Just letting you know, that I’m going to spend as little time as possible on the net over the next two weeks. Im in the North in the Himalaya’s and just want to make the most of the time I have available. Don’t worry, there will be many crazy adventure stories (with pictures) coming your way soon. Till then, here is some crap stuff I wrote earlier. Enjoy!
Fear. I’m finding that, and I’m not the first to do so, that this is the one thing that impacts my life on a regular basis. On any given situation fear has the opportunity to rear its ugly head. Sometimes this is a good thing, like don’t put that battery in you mouth, I’m not sure eating that kebab is a good idea etc but a lot of the time its killing you. Its killing who you really are and who you possibly could be.
Recently I have found myself looking at some of the ways of doing things, and as we get older these ways become more established and they make us feel comfortable, hence not afraid in any given situation but what I want to do and what I’m asking you to consider, is to examine your daily behaviors decide what is the motivation here. If it is a known fear that holds you back from changing your life for the better, then change it but especially if it is a fear of mediocrity, examine that fear, understand why you are afraid and be free of what is holding you back.
I find that in a situation (enter relevant setting here), we have a few ways of responding, one we do the behavior that makes us feel comfortable allows to walk away at the end and say I’m ok, Ive got it sorted (this ties in with that creating our reality that I mentioned earlier) , or two we act upon our fear and become agitated and nervous we recognise there is an issue but we let the fear dictate and we lose ourselves or three we recognise that we are afraid and we objectively act upon our behavior and change it. In all honesty the first few times we try to change it will be hard, we may embarrass ourselves and more than likely we will slip back into the first option of being comfortable. But fight, keep going, because change never occurs without action. Thought and action are on a positive feedback loop and one cant change without the other.
So stop being afraid and just …. do.
Most people are prepared to except you as you believe yourself to be.
Cheers
Ben.
Sometimes in India when ordering food from a menu, you get the impression that some of your choices are incorrectly matched. For instance one day we ordered a mix of North and South Indian food. Once our choices arrived, over the next fifteen minutes the waiter, without being asked, brought different extras to our table and until we were supplied with a full South Indian meal. I think this was the staffs way of politely expressing that we had made the wrong choice.
Other times though, this is not what is happening and just another example of the strange communication that can occur in India. Here is one instance:
We were staying at one place and everyday I went in there and ordered rice with my meal, usually Dhal. This time I went in with Doug.
(Doug has already ordered a dish with Parota)
Waiter: You want Parota?
Me: No, rice please.
Waiter: Parota?
Me:No, rice.
Waiter: Parota
Me: Rice.
Waiter: Parota.
Me: Rice, rice please.
Waiter: Not Parota?
Me :No rice, rice.
(Waiter departs with puzzled look.)
Keep in mind that this is the same waiter I ordered from the last two days.
(Waiter then returns with puzzled look, Doug’s meal, my meal and Parota….for me. I then say rice one more time after ten minutes he returns with some rice for me. By this time Doug has finished his Parota and would like another.
Doug: Another parota please.
Waiter: Rice?
Doug: No Parota.
Waiter: Ok.
(Waiter scurrys off)
The waiter then returns with a plate of rice for Doug
Im not proud of it but last I slept with some mice. It was dirty. No kidding, I woke up this morning and cleared my sheets to find mouse droppings down near my feet, a lot of them. Just before I went to sleep I had been watching the mice run from one side to the other, I thought my room was some kind of pathway, looks like they were just waiting for the lights to go out then they were getting cosy while I was sleeping. Don’t blame them though its been bloody cold, do feel kind of used though. They just left me with their crap to clean up.
In Manali, to be honest just bored, waiting for the road to open. I was worried that I had spent too much time in Mcleod but looks like it was just the right time, things work out. Doesn’t interest me at all here though. Want to get away from the tourists, and just explore the roads. Not unhappy but just impatient. Indians in tourist areas get on my nerves as well, can’t help thinking they are shady. I always feel like they want something and when you have met Indians off the tourist trek. Its a world of difference.
Here is a cover of Bob Dylan sent to me by my friend Jon, I think its pretty impressive. Now I’m not going to say the L word here, I don’t want to embarrass anyone but I’m pretty lucky to have him in my life and I miss him. Cheers mate.
Photo by Maria Sirotkina, Moscow 2009.
If tourists say they are going to Dharamshala to see the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government what they really mean is that they are going to Mcleod Ganj, a hill settlement that sits above Dharamshala. Unless of course they have an aching desire to see another standard Indian town.
My journey to Mcleod began in Rewalsar, I mentioned this place earlier, the very quite and tranquil holy place for Buddhists, Sikhs and Hindus where I had chilled for a few days. I wont write much about it but I left there with a feeling of peace and do recommend checking out if your passing through.
The ride to Mcleod was pretty uneventful, there was the usual random Indian in the middle of nowhere staring out into space. If you haven’t been in India you would never have witnessed this phenomenon. It doesnt matter where you are you could be miles from anywhere, in some remote area and you will come across an Indian just sitting or squatting, you will have no idea how he got there, and you do ask yourself this question, or what he’s doing but he will watch you go by and then possibly return to whatever it was he was thinking about. Its one of the deep mysteries of the sub-continent.
