Venezuela

...first South American travel experience...some lessons

1. know what the currency is doing - in this case the Bolivar Fuerte (Bf), which replaced the Bolivar as of Jan 1, 2008 - essentially taking the Bolivar and dividing it by 1000, since there were 100 000 Bolivar notes and the like...i guess at that point the currency gets kind of meaningless. The Bf has an official (2Bf to 1USD and 3.5 Bf to 1EUR) and a black market rate - 5Bf to 1USD and 7Bf to 1EUR...so, cash does talk and, with a good rate on the black market, you can effectively halve the cost of your travels...we were only stocked with about 1.5 week's worth of cash, so pretty quickly had to find an alternative...more on that later

2. get organised - we were "organised" for the first 2 nights...and then it was kind of seat of the pants stuff. this approach is ok if you kind of know the country...but not so good when you are hearing stories about the country being unsafe

so, to start out we checked in ok with Iberia...but then had to run for the gate and i was stopped and asked some questions about travelling to South America and Venezuela due to the drugs coming out of that region...a flight down to Madrid...then another to Maiquetia near Caracas...and we were in Venezuela...with a few tips from other people on the flight about where to go, to stay safe and what black market currency rates we could likely get

we found our transfer guy from the hotel catimar pretty quickly, in amongst screaming fans of someone...off to wait for other hotel catimar guests and have our first experience with cambia (money changing)...Serafine is much better at negotiating than me...much, much, much better - so i tried to keep a poker face as Serafine talked the guy up from 6 Bf to 1EUR, to 7...which we found out later was a very good rate at the time...we changed 200EUR while another hotel guest, from the Canary Islands...a native spanish speaker, with good english - a combination we found to be valuable, but very rare in the country

out into the transfer truck and a warm evening, through heavy friday night traffic and to our hotel near the beach...around 7pm, after the sun had gone down...the beach area was full with cars, loud music and drinkers...we checked in pretty smoothly, into a very small room with a tiny window...we crashed on the night of Nov 20th...then woke up round 9 on the 21st to a beautiful day and disappointing beach, small beach area, plenty of litter, but nice in the water...the highlight for me was probably dinner on the second night - seafood rice, kind of like paella...i couldn't stop eating the stuff, and they served us heaps and heaps

2 nights in that environment...then what?...that was where the lack of planning kicked in and we were suddenly out at Maiquetia Nacional Airport to plan on the fly (pardon the pun)...we had a nice option to fly to Punto Fijo, but then realised that if I paid with my credit card we'd be going with the official rate...we also wanted to change some more euros and were on the verge of getting 7.1Bf to 1EUR and negotiating a 700Bf taxi ride to Punto Fijo - out on the Paraguana Peninsula...so the flight fell through, the changing fell through and the taxi fell through...so we decided to go to Maracay, west of Caracas...a taxi from the airport to all of the Caracas bus terminals uncovered zero spots on buses going to Maracay...so, we opted for a bus to Valencia, west again from Maracay and a bargain at about 40Bf each ticket...

Valencia doesn't feel like a nice city though...we arrived there at about 430pm...we had a quick look around the bus terminal for options to get out the next day...then tracked down our bags and a taxi...the bus trip to Valencia was quite good...and we decided on the Hotel Diamante on the way...a not so great choice - it was close to a very rough downtown and felt a bit like a fortress and the spaghetti bolognase bore little resemblance...to much that is edible (Lonely Planet has a lot to answer for re Accommodation guidance, Diamante and Casa Lucetia in Porlamar are not even close to their LP write up)...but i digress

we were super keen to get out of Valencia and grabbed a cab the next morning, back to the Bus Terminal, hearing from the taxi driver along the way that buses to Punta Fijo wouldn't start until later in the afternoon - another lesson learnt - trust between 40 and 80 percent of what you hear, or what you think you hear - we had all kinds of fun trying to talk and understand spanish, Serafine is much more proficient than me, thankfully...when we got to the bus station we found...or got found, by a guy organising a car to go to Coro/ Punto Fijo, at 70Bf per person...we thought about it for 10 seconds and decided to go for it - they needed 2 more people to go ahead with the trip, they got one and we were off on the road...another good road trip, dropping the other passenger off at Coro and Serafine getting some advice on good places on the Paraguan Peninsula...turns out Adicora had a better set of Playa (beaches) than Punto Fijo..but, at the juncture to either go to Punto Fijo (34km) or Adicora (25km), the taxi driver says it will cost an extra 20Bf to take us to Adicora instead of the agreed Punto Fijo...i lost it a bit then - the guy wants to charge us more, to take us less distance...so we agree to stick with the original plan and head to Punto Fijo and then to Adicora...

we asked the taxi driver to take us to the promising sounding Hotel ????

which, turned out to be the best accommodation so far, in terms of quality and comfort BUT, it was in the middle of nowhere, being south east of the city itself and a 20Bf taxi fare from anywhere...but, it had a pool and casino, 2 restaurants and...it seemed, they could change cash for us at black market rates...which bought on a round of us trying to explain the concept - we'd pay them in USD, they'd give us Bf at black market rates...which didn't turn out to be the case when i checked out my bank statement...luckily they only gave us 1200 Bf, costing me about 500 AUD...live and learn

we relaxed by the pool...had dinner and breakfast in the over airconditioned restaurant and probably relaxed for the first time on the trip...coz we were off to Adicora for at least a couple of days on the beach, which was a relaxing prospect...

so, taxi to Adicora and 100 Bf later, we're checking into the Posada Casa ??? The first real Posada we've stayed in...on the Northern side of a small peninsula that juts out from the main Paraguan peninsula...with the entrance not 5 metres from the sea...it looked really good, and it was, but the mosquitoes loved Serafine, as they did for the whole trip, while they kept away from my hairy arms and legs and apparently not tasty Australian blood!?

Adicora then took over as the most relaxed place we'd been...especially after Raffie told us that the area is ultra keen on tourism...even going so far as imposing martial law on thieves who target tourists. Raffie's a Venezuelan who left the country in 1981 i believe, to work on luxury yachts as a chef...he sure loves his food. Raffie's looking to set up a kite surfing business with Pachi, a real local in Adicora, who sometimes works as a computer technician and sometimes as a kite surfing business owner who is listed in Lonely Planet. We had a couple of nice meals with them...tho don't go to Adicora if you don't like fish - local fresh fish dominates a lot of menus...i had fried fish eggs one morning, which was supposed to help me in a similar way to viagra...didn't have a chance to bust that myth. Swimming in Adicora was in nice, warm Carribean water, though there were a lot of stray dogs, who liked Serafine (the feeling was not reciprocated) and even some crabs who liked Serafine, one latched on to one of her toes at the dinner table outside the Posada...looking back we probably stayed a day too long in Adicora before getting on a local bus to Coro, where we had planned to spend a day or 2

that planned was trumped as we were at the bus station, a new plan came to light - jump straight on a bus to Merida, thus missing out on Coro and Maracaibo. From what we heard later that turned out to be a good plan - Coro was nice, but not for more than half a day and Maracaibo should be avoided all together - according to a couple of sources

so, we had an unexpectedly pleasant day at the Coro bus terminal - sitting in the cafe, having some food, planning the rest of our itinerary...we were feeling good..until we got on the bus at 7pm that night...it was freezing...another lesson - it's good to overpack for warmth on those buses. Serafine was literally freezing - i wasn't any better off...and we were half an hour in to a 9 hour bus trip, overnight! Serafine and a few others complained to the bus driver a few times to turn the AC down...which resulted in him, after our food stop, to come and threaten to turn the AC UP, if anyone else complained. It was RIDICULOUSLY cold - we used seat covers, paper..anything for insulation. We got to Merida with about half an hour sleep and feeling mightily peeved off with the world, completely ruining our good mood when we got on the bus

