Rishikesh---Day 1

For a 6-hour drive, it seemed to go by rather quickly. We hired two very comfortable cars with air conditioning (a luxury that, while not essential, is much appreciated) at $70 bucks a head---I'm quoting prices merely for point of reference by the way.

Along the way up we stopped for lunch at a bus stop with traditional Indian food. Most dishes seem to come with paneer (buffalo cheese cubes) and/or they are prepared with buffalo milk.

I've been trying to be flexible with my diet by taking in a little more milk than I do in LA (which is usually none at all). At times, my stomach has felt a little queasy but I think if I continue to ration the dairy in very small doses I'll be fine.

Anyway, we finally made it into Rishikesh by around 6:30pm (6am LA time).

Apparently, Rishikesh is one of the major staging points for spiritual treks into the Himalyas as the streets seem to be filled with ashrams, spiritual seekers, people chanting and performing pujas, and bystanders.

I haven't had much time to look around because it was getting dark quickly and we entered an ashram which seems like a little village unto itself.

The ashram is called Paramanth Niketan---I think that's how its spelled. Google it if you get a chance.

After arriving we walked (barefoot) to a fire ceremony on the banks of the Ganges river. There were a few hundred people in attendance and it was quite a beautiful scene with the auburn sun descending in the haze of wood fire, and the peaceful sound of steady chanting... Literally something out of a movie.

We then ate together, although I wasn't very hungry at all.

My energy level started to majorly drop off during our meal and I found myself having to rally to keep my eyes open. I'm still doing much better today than I was yesterday.

Oh, and I didn't mention that we joined 9 others who flew in from LA, Australia and London. There should be about 50 of us altogether within the next couple of days.

I'll get into why we're all here on tomorrow. Too tired to type any more---and I'm looking over at my roomie Will who's over in his bed with his eyes closed.

The idea is to get up at the crack of dawn---and I mean the crack (5 am) and go walk across this bridge to bathe in the brisk Ganges water.

Now, I still don't know how I feel about that (for many many reasons) but we will see---and you will read about---where inspiration takes me when that hour comes.

For now, good night. Or good morning ; )