Rishikesh

our place is the one on the right on the river with all the construction going on

Well we have now spent 5 nights in the yoga capital of the Universe, yes the Universe. I guess many of the people here are so entwined with themselves and the world around them, they can claim this. I'm not so convinced, but i'll take their word for it for now until a more suitable place is found. Rishikesh is a town that is spread out into many different smaller areas along the Ganges river. We thought we would try out this whole ashram yoga thing and walked over to the Swarg Ashram area to check it out. Now we got there a little late as the bus took all day, literally, 2 buses etc... So we got into one that was recommended in the book and didn't really like the vibe of the dude at the counter from the start. My shoulder has been bothering me as of late and i wasn't sure how much yoga i would be able to do. So we had the idea of trying out for a few days and if we didn't like it then go get a room at a hotel. (As all yoga classes and meals are included in the price). But the dude wasn't having any of that and wanted full payment for at least 3 nights. So we weren't having that and we got a room in a less than decent hotel. We woke up the next day to try and find further accommodation. We went back to the same place to try it for 3 nights but now the guy says that it's full (we weren't sure if it was true or that he was pissed off at us). So we walked to a couple of other places but they all had a really religious feel to them, which Justina and I really aren't into. So then after lunch we went to check out another one of the areas a couple of km's up the river from the Swarg Ashram, called Laxman Jhula. We knew right from the start that this was where we wanted to be. More for the foreigners looking for zen than Swarg Ashram which was for the Indians looking for zen. And hey, let's face it, different people have different views of what would help them in their zen searching. We found a very nice chill ashram called Sant Sewa with pay as you go yoga for beginners morning and night and not all the crazy rules that many of the other places had (ie no soap or no chess playing). So this is were we hung out for the next 4 nights and 5 days. We took a couple of yoga classes, had long meals, read and went for walks. The yoga was advertised for beginners but we soon found out that the Indian teachers had a different view of what beginner meant than some teachers back home. On our first day he had us doing the one leg balancing squat and the lotus or half lotus pose with a lean all the way back to the ground, both quite impossible for Justina and I. The second class he had us try the wheel pose and the swan pose, 2 more impossible ones than he even stumbled slightly when he was showing us. I think beginner for me means that it's ridiculously easy for you but i guess i'm wrong. Well it was an experience at least and as one guy said, you will leave having gained something. We enjoyed much of the good food here with the surrounding Israelis. (Would you feel a little weird if you were surrounded by Canadians or with all people from wherever your from at some restaurant in Rishikesh India? and not only the restaurant but the stores, the internet places. I myself would be freaked out but the Israelis don't seem to mind, they even like it.) Last night we walked back to the Swarg Ashram as although not where we wanted to stay, it has a really neat vibe to it. We encountered one of the sun going down/ceremony to the Ganges/ something we don't even know about, going on in front of the Ashram that we had first looked at. Lot's to do with fire and chants and the river and offerings and many other things that i don't understand but it was really cool to see nonetheless. Today we checked out of our hotel and are going to pass the day until catching our night bus ride out of here. take care everyone, and remember, Om sweet Om.