Merida is breathtaking - sitting on a plateau in the Andes, we chilled out (probably a bad choice of words - more like thawed out) at the Merida bus terminal, with a Brazilian guy - Martin M, who we'd met before we got on the bus. We split a taxi into the centre and went looking for Posada Casa Sol at 730am...i was totally disoriented and moody after not having slept, but at least Serafine's sense of direction was on - we found the BEST posada and one of the best places I have ever stayed (Posada Casa Sol). Off one of the main streets in the centre of Merida, it's run by 2 Swiss folks who bought the house, I think around 8 years ago, simple rooms, really well fitted out, clean...where they made us feel comfortable straight away, especially good after the bus ride from Hell

we got out for a walk around town...checking out the awesome views out into the mountains, doing some shopping at a sunday market and appreciating how clean the city is..especially compared to the other parts of the country that we'd seen up until then...Venezuela is a really beautiful country but they don't know what to do with rubbish - or they do know what to do - drop it where you are

we met a guy called Ysaac - an American/ Venezuelan, who indicated that he'd be able to help us out with some cash change - at pretty decent black market rates, using Paypal, of which I'm a registered member...Ysaac's well placed to cater to tourists - speaks excellent, if American, English, and Spanish, he's young and technologically savvy

the biggest tourist drawcard in Merida is the Telefirico, which is a great idea - extensive cable car system from near the town centre up into some of the mountains in the Andes surrounding the town...but, it's been out of action for a couple of years - it's kind of symbolic of tourism in Venezuela - a great idea, but badly maintained with no real planning to it...so, to get to the villages previously serviced by the Telefirico you now have to get transport to the villages and do some hardcore trekking - the villages are consequently suffering in terms of the number of tourists

a few of my decisions around travelling were...let's just say ill advised..or more to the point, ill conceived...to name the most prominent - spending an extra day in Adicora - we'd seen all there was to see, but stayed one day too long...staying an extra day in Merida - too much of a good thing - we had a great time in Merida but stayed that extra day too long...taking a car ride from Merida to Caracas - I thought we'd get to see some more of the country, but we chewed up a whole day and the drive wasn't really worth it

it worked out pretty well though - Ysaac drove us from Merida to Caracas, which took about 10 hours...and we met up with Thomas Berry at a bus terminal in Caracas. Thomas organised our Canaima/ Angel Falls tour for us and had all of our tickets and permits ready for us when we met up with him...plus loads of advice and some good homespun Venezuelan philosophy - Thomas went to Venezuela when he was a baby (with his parents) and grew up there - his english is perfect, as is his venezuelan/ spanish and he's married to a venezuelan soap star - my favourite quote of Thomas was, when he got asked about how the 2008/ 2009 Global Financial Crisis was affecting Venezuela, he said that Venezuela is always in crisis, so they hadn't noticed a difference - interesting guy with a dry sense of humour

...so, after a couple of hours waiting at the terminal, we got on our bus to Cuidad Bolivar, where we were to be met by a local guy who'd take us to the airport, for our light plane trip to Canaima, where our tour would start - all that went according to plan...except that we arrived at 4.30am and our pickup was meeting us at 6.30am - so a couple of hours "relaxing" in the pre dawn at Cuidad Bolivar bus terminal...before our pickup picked us up and got us on the way

the light plane was a 6 seater, including the seat for the pilot, but a pretty smooth flight out to Canaima, where we bought our national park permits and then kicked back to wait for our local guide to come and meet us...our group arrived in ones and twos, until we were all there and Churun, our guide, took us off to camp, where we had an hour to go swim in the Canaima Lagoon before lunch and an afternoon tour

the area is naturally spectacular - the camps at Canaima are right on the lagoon, which sources it's water mainly via 3 waterfalls, including the immense Hacha Falls, and, further up Salta Angel (Angel Falls). The afternoon tour included a boat trip to Hacha Falls, a walk behind Hacha Falls, then a walk overland through some bushland and a swim in a small lagoon and water fall. All this water eventually ends up in the Orinocco River...

back to the camp for a sunset walk around the Lagoon...a few disappointing things about the tour - the food - they've got this awesome natural area with perfect growing conditions and they have mass produced, crappy food...

overnighting in dorms, up for breakfast then a wait before taking a bus up to the top of the falls into Canaima Lagoon and a powered boat trip up towards Salto Angel...the boat trip was great and unexpected - some really tight and rough rapids...about a 4 hour trip, punctuated with lunch about half way and we reached the drop off point to Salto Angel - the face of Salto Angel faces south west, so, by the time we got to the base at about 2, the sun was past the top of the falls - i'd recommend trying to get up there in the morning if you go - that way you'd get the sun directly on the falls in all their glory...their glory is also influenced by how much rain has fallen at the top of the falls - the water collects on top of Tepui - flat topped mountains - one of the things the area is famous for. Story has it that Jimmy Angel - an American pilot, crash landed his plane at the top of the falls and spent 12 days making his way from the top to the base - to get help from the locals...later, he was telling his story in Caracas (I believe) to a cartographer who offered to go back to the falls and measure their height...somehow the venezuelens managed to call it Angel Falls...and guide's reckon that Hugo Chavez will soon rename it..Chavez Falls...though that might be too much of an omen for his presidency?! haha

a night in hammocks in a pretty basic camp...again, would have been nice to have a camp fire and cooked over it...then a much quicker trip down river to the big camp...

we had a flight booked back to Cuidad Bolivar and then an overnight bus trip back to Caracas...Then a flight to Isla De Margarita...

BUT, there was a plane on the runway that would go direct from Canaima to Isla De Margarita = brilliant! But, it was a big chunk of our remaining cash...we did some quick sums and it was a goer...the bonus was a takeoff and short detour out over Angel Falls from Canaima airport...then an hour and a half up to Isla De Margarita...then we bought our tix to Caracas at the airport then a quick taxi ride to Porlamar - the biggest city on Margarita, but not the capital...and our second questionable LP recommendation - Posada Lutecia - it had a decent, but very small pool and a decent rooftop bar area...but the rooms were old, dirty..but, probably the most important thing to us at that stage was CHEAP, unfortunately not cheap and cheerful, just cheap...

porlamar does, however, have a beautiful beach..and a Mercantil Bank - where we were to get the rest of our cash that we'd transferred to Ysaac - we had a cheque for 5000 Bf - enough for 1.5 weeks travel...we found the bank, had a very average seafood grill, spent a nice afternoon at the beach and had a drink with the Urugyan, french speaking barman...also had a great pizza in there somewhere and a couple of surprisingly good nights sleep...

then, to the bank on the Monday morning...turned out to be a partial bank holiday. we discerned from a local sitting out front of the branch we went to...but there was another branch just out of town, by bus...luckily the bus came past as we were discussing options and our local friend told us to jump on - so we did, not entirely convinced we were on the right bus...with our eyes peeled for the branch, Serafine heard from another passenger that it was a bank holiday, so we were unlikely to find the branch open - a cash disaster for us...

but, on hearing that we were driving through a bank area of the city...so we decided to jump off, fortunately right outside a Mercantil branch, fortunately, which was open, despite most of the other banks in the area being closed...

20 minutes in a queue and the teller tells us that we can only cash a cheque for 4000 Bf...if we wanted to get 5000 Bf out, we'd need to get the person who wrote the cheque to write out 2 cheques...

