North India #2

If you want to explore India you can hire an Enfield bike to ride around on. They are very good motorbikes but make sure you are careful because the roads are bad and the drivers are mad. The Corbett National Park is near to Delhi and you can go for a ride on an elephant through the jungle. The Corbett National Park has tigers and the main function is to preserve the natural wildlife of the jungle in the Park. You have to be lucky to see a tiger in the park because they are very shy of men and will avoid them.

To get to Rishikesh you climb the foothills of the Himalayas close to the source of the Ganges River. The beatles and other celebrities came to india in the sixties to study meditation. Not much has changed here for centuries. You can stay at a meditation center, or ashram. Each ashram follows a specific dogma that is taught by a guru. There is cheap accommodation and good food. But you have to follow the rules such as no nudity or no playing cards. People come to an ashram for peace and contentment or a spiritual journey. In the morning you can do a yoga lesson and practice the asanas or exercises. Learn how to do spinal twists, shoulder stands, and surya namaskar.

The train journey to Shimla winds through the jungles and mountains. Simla was the british capital during the hot season. The British made this a social center and was a center of sophistication. Today it is a popular Indian tourist resort. In Indian society it is not appropriate for boys and girls to hold hands or show affection to one another.

North of Simla is the valley of Kulu and Manali. Manali is at the bottom of the Himalayas and is the home of many types of people as diverse as hippies and trekkers. In the old pine forests there is an old temple that was built centuries ago. The temple has intricate wood carvings that cover the lintels and beams. The road to Leh goes through some of the highest mountain passes in the world. Altitude sickness is a possibility and you might suffer from bad temper. The passes are blocked by snow and ice during the winter months. For breakfast you can have mutton wrapped in pastry. The border with Tibet is only ninety miles away. Refugees come from Tibet and settle in the area. The only signs of life are the prayer flags of the Tibetan refugees.

In the nineteenth century the british made roads through the area. The roads are commonly needing maintenance. In the Ladakh region there are yaks before descending into the Indus Valley. The hills are dotted with Budhist monasteries which have prayer wheels that you turn to send prayers around the world. Buddhism is commonly practiced in Ladakh and the monasteries have intricate Buddhist art works and buddha statues covered in gold paint. There are mud chortens where the old lamas are buried.

Leh is the capital of the Ladakh region and was once a crossroads of a trading route from long ago. The hills surrounding Leh offer spectacular climbing and in the winter you can also go snow skiing.

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