Day 112 - Quest for Enlightenment

Rishikesh is the main center for many types of yoga. It would have been a shame to spend a week here and not try at least one class. The German found an Ashram that sounded nice, which offered extennsive courses, but whose first class was alwys free.

We hauled ourselves out of bed and across the river for an 8:30 session. The first hour was a lecture on the principles of the pose we would be learning that day, along with some general information about energy flow and chakras. I'm not sure I agreed with everything he was saying, but I did like that everything was directed at having a more positive and peaceful life.

After the lecture, we learned (and the rest of class simply did) a series of poses and movements, holding each one for 3-7 minutes. The final pose, the shoulder stand or candle pose, which had been the subject of the lecture, was explained in great detail, and then we held it for aproximately 5 minutes.

Finally, we did a 7 minute relaxation exercise to round out the class. The whole process took about 2 hours and 45 minutes. I don't know if my enrgies were flowing better, but I certanly did feel stronger and more confident than I had going in.

After class and breakfast, I decided to take a walk out to the Beatles' Ashram. In 1968, the Beatles came to Rishikesh to study yoga and to write the White Album. The ashram where they stay was abandoned in the early seventies, and has since been largely overtaken by jungle. In theory the site is closed to visitors. That said, India has a wonderful system of 'bending the rules'. It's not bribery, exactly, but a few rupee can get a guard to open technically closed gates.

The ashram itself is on a beautiful, quiet hill over the Ganges. It consists of serveral small, stone houses, ingeniously designed with a bathroom and living space on the first level, and sleeping space above. There are also larger buildings which I assume were for meetings or classes. The site has only been abandoned for 40 years, but already the wild has overtaken the stairs and paths. It is only a matter of time before the sturdy stone houses start to tumble. It's sort of sad, in a way, as it seems it was a very positive place. Then again, it's sort of nice to see the wild asserting itself so decisively.

Home again in the backpacker enclave, we are internetting it up before the 20 hour plus train ride to Varanassi. We leave Rishikesh via Haridwar at 8:30PM, and don't arrive in Varanassi until 6:30PM the next day. We plan to spend only a little time there, and then train and bus it up to Nepal. I don't know how our internet connection will be for a while (too busy in Varanssi, too far off the beaten path in Nepal), so don't worry if you don't hear from us for a while.