But, Ysaac was in Merida - about 15 hours away...

so we pleaded...the teller asked the Bank Manager, who approved the 5000Bf withdrawal...and we were walking away with more cash than you should sensibly be seen with on a Venezuelan Street..safely tucked away in my backpack, we were ready to head to our next destination - Playa El Agua on the North East Coast of Margarita...

and, bingo, beautiful beach...but

we'd made a booking on a 3rd party website at the Hesperia Playa El Agua Hotel...which hadn't quite made it through to the Hesperia...so they wouldn't acknowledge the 320 Bf/ night booking...but Serafine wouldn't have that...and was on the phone with the website we'd booked through...was working the bloke in reception...and it paid off - we ended up with 2 nights @ 400 Bf/ night, thanks to Hesperia, no thanks to the 3rd party website - another lesson - be careful about the third party web sites...however, Agoda in Asia is a really good site in this category...

finally, we were checked in, got a dip in one of the 7 pools and started enjoying the all inclusive - 3 resaurants, cocktails from 11am...

and enjoying Playa El Agua - some good surf, a nice long beach..the Venezuelans there didn't really do surf though, most folks were keen to get out up to their thighs...and if you tried to go out any deeper - to where the waves were breaking, an overzealous whistleblower would dissuade you...and, if he wasn't around, an unofficial lifeguard - a mid 50's masseuse, who looked like she'd spent a good portion of her life on the beach, unprotected by suncream...imperiously let fly with her whistle on whoever got too far out into the surf on her watch

we got online and booked 3 more nights there in a better room, for a lower price - via the Hesperia offical website...and spent a few days warding off beach vendors, enjoying the all inclusiveness of the resort and, finally for me, getting a surf out at El Agua - even though i had no paddling fitness, it was great to get out in the surf again after a looooong time off...

then, a taxi ride back to the Margarita airport...a quick plane trip back to Maiquetia Nacional Airport...then some "negotiating" for a taxi - where we paid the 100 Bf asking price in the end, to the Hotel Ole Caribe - perched atop a hill in Mercator

a comfortable but ageing hotel and a decent nights sleep...lazy breakfast by the pool...then a real early transfer to the internacional airport - to huge queues...weird - we were lined up for nearly 2 hours, but by the time we got to the front of the queue, there was no queue left, so we could have had another 2 hours near the pool

we cleared passports...with 500 Bf still in our pockets - a bit ironic after all the struggles we had for cash along the way - some turbo shopping...then rush for the gates - for the flight to be 45 minutes delayed...and off we went, back towards Madrid

Cash - know the best way to get your hands on local currency - if it's by the blackmarket - make sure you've got enough hard currency, or the means make the exchange

Get a decent itinerary - it doesn't have to be minute perfect, but it should be to a good level of detail and..have 3 alternative itineraries
Negotiate - ask what the price is, what their best price is, then go in with half the price

don't fight it...

yep, they kicked me out of NL - as an aussie i'm allowed 90 days out of 6 months in schengen area countries in the EU...the company i was working for kept extending my contract, which was initially 3 months...saying that i'd be ok to stay past the 90 days...right up until the 90 days was about to expire, then their position changed so i had to get out quickly - within 3 days of meeting with their HR department. not great news when you've started seeing someone - that kind of knocked the wind out of those sails...so i jumped on the Eurostar train from Brussels Zuid station, through a bit of France, under the English Channel tunnel and got off at the first stop in the UK - Ebbsfleet, to be picked up by Benny and Poppy - Lou was out on a Hen's night for Nicole...

a couple of nights near Strood, then a bus with Benny up to London, tube out to Heathrow, Singapore Airlines business class out to Singapore...and here i've been for the past 5.5 weeks

Don't Fight It - the name of a song from The Panics latest album, which i'm finding a bit of comfort in at the moment - and which may end up being a Dirty Scooter Crew cover in the next couple of years - basically the way i take the lyrics is - there's invisible things in your life that you end up fighting against with your emotion and energy, but that can be exhausting...and i've been fighting for the past 5.5 weeks and i'm exhausted - letting it go and realising it feels kind of energising

...and another line which i'm quite liking - "with God as my witness" - not going to make any pronouncements about converting to this or that...but it also kind of helps when i think of my actions under the notice of someone who knows everything but won't judge me - bringing my actions/ thoughts/ emotions into the light helps too

where does that all leave me...in Singapore for another 6 days then heading North to the UK and then Venezuela til mid December...then ?????????????????????

Don't fight it :)

crossroads...Gent/ Belgium...they're gonna kick me out...

i'm now coming up to the end of my contract...and my Schengen visa here in NL...i'm not really sure what's next...options = UK to Guatemala to UK, UK, India, Australia, Singapore or more time in NL...this will all get sorted, one way or the other, or the other in less than 3 weeks...

since my last post, my middle bro Benny, his wife Louise and my 6 month old niece Poppy Mae came for a visit over the UK Bank Holiday weekend...we spent some good time in my flat here in The Hague...a great day in Amsterdam with the highlight the Van Gogh museum - with around a third of his original works and great info on his life and contemporaries...with a brilliant research program which is uncovering more and more info on his life

since then there's been some a heap of work...but some good times with people from the project - a load of Aussies - Ash from Melbourne, Mary from Adelaide...then the locals - Serafine and Melajnia from Belgium, Dirk from Germany, Charl from South Africa...most of them are in the previous post from the Limoncello session

Serafine and I have had a few sessions swimming in the North Sea...i didn't realise when i agreed to go swimming that she's an ex Belgian national champ, with a great tan...next to the fluouresent white Aussie, it's pretty funny...and Serafine dropped me in Gent last weekend, on her way out to Tunisia. Gent's a beautiful city in Belgium, some amazing buildings and such a cozy atmosphere...the weather was turning - good enough to have some good strolls round the city, but cool enough for cozy evening beers in some great old pubs...one i went into was almost completely dark - not sure if the power was out or they were aiming for ambience - it was nice either way :)

the train back to Den Haag, via Antwerp and Rotterdam is great...for someone who loves cities it's nice to spend time or pass by some of these great European ones...

now, back in Den Haag, working...with 3 weeks til my visa expires and wondering where my next stop will be :)

just add limoncello...

...and forget the rest. the NL summer evenings are great for dinner, so some folks from the project I'm on are taking off once/ week to enjoy it while it lasts...

this week was Limon - a tapas place in one of the more expensive parts of town. i was keen to get out, we're in full on training mode at the moment, so busy, stressful...there was a break in the schedule last wednesday...a couple of beers, nice food, surrounded by Belgians and Dutch, not having much idea about what was being said...there were a few aussies there...

i should have stopped at a couple of beers...but it's so easy to keep going with daylight til after 10pm...next stop was an italian place that we've been to a couple of times...and my first experience of limoncello...probably my last...like my photo, things got a bit hazy after that :)

Scheviningen

...yeah, i still can't say it properly either :) It's the beach most easily accessible from Den Haag on the North Sea, or Nord Zee as these Dutch folk say...I've been down there a couple of times, on the right day it's so nice that it seems like half of Holland gets down there. I caught the number 9 tram down there from Centraal, out to Scheviningen along Nieuwe Parkplaan then walked up to Westbroekpark - a massive, beautiful parkland where the other half of Holland comes on a nice day. The tram was crammed full, so was Nieuwe Parkplaan...but it's worth it for the beach and the late evening sunsets over Nord Zee to the west...

BHP Billiton First XI

...working here in the Hague with BHP Billiton, a big mining company with Australian (BHP) and South African (Billiton) roots. they have a team in a local cricket competition played after work in the long Dutch summer evenings once/ week. I met one of the aussies organising in the lifts when I first started here and last night I made my debut. Our team was made up of Aussies and South Africans...and Eric Smuts Senior and Junior...Eric Sn works with me, Eric Jn is his 10 yo son, who's a young star in the making

We played at Voorburg Cricket Club, a really well maintained ground on a perfect evening...despite having 10 players, we got up for a win in a 20 overs/ team format. I added about 16 with the bat before being bowled by a slow, straight one and did pretty well at mid off in the field...

afterwards the other team put on Heinekens and a bit of tucker...brilliant!

jetlag, sleeping in and big splifs

...a really comfortable flight over from Houston to Amsterdam - funny thing about the US, they make a huge fuss about you getting in to the country, but make it exceptionally easy to leave...maybe not so funny really...