Mcleod, when I arrived, it was a nice change from the other places I had been so far, I think the Tibetan contingent give the town are more relaxed feel. I only spent four days there but in the interests of journalism I did go and see a the Tibetan Doctor Yeshi Dhonden. For those of you who dont know anything about Tibetan medicine, neither do I, so I thought it would be interesting to check it out and see what he said. People apparently swear by it. I had to take a sample of my urine, the fresh dew of the morning, most people had little cups for these but considering I’m an Australian male and that I didn’t have anything else on hand, I used a one liter plastic water bottle. Woke up, opened my eyes and proceeded to fill up the bottle, I think it was at least half full. So arrived at the ‘ practice’, one litre bottle in hand and waited for my name to be called. Now to give you a bit more background, Doctor Yeshi used to be the personal physician of the Dalai Lama and is still highly respected in his field. Plus you have to give him credit as he is 81 years old and still works six days a week.
When my name was called Dr Yeshi came ambling out, asked me to pour my urine into a big cup over a sink while he swirled it about with a stick, got a good head on it too, there was a lot of it but he seemed pretty happy for me to keep pouring while he did his thing. I was then called into his room, where he was sitting, and he then proceeded to feel my pulse.
My chocolate woody balls - I have to take about eight a day.
Now this is the big examination with Tibetan medicine. All your internal problems can be discovered and diagnosed through your pulse, and examining your urine. Initially I was a bit skeptical but I have heard things recently from different people that has caused me to be more open about the issue. Jon, if you have any thoughts, you know the would be appreciated. The doctor then asked a few questions if I had any specific complaints, i said no but I would like to stop getting colds, he then looked at my mouth laughed a bit (why?) and prescribed a two month course of Tibetan pills. That was it. In case your wondering the pills taste like wood and some mild herbs, I will try anything (just about) at least once, so I have already started and will see it through. Its only two months, problem is, I’m not allowed to drink alcohol.
So after that I headed to Bhagsu, a hippy enclave that is attached to Mcleod, a stress free place where I could try and sort out getting my camera. It was a nice place to wait. I met some good friends listened to the djembe beat played by hundreds of different hippies. They must have the same teacher. Look I like the ‘lets except everyone mantra’, but it was interesting to see dreads and hippie pants as like a quasi uniform, I was getting strange looks when I was wearing shorts and running shoes. My beard demands anyone’s respect though.
I did make the acquaintance of one Israeli guy by the name of Omer. We had a good laugh, he told me some Jewish jokes, which i won’t be repeating here and he informed me that he was an acupuncturist and Shiatsu practitioner. So i went ‘Why not, I will give that a try as well’. I have had both done before and was happy with the result but never together. So he stuck with some needles, and gave me a massage, honestly I felt great after wards and would do it again. He told me after one session he had pushed a needle almost the complete way through my wrist. I though it had felt strange when I had moved my fingers.
And yes, I did see the Dalai Lama, for about ten seconds as he got out of the car and went inside the Tibetan Children’s School. It was very sweet, there weren’t many people and there were little Tibetan girls in traditional dress singing for him as he came in. We weren’t allowed inside but that was enough for me. Someone told me that he said he wont leave this earth until there is a free Tibet, it might be wrong but it sounds good.
This is the sports field, at the school. One of the most popular areas for the kids but Suchin highlighted that this is not really their land and never will be. If locals wish to walk their cows through the the area they will do even during games, as it is considered public open space.
Suchin, he is a Tibetan orphan grew up in the School and I think he has seen his mother once. His story is not unusual but really positive guy.
Got sick… again, yesterday, this has been happening on and off over my travels, so I decided to check my symptoms in my little travel health book. I pretty sure I have or did have Giardia,as it is recurring if left untreated and matches my symptoms pretty well. So have taken a hit of antibiotics and hopefully that will clear it up. Seems to be working. If you dont have a book, no tv and its raining outside, being sick just bites schlong. All you can do is complain to yourself about how sick you are.
An alternative title for this post was ‘The Giarden of Secret Delights’
I just wanted to let everyone know that I am aware of the lack of photos in the more recent submissions. I am really feeling the absence of a camera at the moment , even with just some simple things.
When I was staying in Shimla I asked for hot water and they said they would bring me a water rod. What the? Ok, so i waited and the next thing he walks in holding two exposed wires joined to some coils sandwiched between two boards. He then puts the boards into the bucket of water and then inserts the two exposed wires into the electrical socket (I’m being observant at this time, as you normally are when live electricity is involved, and I see a spark arc in the water and then bubbles start to come out from between the boards. I’m standing outside the bathroom giving myself a good distance while at the same time looking for any loose bits of solid wood just in case the situation changes quickly.) He then tells me, as he stands there in his bare feet, that it will take about fifteen minutes to get hot and to make sure its unplugged before I put my hand in. This stuff is magic! This is when i regret not having a camera, I would love to have got a photo of it.
So please be patient, I’m doing my best to get a camera so I can bring more of these kind of special moments and hopefully some shots of the Himalayas. My next port of call.