easy in the afternoon, and then massage course around 4pm and if i want to a bit of meditation at 6h30.... well not to bad ....( for those who are thinking how amazingly serene and enlighten i am seeming, reassure yourselve.... the yoga course is from 8 to 10, way to early ( sorry steve) and after 3 course, i am thinking of mising the next one! oh and meditation, well it was really god actually t find ut I can spend more than 5 minutes without moving, but i believe i am pretty relax after the massage course so, will prbably skip it again....

Went to an amazing temple in the mountains today.... rishikech is a very sacred city and going to the shiva temple were hundreds of people, no tourist, and all going to get blessed by shiva.... hundreds, faith is so present here, its very impressive

oh, my dear mom was wondering, yes indians do speak english (was part of the english empire and all) but it could be pretty broken sometimes, too bad, because i would love to speak to some women about their livesand traditions, but we could manage very well.

Anyways, just to say all is good... thinking of not oing some hiking in india.... and saving it for nepal.... ill see how it goes...

Also want to say to all that i said ill call... well the time difference is kinda hard to figure out, so unless i wake everyone at 5 in the morning, evening are pretty hard to manage... so im sorry, doing my best....

so thats that, take care


caro

Paharganj, khao san road.... same same but different

Same same but different.... this street was were my fews days in delhi was centralized.... same same because its were all the merchants and backpackers seem to meet up.... but different because well never in thailand will it be so sosooso... typical, masive number of people, all the smells mixed , food nimal, urine..... what a mix!!! maybe like place dja el faa in marrakech... but ah so so indian...

oh well today was a very long day.... and i am not even half done.... woke up at 5h, after oh no sleep,to catch a train which i missed... so since then, have been running around with my backpack.... must have sweated at least 2 liters of water... taking a train to rishikech this after noon.... its a bit late but i feel like i need to leave delhi.... so here we go, next time ill right ill be at the center of yoga land.... will probaby stay a few days to relax.... must say i feel i need it....

so anyways, to all that are concerned... (thank you) there is floods in india but they stay in the south, mumbai airport hass been closed but at delhi, it hasnt even rained more than 5 minutes, only once.... and it felt really good, the heat is pretty bad.... no way has it EVER been like this at home... (for those who dont get it, its been pretty bad in montreal in july!!! i wish!! The picture is not mine, but the best i could find at the moment, (pour toi carl!!!)

entk merci to all, anyone want to meet up??? well just asking

caro

Petite pensee:

Dont you wish sometimes that there was cameras that could catch the smell.... like a video camera for all senses.... The smell, is by far the most amazing way to travel back to your memories... anyone follow? Even after almost ten years, i could go to any spice shops and ill always feel like im in marrakech.... or smell a perfume on someone, and feel like my special someone is right next to me..... and unlike pictures, i think it does stop you at one memory, all different memories come flahing back.... ahhh i wish i could make one of those....

After the journey from hell....India!!!!

Wow... so much to tell....

First started with a delay.....a very long delay...dear bangladesh airlines!!!stayed at the airport for 9 hours before actually taking off ( this is after waiting one hour on the tarmac waiting for god knows what...) arriving in dhaka, bangladeshwith no one to gives us a room to the hotel.... going to sleep at 4 am, waking up a 8h, and to be told that the connecting flight is late.... ouf arriving at delhi 27hours after departure.... well, ill learn one day that you pay for what you get.... 100$ more and it would have been a 4 hour flight.... but seriously it was great..

Arriving in Dhaka, when people were starting to freak out, people starting to get very impatient, while the airport employees were doing nothing only smiling.... well i felt pretty happy.... after a while i was getting pretty nervous of coming here... i guess i hadnt been anywhere culture different in a while.... but as soon, as the yelling started, i felt great.... felt a bit like work really.... well i was actually thinking of how happy I was that I didnt have a group with me... you see.... nobody was complaining to ME!!!

So anyways, after spending a night in a shabby hotel, i arrived in Delhi... and althought i just got here today, im staying at a pretty wild stop, in an indian market called paharganj for those whove been here.... its like a bolivians market with10 times as many people, with many of them staring and trying to get your attention with a few sacred cows mixed in....oh and with cars, motorcycles, bycicle and people on foot in an alley that is about 5 meters wide.... perfect
so thats that... tomorrow, im doing something i never did... getting a guided tour of delhi.... its just so hot here and the humidity is crazy, I never lived like this anyways, so I do want to see the place fast so I could go more north in the mountains....

anyways my dears, thats that, like to hear from you

ciao
caro