5 days after my flight, i'm back in my Dutch groove...last 2 days i've slept in til about 11 - combination of the jet lag and a hectic few weeks of joining the project, getting up to speed with what's going on, delivering training and travelling a quarter of the way round the world...it all caught up with me this weekend...

i went up to a really cool courtyard cafe for coffee yesterday...there were these 2 blokes at the end of my street (Nieuwe Molstraat), both coughing heaps...one moreso than the other, they were passing a huge joint between themselves - middle of a busy street, round midday on a Saturday...up in Amsterdam on Friday night was the same deal - someone pulls out a joint and fires it up. Amsterdam was pumping - it is Pride weekend and the city was really warming up to it...it was my first night out in Amsterdam, definitely not the last - i jumped on the train at Den Haag Holland Spoor, and, half an hour later I was at Schiphol, to meet a friend of a friend I'd made in Mysore...then another train to wander round the city...back home by midnight...then a couple of massive sleep ins...and now...Sunday coffee, followed by some Sunday arvo yoga...then work looks a lot slower for the next couple of weeks...

i'm 1 month into a 3 month contract...no indication yet as to if the contract will be extended - everyone's way too busy to try to meet the go live date = 1 September, it's now August 2, and the project's launch has been delayed twice...when they're spending US$1 million/ day on this thing, delays are quite costly...so busy and stressful...

given all that, i'm not sure where i'll be next, tho the FOF i met in Amsterdam said Diwali is on in India in October...and our German manager is suggesting Oktoberfest as a celebration for getting through our work...could be a very good couple of months :)

ciao Houston

at the KLM lounge on the way out of Houston. bought some sunnies at the duty free store, the lady there was not so friendly. i'm trying not to take these personally, find that when i get to a new place i'm very inclined to take things personally...til i get into some kind of comfort zone...

on the bright side i then met a very nice girl who loves her job, who works in the KLM lounge...so, what's the answer to being happy?

i'm happy to be heading back to The Hague. Eric and I were booked to head out to Capital Grille last night. A return trip after Eric had the best steak he's ever had there. I must admit to eating more red meat than i have in ages. My vegetarian exploits ended about a year back.

Instead, we ended up at Houston's with a bunch of other folks from the project. some serious workaholics in that group.

I'm sticking to my guns on the quality front...despite my gen y friend Alex's opinions on the consequences of quality...maybe that's part of what makes me happy

i know, a random, ill conceived post...but that's me today :)

rockin out in Houston, Texas

after landing in Den Haag and getting relatively settled...off to Houston for a week of training some of the guys over here...this kind of random changes in schedule makes my head spin a bit, and, i'm usually more comfortable with order and routine, but this trip has surely tested my ability to handle pressure, adapt to a new environment...each time those boundaries are tested, i think they're also widened a bit...but then again, who wants their boundaries always tested??? is that some kind of masochistic attempt to distract myself from other areas of my life? sometimes i think the answer is most definitely yes...but...

I landed in Houston and caught a taxi to the hotel...my initial impressiions were of the warm weather, signs for the weekend gun show downtown and the laid back nature of the people here...then again, in most restaurants there are signs warning that unlicensed gun carriers can be punished with 10 years jail and a huge fine...how can such laid back people need guns so much?

the work's been quite good...i feel underprepared, tho that's how i often feel...the combination of not good enough training material and not enough time to prepare make the delivery not quite as good as it should be...not looking for perfection, but i think these folks deserve better...on so many jobs over the past few years, these symptoms have been widespread...maybe that's the next revolution - to quality? i like quality

rocking out? a guy from work and i had been talking about how we like to play a bit of guitar - so, at Best Buy last night we went to the acoustic guitar testing room and jammed a bit...it was the most fun i've had since the DSC in Mysore...funny though, coz the room's virtually soundproof, so there was this South African guy and I (Reuben Aldum), playing along, for as long as we liked while no one could hear us...heaps of fun

couple of days and i'm back on a plane to Den Haag, which I'm really looking forward to...tho, after just reading my mate Bec's blog...don't look too far forward, the good stuff's going on now :)

lost in translation/ india & dutch mashup

this post has 2 parts, instead of breaking it up into 2 posts...

pt 1 - lost in translation
coming to the netherlands and looking like a local means that i get approached with folks speaking dutch to me - a lady at a cafe asking me what my lunch was...a bloke parking his bike behind me, telling me that I didn't need to move out of his way...people serving in stores. what's interesting about The Hague is the mix of people - Ive seen just about every representation of cultures here, all speaking Dutch, so the default is to speak Dutch...unlike India where I don't look Indian, so the default is whatever English the local can manage...

...something i bought over from India is the Indian head wobble, present in every conversation i had towards the end of my time there - consisting of a side to side and forward and backward motion of the head, it can mean - yes, no, maybe, thankyou, i'm not sure, i don't understand what you're saying, of course, don't be silly, congratulations, excellent, you're welcome, as reassurance that it is so...meaning, you can come away from a conversation feeling totally confused as to the conclusion. BUT, towards the end of my time in India, I was starting to get it - using my own head wobble to the correct effect, depending on the tone of the conversation, in conjunction with a facial expression to convey an unspoken message...however...

when translated into an office environment in The Hague, it didn't quite translate...someone asked me a question, which i answered with a yes and head wobble as reassurance, leaving the other person a bit bewildered, thinking maybe that i had some kind of nervous tick...

back to the office...like any other office, but i do enjoy the work..and my time in India has made the time in the office infinitely more bearable - some of the things i picked up from practising, the length of the time i had off...have refreshed me somewhat..and the prospect of heading back and taking a similar break soon makes the office more palatable as well...looking at the people in front of the computer screens, with shallow, impersonal interactions is a bit disheartening though...

i've found a permanent place to stay - well as permanent as 3 months worth anyway, pretty close to the hotel i'm in at the moment - just off downtown, in chinatown. nice walk to the office and a tram out to yoga and the beach

back to mysore - my last week was a real blur, though i got to say short or long goodbyes to most folks...and enjoy most of my time...i think i've still got some mysore words left to post...right now though i'm off to get a tram to a 915 yoga class - the dutch aren't really early risers, specially on a sunday - though some folks just rolled into the hotel, still primed after a night at the clubs and abusing the reception guy for champagne...

the ridiculous to the sublime

i'd meant to be in Mysore until my visa almost expired - July 9th, but then i started looking for work...and, one of my contacts came through - big time. I had an interview on Monday, the 22nd of June for a SAP training job in Den Haag (The Hague), Netherlands. The interview took all of 20 minutes...an hour later BHP had offered me the 3 month contract...20 seconds later I accepted. I wasn't having a lot of response from the UK, so why not go where they actually wanted me...

one of the catches - they wanted me to start on June 29th - so scrambling for flights, visas, security clearances, contracts...details, details...so my last week in mysore was a bit of a blur. but i got to spend some good time with the Dirty Scooters and was blessed to spend my last couple of hours with Liz, Bec and Alex...leading up to that i'd been scooting round Gokulam - saying goodbyes, returning guitars, saying farewell to Saraswati - as it turned out my last practise at the Shala for this trip, I was in exactly the same spot as my first. The gates were opened late so there was a mad scramble for spots. I'd lost my regular front left spot, the only spare spot was centre at the very back

the ridiculous - the roads in India being total chaos - i had a driver take me from Siva's place to Bangalore airport - one of his 4 sisters had just been taken to the ER, so he was on the phone every 2 minutes of the 4 hour trip up to Bangalore...ridiculous is the amount of security at Bangalore airport. I don't mean ridiculous in a bad way - but in an over the top kind of way...

the sublime - arriving in Frankfurt airport - the epitomy of German efficiency.

the juxtaposition of India against Germany is pretty interesting. even though I was sad to leave Mysore, and earlier than I'd planned, I'm glad for the chance to keep travelling to new places as a reflection on my attitudes, emotions and habits - samskaras if you will - I know that's one of Liz's favourite yoga words ;)

the efficiency of Frankfurt? epitomised by the security screening - the plastic tubs that you put laptops, jackets, belts etc in, are automatically returned, bowling ball style to a guard standing at the front of the security section...the ergonomics and efficiency are seemless

Frankfurt to Amsterdam - 50 minute flight...then used my credit card to buy a first class train ticket to Den Haag. Turns out i sat in second class, which the guy checking the tickets pointed out, second class was fine with me. I used my debit card to withdraw some euros, which I've been using in Den Haag - after I found my hotel and crashed monumentally - i was absolutely spent after running round all week and getting about 5 hours rough sleep on the Lufthansa flight

the sublime - the urban planning of Den Haag against the ridiculous (in a good way), effervescent growth of Bangalore

i've got some Mysore words left, I think, but travelling again opened my eyes and senses and keeness to put some words in my blog :)

the perfect chai...

is one of the names that our band is going by at the moment...as artists, we're more concerned with the music than the name of the band...we might even go without a name...though the latest thinking on that is...the band is now called The Dirty Scooter Crew...

Dirty Scooter because we're gritty, down to earth musos = Dirty...also coz Bec and Liz reckon that Scooters are dirty, polluting machines...bec had a brilliant idea to call the backups = rickshaws, but Dirty Scooter Crew and the Rickshaws is too much of a mouthfull..so Dirty Scooter Crew we is...and here are some of the members in a Rickshaw on the way to Julian's 40th dinner at the Metropole;





our band includes bec (from Florida) and I on acoustic guitar, liz (from Florida) on backing vocals, tambourine and chai, nat (From Illinois and Mexico) on backing vocals and asking questions, alex (from Malaysia) on backing vocals and reading, hanuman (from ?) on human beatbox...and the latest additions, all the way from Norway = Elin and Lars - these guys are in a real band in Norway so they add a lot of class to the lineup

our favourite time of the week is Friday band practise, where the beers come out;


we cite our influences as Neil Young, Green Day, Concrete Blonde, Gomez, Tom Waits, Pink Floyd...and India - being the motivation for a lot of bec's lyrics

we reckon we're a couple of weeks away from gigging...which is what we've said for about the last month or so :)

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois - 1915 - 2009

...Guruji passed away on Monday, May 18 at 1430 Mysore time. Since I arrived in early April there's been rumours about his health - in hospital intensive care, out of hospital. Not taking food, only drinking milk...reciting death shloka...long time students coming to Mysore to pay maybe their last respects...Sharath coming back from a tour of the US... Manju coming to Mysore...

a new chanting course was scheduled to start at 1630, so Natalie and I went along to the Shala just before. There was a fire being built in the drive way and, when we went to go inside we got told something about "Guruji, not good..." then Natalie, Lee and I waited out the front to see what would happen. A local told Nat that this was a ritual performed for a death. We started to see visitors file into the shala...and in we went, after I'd asked Shiva what was going on. Rightly, he told me to take the jasmine off my scooter...in i went with Guruji's body in the middle of the marble floor of the Shala, surrounded by family, friends, students. This was the first time I'd seen Guruji in person. It seemed to me like I was intruding somehow, I'd never had a direct relationship with the man, moreso relationships with his teachings. So, I stayed for a short while and took in the atmosphere...and left to reflect a bit myself on what it all meant.

a group of us got together at 6th Main for dinner with a few rumours flying about what would happen as part of the funeral rites...what would happen at the shala...while this was going on a big rain storm was brewing, that lasted most of the night. Scooters and motor bikes cruised through a huge downpour, back to 6th, 7th and 8th where we all were staying... by the time we got back home after dinner, the first of the Pujas was going on in the basement of the Shala. The body was displayed while the mantras and rituals occurred...we were given dry rice to put somewhere on the body (a lot went in the mouth), I put mine near his heart...the body was moved to the back of a van then taken to the nearby crematorium...where, according to Pattabhi Jois Hindu caste, only men could be present at the final rituals before the body was burnt. From what I understand the body is burnt almost immediately as it is considered impure and the spirit, which has left the body must be encouraged to move on - a quote I just read says something about the astral body, or soul, or spirit, will linger as long as the physical body is visible - hence it is spiritually expeditious to burn the physical body...and so it was with Pattabhi Jois' body

last Sunday, the 31st of May, marked the end of the mourning period and associated rituals. White is the colour of mourning and the Shala and street outside were packed with Indians and foreigners paying their respects to Guruji's spirit. Inside the Shala, at the back of the room were a number of Brahmins chanting...again, I felt like a bit of an intruder...not being close with Guruji...but I'm beginning to appreciate that all manner of Indian ceremonies are attended by a wide group of people, sometimes with minimal association with the participants - weddings, house warmings, even funerals are attended by folks with very tenuous links...just like me. We were treated to a lunch served on banana leaves under the huge awning assembled out on the street in front of the Shala.

during the week leading up to the 31st there was a huge wave of visitors to attend the ceremony. that wave has subsided somewhat this week. The Shala's open for practise again next Monday, the 8th and, in an important way it will be different, but somewhat the same.

RIP Guruji

full moon weekend

the yoga practise is typically 6 days/ week, excluding full and new moon days. the past 2 "moon days" have conveniently fallen on Friday and Sunday, so we've had 2 day breaks - you get to stay up late - even to midnight! late nights when you're getting up at 4am to start practise at 5am are 9pm...well, for me at least...

A chess tournament was on the agenda on Saturday, May 9th. Jonathon organised it (Jonathon's practising Bheema Shakti yoga...i think that's right)...and had about 12 participants. Jon's first shot at organising meant that we ran a bit overtime. Donations were taken for Odamati - I think that's the spelling - an organisation aiming to stop people trafficking in the sex trade, especially children...the tourney was set in the sunny confines of Om Cafe at Alia's...



that night we took off to Planet X...x for extreme I guess - go karts, bowing, pool, hookah club...i took part in extreme dinner and a round of go karts;




after the extremity of Planet X, the serenity of sunrise at Chamundi Hill...meaning a 4.30am get up, riding the scooter through the unusually quiet Mysore streets with Sandra, also on a scooter, to the top of Chamundi Hill...to wait...until about 6am for this;


Chamundi Hill sits on the Eastern side of Mysore, so obscures most of the sunrise, by being at the top, Sandra, Carole and I got a great view of the sun...not breaking the horizon, but rising out of a blue haze. We could look directly at the sun for about 10 minutes before we were off to find the Nandi (the Bull which Shiva rides), about a third of the way up (or down) Chamundi Hill;



a very happy discovery has been the pool at the Regalis (Southern Star). a really cool oasis in amongst temperatures reaching 38C at the moment;



a very unhappy undiscovery was a yoga sutras discussion group...we were following an item from the local newspaper advertising a discussion group in Lakshimpuram...i'm developing a theory about Lakshimpuram that they have massive roadworks each night to entirely reconfigure the streets - each time I go there I invariably get lost



Big, Bad Ben from Texas left Mysore Tuesday, May 14th. Ben's got a great propensity when it comes to his food - both in terms of seeking out new dining experiences (you may remember from an earlier blog, Ben's sampled road kill) and the amount he puts away. As a fan of Flight of the Conchords he's always willing to give the kiwi iccent a go, as well as the aussie flavour. One of his last meals was at 3 sisters...here's one of Ben's Flight of the Conchords moments;



Carole the kiwi also left Mysore...parting usually involves meals...so we had a Friday night dinner at the Green Hotel, undercover due to the steady rain, bought to us by this storm;

Carole, like a lot of us, is already planning a trip back :)


my comfort level on the scooter's way up, so much so that I can now comfortably take passengers...Karnataka state traffic law limits passengers to a grand total of one. So, when I attempted to take Ben and Joe from the Metropole Buffet back to Gokulam, I ended up with a Rs 400 fine for my trouble. We got stopped at a traffic light, the rotund policeman ran over, whistle on fire and pulled my keys out. There are many instances of people seeing a law enforcer...and taking off, so when the Police catch somebody, they make sure they get something out of them. We did the right thing, including Ben and Joe insisting on an official ticket and not paying the Rs 300 the cop tried to write up on a scrap piece of paper...so back to the Police station, me driving with the traffic cop as my passenger, much to the amusement of me and everyone we passed, including rickshaw drivers laughing out loud...and the cop sitting way back on the seat and telling me "slow down, slow down". Back at the station I had an official ticket and the traffic cop telling me I was a gentleman, I assume because I was pretty cool about the whole thing

i know...another blogging montage :))

attack of the monkeys

there's a lot of monkeys around Gokulam, they seem to me to be liking the idea of an "organised" society, and maybe wanting to join in. there was one little guy up on our balcony, rummaging through a bag, looking very much like a small, agile human (or maybe that's just my view of the world and humans are just large, slow moving monkeys?)

up and down the street the monkeys were in various fun activities, the street being setup perfectly for monkey business - a lot of large trees providing a canopy of foliage for the entire street...why they turn up when they do is a mystery at the moment, at least to me. there's been a couple of days of heavy monkey action, one being two days back - they play happy mayhem with all types of monkey activity, including attempted procreation, for all of 20 seconds across the road in a tree...

i had some almonds that ants had gotten to, which proved the perfect temptation for a monkey photo shoot on our balcony. with eyes much bigger than stomachs, they'd keep coming for more and more almonds, until their cheeks bulged...here's some shots of the monkeys...

Mahadeshwara...

about 4 weeks ago, when I first arrived in Mysore, I went on huge walk...along the way Leah and I happened upon a Mahadeshwara temple, under construction. there were banners for the grand opening, occurring May 4th (international Star Wars Day), 5th and 6th. So, yesterday, Tuesday, May 5th, I happened along again, with Oden, to see what the grand opening was all about.

Mahadeshwara is an earthly incarnation of the Hindu God Shiva, who is said to have lived in the 14th century in an area including Mysore...who was manifest in order to destroy and evil king - Shravanusara...

Oden and I saw a puja being made to a column which was being erected out front of the main temple...I think the column is devoted to a Nandi...I can see why these occasions take days to perform - the Brahman priests were blessing every single part of the construction. I spoke with Andrew about it - the temple has been under construction since they arrived - last January - so about 15 months in the construction...this pic's of Mahadeshwara, on his Tiger. I like Shiva as a God, my take on Shiva, at the moment is that he/ she often takes the form of the destroyer - typically of ignorance, vanity and unhealthy aspects of the ego...with destruction a necessary part of cycles in life. One thing about this that I like is a lesson to not hold on to material things to much - they are transitory and continually subject to change...that's my interpretation at least...or part of it



this next shot's of the column going up...i can kind of see why there's a lot of accidents in India...there were at least 30 people way too close to the column, which had to weigh close to 2 tonnes...i was a safe distance back...



the kids loved the cameras...i was surprised there were only 3 at the event - Oden's, mine and a video camera...thinking I'll get a few shots made into prints and take them down to the temple.

blogging montage...

what to do when you haven't blogged for a few days? use that ol' Hollywood technique of the montage, you know, the part of the movie when they play music and the great drama in the movie is resolved...by a montage of images...

breaking up with your ayurvedic health practitioner...Lee and I signed up at Swastha, an Ayurvedic health clinic in Gokulam....Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of health, a wholistic way of treating an individual's physical and mental health...I've read a bit about Ayurveda and, long term I'd like to read and possibly study a lot more...the Swastha clinic is run by a young Ayurvedic doctor, who puts together a program for yoga students/ active people...he had Lee initially agreeing to a 21 day program, which I got 7 days through. It consisted of daily massage with lots...and lots of oil, in the capable hands of 2 massage guys and then the good doctor would come in for some heavy massage work...about an hour's worth of massage, then hot, hot herbal packs prepared on the stove and tamped all over the body...too hot sometimes :) the whole routine challenged some of man/ man intimacy ideas i had, not that i want to jump the fence, but i feel a lot more comfortable being butt naked and lubed up in the presence of dudes...

aside from that...the treatment involved a steam chamber on day 4, which knocked the stuffing out of me...and then some castor oil ingested on day 6...which was a really effective treatment getting fully flushed out...BUT, along with yoga practise, it was a bit too much, so i resolved to finish after 7 days. this breakup went smoothly, I told Lee and Natalie that I was finishing after 7...and they actually broke the news to the doctor...a painless breakup for me. So back to the practise today (May 4th), with no Ayurvedic treatment - and a really strong practise. So much so, that Saraswati is having me start Salabasana on Wednesday - apparently no new posture day on Tuesdays

I went with Alex downtown - me keen on checking out Ashok's - a renowned book store in the city...Alex to pick up some tailoring from Rashinkar's - Ashok's is great - I picked up the 3rd Stephanie Meyer and a dictionary for scrabble at Santosha...

then off to Rashinkar's for Alex...who ended up engrossed, so I took off to try to find some ipod speakers in KT Street...i ended up in a section of the city where gold, silver and precious stone shops are clumped together...then there was a parade down one of the tiny side streets, and, for some reason having a westerner in the parade is good luck, so they pull me in for a bit of a dance - tho i'm not sure why they're parading, i go along for a bit, then opt out...a young local called Imran catches me asking for speakers, then offers to take me to KT street, along the way he tells me that he's from Goa, studying Ayurveda in Mysore. Imran's looking to finish his studies in Mysore then go back to Goa and open his own practise. Imran tells me about an oil factory that presses it's own sandalwood, lotus, hash, opium oil...i'm interested but some other time, not so much in the hash and opium, but some good, cold pressed oils would be great to get a hold of...finally, to KT street (electronic goods hub in Mysore) and the first store has a decent sub woofer and small speaker set - a brand called Frontech...for Rs 1300...I offer 1000, we agree on 1175 - i'm kind of getting the hang of this...the other notable interaction of the trip was lassi's at Bombay Tiffany's - very...very good...i had to take a second...

and yesterday, Sunday May 3rd, I was talking with a new arrival who I met at Om Cafe - James, from Hawaii via Singapore, about getting a guitar - he gave me good directions to a music store in the city, so after meeting up with Ben for a midday chai and mango crisp at Santosha, I took off on the scooter and badly followed James' direction, ending up instead at Chamundi Hill - definitely on my to do list, but a long, long way from my intended destination. Chamundi Hill sits imposingly over Mysore and I found myself riding along and somehow drawn to it, then up it...a local waved me down for a lift up the hill. If he'd known that I'm a newbie on the scooter he might not have waved me down...when we were pressed against the side of the road by a tourist bus going up the hill and overtaking us, he would have definitely been having second thoughts! I dropped him nearly at the top and rode on up...for a brief look around - reckon I'll be back this weekend for a betterer look round sunrise, when it's a bit quieter...

getting home was circuitous - i ended up on the road back to Bangalore, finally making my way back to Gandhi Square in the city, from where I'm now adept at getting back to Gokulam...where an afternoon Dosa, an afternoon Chaat, an evening ice cream and a game of Carrom with Elizabeth, Ben and Oden took place :)

which brings us to today, watch out for the next montage ;)

breaking up with your rickshaw driver

...manju's been very accommodating, i guess he's taken me round town at least 10 times since our first meeting outside the Green Hotel...each day Manju would be asking "what time tomorrow?" "Chamundi Hill tomorrow?" "Shops tomorrow?" Like all relationships, the one with the rickshaw driver requires patience and communication...and you've got to know when to call it off. There's variation in the price, some rickshaw drivers, when you ask the price will say "you decide", they're keen to upsell you to further away locations for more lucrative fares...either way Manju's a good one, upfront and honest...maybe it's just coz he's young and hasn't learned to lie with a straight face...yet

my scooter's given me a new lease on life...freedom and independence...and I'm pretty settled in Gokulam, get along to Loyal World when I need to, eat out at Green Hotel, Green Leaf, Alia's, Santosha, 3 sisters, Sandhia's, Aunties, Dasaprakash...all places I can get to on the scooter...

telling Manju that I don't need to be picked up everyday is difficult...we'd arranged a time yesterday, but I decided to break it off. Manju calls up on Monday and says "I pick you up at 5 today?" I say no, pick me up Wednesday at 5...Manju asks "tomorrow at 5?" i say No, no, Wednesday at 5, he says ok...today at 5? We repeat this cycle a few times until we hang up with me unsure whether he's going to show up at my flat today or not...so, I wasn't there at 5, or the day after...and no phone call...why hasn't he called??? i think we're officially broken up...good thing there's another 2000 rickshaw drivers in Mysore...

Mysore Birthday - thanks Facebook

...while my birthday crept up I was mixing with a group of people I'd known only a short while, in most cases less than a month...I was thinking that maybe my birthday would arrive and it would be my secret...then Facebook intervened and my new FFs suddenly knew it was my birthday...3 sisters for late lunch, with a nice chorus of happy birthdays...then a cafe - can't quite remember the name, for a surprise cake, thanks Kalei!!!

the pic is from the first time I went to 3 sisters for lunch, but it gives an idea of the place...thanks Oden, Frederick, Elizabeth, Alex, Kalei, Lee, Natalie and Harold for singing happy birthday :)

then, when I got home, I was pretty spent from lack of sleep, a big lunch, big lassi, big piece of cake...and Hanuman and Simone had decorated my room with balloons and bought me a gift...awwww, thanks to those guys...Hanuman and I then used my present for a couple of games of Carrom, kind of a snooker board game, with 4 players...I'm new to it, so it might be a future blog topic

another night of not great sleep on my birthday :((

but then...

i've been having a daily Ayurvedic treatment - 2 hour hot oil massage and hot herbal packs, my 3rd one was yesterday, April 28th...3 indian guys, virtually no clothes (on me), lots of oil and deep massage. Lee's quick to point out, I think in jest, that it's a bit much for a homophobic aussie like me (only part of that description suits me, I'll take the aussie bit, some of my best friends aren't gay)....besides that, yesterday i felt great after it, really relaxed...then in bed by 6.15, for 10 hours of deep slumber...

my practise today was a bit tight though, but I've settled into a spot in the shala - front left, next to Javier, joined by Lee today. I've been there the past 3 days and I like it...my Pasasana isn't getting any better though, but Saraswati's soldiering on and wrestles me into it every day. touch wood, with all this Ayurvedic massage work, my left knee, which had been bothering me, is getting more comfortable by the day.

there's one blog secret that I've been keeping...Mum, I've got a scooter, but I'm being very careful on the roads. This admission is strategically at the end of this post, but at least I can tell my Mum that I told her...Getting the scooter has given me much more independence...so much so that I'm breaking up with my rickshaw driver, the subject of my next post...

milk it...

Lee's dead keen to get some raw milk to make some raw butter...so we were cruising along to Loyal World for some Khichiri supplies, when we spotted a group of cows being milked on the side of the road...we found the milker with the best English - Mahesh (see the pic) and took a try on the teat...Mahesh and his mates milk daily in the afternoons, so Lee and I arranged with Mahesh to come back and do some milking ourselves and get some milk...hopefully daily. Mahesh said that they deliver milk to the Shala...the milk was so frothy and creamy...just what Lee was looking for...

Mysore Palace has something like 97,000 light bulbs...Hanuman, Alex and I went along, though a bit late...next time i reckon get there a half hour before sundown as the lights are coming on...the street sellers see it as a perfect opportunity to sell to a captive audience...

After taking in the lights there was still time to make it to the shop to pick up the dhoti and kulta...i've loaded a pic of me in the dhoti - Hanuman helped me with tying it on :)

your dhoti and kurta is not quite ready sir...

the shopkeeper phoned the tailor's son, who said that the tailor was at the temple praying...so, it would be another half an hour before my dhoti and kurta would be ready...this was at 1845, after the shopkeeper had assured me yesterday that I come after 1800 and it would be ready...my suspicion is that the half an hour would be closer to 2 hours, so I took off back to Gokulam

i'd arrived at the silk emporium 1820, Manju my rickshaw driver picked me up around 1800, Manju asking - pick up the stitching?, his way of asking if the tailoring had been finished. I'd seen a couple of dhoti's around the place. My friend Andrew, from Adelaide via Encinitas, definitely looks the part in one, as does Arnet and Ben had a shot at wearing one too. Dhoti's are a traditional form of Indian clothing, I'd asked Andrew whether it was a cultural faux pas to call them a skirt...he said, yes, it is...i like the idea, there's a number of different ways to fold the rectangular piece of fabric that is a dhoti, most suited to warm indian weather, allowing some good ventilation up under the fabric, or so it looks like to me.

at the store, when i turned up, they didn't outright say that the tailor wasn't there, but instead suggested i check out some of their other goods for sale, upstairs...they have some awesome brass, marble, onyx, gold and silver, semi precious stones (see the pic in this post), sandalwood, rosewood...after that the shopkeeper gave me the "half an hour" line...enough for me to quit the scene and head back to Gokulam in the rickshaw...

what am I doing here???

...one of my facebook mates asked me that - what am I doing in India? Today and yesterday have been good to reflect a bit on that question. There was no yoga practise yesterday or today, so mainly relaxing round Gokulam.

I've been practising yoga for about 8 years, the last 6 years of which have been a style called Ashtanga, as taught by Sri Krishna Patthabi Jois, who, in turn was taught by Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, a great yogi and teacher who taught and helped many people. Krishnamacharya also had a strong lineage of teachers...

A traditional method of learning Ashtanga under Patthabi Jois method is known as "Mysore Style" - Mysore being the city I'm in at the moment, practising with Patthabi Jois daughter - Saraswati.

I started my Ashtanga practise in Adelaide with Simi and David Roche, then on to Sydney and North Sydney Yoga with Angelika Knoezer who bought Graeme and Leonie Northfield and Dena and Jack Kinsberg to our school each year to teach. The practise involves a set of asanas, or postures, performed 6 days/ week.

All the while speaking with people who practise this style, a question often asked is "have you been to Mysore" - the source of the teaching and a place to really get in touch with your practise

So, for the past 6 years this question has been spinning away in the back of my head. I've had a few half plans to make it over here...then, at the end of 2008, circumstances conspired to open the door fully to this opportunity...everything fell into place, if you will...and, here I am :)

all it's cracked up to be...

the highlight of the day - an "alignment" with Dae, a Hawaiin, Korean girl who has a unique body work method, involving chiropracty, martial arts, yoga, cranio-facial...Lee was the first on the mat, I took a pic of Dae about to mount an assault on Lee...Dae's a really strong gal and the work was pretty deep...to start there was some stretching into the lower back to prepare the body for what was to come...then a kind of wrestle hold on each shoulder, kind of pulling the arm out, extending the muscles around the clavicle...some spinal adjustment and a big twist, arms crossed, one leg bent at the knee. I got some really nice pops going on...

we had late lunch at Tina's, then a dvd and sweets session...the sweets were a bit too much though, within an hour I was coming down off a massive sugar high...which carried over into practise the next day.

Lee's got firm ideas about diet, having gone primal just before he reached Mysore...i'm also starting to notice the effects as well, with the high carb food not really feeling grounded, without enough protein and iron, among other essential nutrients

before all this was breakfast at Joseph's house. Joseph came to practise with Guruji 15 years ago...and is still here. Joseph's spent time organising travel for Guruji's family on a lot of his touring round the world.

Joseph's breakfast spread included dosas, a massive fruit salad, various chutneys and curd...and muesli..

this was after i'd been to Om Cafe (at Alia's) for a cup of coffee, where Natalie and Lee turned up after an ill fated scooter riding lesson for Nat...whereby one of her big toes scraped along the road for a bit...they showed up at Om Cafe and Javier took to the first aid brilliantly...couple of days later and Nat's toe's looking good. Not a helpful injury for the practise though

yesterday (Thursday, April 23rd), there was supposed to be a mass migration to Ooty...but there was a freeze on crossing the Tamil Nadu border, we think because of the elections going on...so, the Ooty crew hung around and we went to the Green Hotel in the arvo, for some protein, mainly in the form of fish...and for a cold beer. Haven't worked out how to position my pics in the text, so i think the beer pic is up at the top???

when it rains...

my stomach probs of my first week in Mysore were almost a memory...but it went from one extreme to another just before my practise on Monday, April 20th. I keep adding in the days as I'm kind of losing track of the day of the week and the date, being disconnected from the daily news and plugged in to talking about yoga, living well, karma, dharma...so the date is kind of in the background. So, before my practise, the drought caused by my stomach being good again, was broken and I had the lightest practise that I've had so far - including my first attempt at Pasasana in the second series. A historically tough posture for me, I was able to bind the posture on both sides, but I was way up on my toes, so balance was near impossible. Saraswati gave me a good, quick, strong adjustment into it...then told me to take Krounchasana in two days time (today). So I took Krounchasana today.

Alia's for breakfast next where I met up with Hanuman and Simone...Simone's laptop was exhibiting some strange behaviour, so, given I've told everyone I work in IT, I took to some computer fixing for Simone, unsuccessfully trying to figure out why the Toshiba light on her machine wasn't working.

Ben and I then took the table at the back underneath the coconut trees. It's the table farthest east so it's in the shade the longest. Hanuman and Simone joined us to get out of the sun...then Lee, then Hanuman and Simone left...then I described some business ideas to Ben and Lee. Breakfast is the perfect forum to postulate and muse on ideas, dreams, ambitions...to prove this point, we were still chatting when Hanuman came back with his friend Ram...by which time it was near midday and time to move on

I'd been keen to work on some yoga sutra chanting, Lee was keen to further his chanting and some philosophy, so, we thought we'd kick off maybe a daily session. First, off to the Green Leaf for some food, after we'd found out that Shiva's kitchen was open between 1 and 2, so we'd missed it.

Shiva recommended the Green Leaf, so Natalie, Elizabeth Lee and I took off there...food was certainly filling...but a little stodgy for me...

now, chanting? nope, shopping at a couple of garage stalls..Natalie ended up with some really nice tops...Lee ended up with an Indian/ Afghani camel trader combo which suited him really well...Elizabeth and I were interested onlookers...sometimes not so interested :)

now, chanting? nope, off to Anu's for smoothies...now, chanting...nope, absolutely stuffed!

April 21st - yep, got some chanting in...after a good practise then I ran into Alex, a girl from Malaysia, who's arrived in the last week, off to get some coffee...I too was interested in some coffee, so we shared a large at Alia's, along with Lee, who added some to his daily large chai, served in the same cup. The combo of coffee and chai? - a dirty chai, apparently quite big in Mexico?

I'd been struggling with sleep, ever since the day I had paan, coffee, a big pot of tea and a couple of bars of chocolate in the evening, so i flaked for about an hour, rebounded in time to get stuck into some banana bread with peanut butter, purchased the day before from the guys sitting across from the shala...then get invited to lunch at Aunty's in Lakshmipuram...having heard lunch there was good, i was in...off to the smallest eating place - see pic - off a small road, down a narrow laneway, in the smallest eating room - 7 of us tucked around this table, getting stuck into the best chapati i've had so far...and some really nice, fresh food

after some ice cream and smoothies...and shopping for khichiri ingredients...i made it back to Lee's...for some chanting - first 10 sutras in all, but it's a start :)

all about the food...

robbie from San Francisco took off from Bangalore at 4am this morning. Yesterday there was a feast in his honour at the Dasaprakash Hotel, apparently the scene of the finest thali...in the world...my judgement is reserved, but, it was really good...really good. after the meal they served small sweets containing paan?, which is traditionally chewed and contains a mild stimulant...that and the chocolate I blame for keeping me awake well past 11!

that was after a 5am lead practise, which, to me felt like a really slow count...then, the coconut man wasn't outside the shala, so a tortuous 50m commute to guru, the coconut man on the intersection at contour road...for one coconut, then back home to lie down, then i was out like a light - heavy, deep half an hour sleep, then off to Alia's for coffee and omelette...then organic markets near the Green Hotel. The market kicks off at 10am on a Sunday...i was a newbie but picked up some dried celery, basil, lemon grass, all spice and drumstick leaves...this week i've resolved to get some structure to my days. The first week was a sensory overload - new at the shala, lots of new people, still very much getting accustomed to India...eating out...A LOT...so the herbs and spices i'll use in some stir fries, a bit of home cooking for some grounding...i've started to clean every couple of days - the flat has tiled floors, which is nice, but with the dryness, everything's really dusty and the ants are really persistent, so Andrew reckons sweeping and mopping regularly are essential...after my first sweeping session, I could see why...

then Dasaprakash for lunch...

then karenji lake, in a group of about 8, it was the first time to the lake for everyone, except me. it's on the opposite side of the city to Gokulam, so not really on the yogi's radar. I see myself spending some hot afternoon's there, it's so green and peaceful

what followed was a fun, random sequence of events...we were with a Hawaiian girl...there I am with names again...who heard about the Lassi's at the 3 sisters restaurant, we took 2 rickshaws with Lee and Nat on their scooter. I was in the rickshaw with the Hawaiin girl, so that means i'm going to Lakshimpuram looking for 3 sisters and lassi...the other guys are keen to head back to Gokulam, but somehow, since ours is the lead rickshaw, we all end up at 3 sisters...which isn't open...we try Aunty's, just down the road, who's somewhat overwhelmed by 8 parched westerners turning up at the small front door of her home on the hunt for good lassi...no luck there...

we're in the backstreets of lakshmipuram, the suburb where Pattabhi Jois' original shala is...with not many rickshaw options...that's when the most pimped rickshaw i've seen comes around the corner...6 people, no problem...headed back go Gokulam, my butt perched on the bar on the right hand side of the rickshaw, sticking out a bit...a little more exposed than i'd like to the traffic...

half way back to Gokulam, a beer at the Green Hotel sounds perfect, so we ask the rickshaw driver to change directions...he doesn't quite understand so it's a bit of chaos through Gokulam backstreets, taking corners on 2 out of 3 wheels, bopping along to some Bollywood tunes...then the sanctuary of the Green Hotel, where no one ends up getting beer, but we did end up with some nice afternoon tea...after paying the rickshaw man Rs 150 for the pleasure...

another 6 person rickshaw back to Gokulam for Rs 60...then an hour of general milling at the contour road coconut stand...where Ben "shouted" me a coconut. I'd introduced Ben and Robbie to the Aussie concept of a shout at the pub, which we then applied to coconuts...

by this time it's around 6 and the prospect of another rickshaw, back into the city is a bit too much for the Mysore Palace Illumination...

the next best thing is back to Lee and Nat's, via the chocolate man on 7th cross, armed with a couple of chocolate bars some more chatting and relaxing...chatting this time about a road trip to Ooty...

3 sisters...and blogging etiquette

just back from late lunch at the 3 sisters in Lakshmipuram (the suburb where the old Shala is located). late, for a couple of reasons. first, we booked for 1330, we'd arranged to take off from the coconut stand in contour road at 1315...and I'd arranged for Manju to meet me there at 1315...Manju arrives at my place just after 1300. We head up to the coconut stand where Robbie, Elizabeth and Ben are coconutting, waiting to go. We do the numbers and Appu's going to provide the other rickshaw...it's getting towards 1320, so we decide to head off with Robbie and I in Manju's rickshaw, following Appu's rickshaw. Appu's the only one who knows how to get there. We're about 5 minutes on our way when I get a call from Natalie, saying they're back at the coconut stand...I tell Manju to turn around, head back to the coconut stand, so we've lost Appu, our lynchpin in the whole exercise

we head back to the main street in Gokulam where we catch up with Natalie and Lee on their scooter...then Hanuman and ...can't remember her name...call...they're also back at the cocount stand...Lee takes off, directs them back to where we are...then we're off on the long way round to Lakshmipuram where Manju does his best to get us there by using the usual Indian GPS method of looking for larger, then smaller landmarks.

it's a tiny, charming place (see the pic on this post). It's Robbie's (sitting next to me in the shot, head away from shot) last full day on this trip to Mysore. Like most people leaving, he's got a plan in his head of coming back soon.

The folks who came with Appu were well into their meal, which was fine for Robbie and I at least, we'd both been to Andrew and Jessica's for a great breakfast at their place on Contour Road. I was ill prepared and didn't take anything along, while Erin, Arnet and Robbie bought fruit salad, flowers, incense...i'll be on the ball next time

I might be having two new flat mates - Hanuman and...can't remember her name, they're studying at a school in Gokulam as well.

there was a bit of talk about how well Guruji's faring, apparently in intensive care at the moment. Joseph was there for lunch, along with Carol. Joseph said that they were hydrating Guruji as his kidneys were shutting down without enough fluid. Andrew had said that Guruji had been saying some death shlokam in preparation. Hanuman asked why Guruji wasn't going off into the Himalayas to meditate before he passes...that kind of caused a few awkward pauses in the conversation. Joseph said, which I like, that he's surrounded by family and people who love him and are taking care of him, that's a good way to go. Taking that further, I'm not sure whether ascetism is the right way to go at that point in your life...i don't know.

finally, Lee read my blog, and was a bit quieter today. I really hope he didn't take my blog too personally, I'm gonna go round there now and apologise, if need be :)