Still In Paradise



Too many things have passed since I last posted...it is impossible to recount even a tiny fraction, but I will try anyway. Please forgive the poor quality writing; I'm baking in a slow-as-molasses internet shop and hoping to escape very soon..

On the motorbike we headed south along twisty forest roads along the Western Ghats to Jog Falls, then South again to Kollur, a holy place famous for its Mookambika Temple. We passed many many lakes and rivers and trees and cows and ended up at Malpe Beach near Udupi. We saw vegetable markets, fish markets, vanilla beans and betel nuts, dodgy trucks and eagles and garbage and camels and baby kitties. For New Years Eve we bought six mackerel at the fish market (50 rupees) and cooked them on a campfire at the beach. I removed their heads and tails (fish heads!) with my beloved swiss army knife, flinching each time I had to break the spine. I was surprised when they tasted good and relieved that it was too dark to examine them closely.

We took some great videos and pictures from the trip and hopefully they will one day get pieced together with some music. And thanks to my many guardians, we had almost no problems (we tipped over one time on the sand). And except for the Good Luck Hotel in Hannovar, most of our guesthouses were clean and relatively benign.

But now we are back in Gokarna (a.k.a. paradise) and I am giddy and overwhelmed by the possibilities for 2008. I have no doubt that big things are heading my way, but couldn't possibly say what they will be. I feel only that my chest will explode with excitement and anticipation.

The last weeks I've met many inspiring people - many of them could be referred to as "old hippies" - who have helped me to clarify my own understanding of what makes a quality life. Quality Life, for me at least, is a simple life in the nature. This last year has been spent on The Circuit with other western tourists, but I am now tiring of this perrenial life on the go and dreaming instead about having a cooker and a lemon tree. Oh, and I finally bought a guitar, an Indian one that is not special but good enough for me to practice on. I'm a bi nervous to travel with it, but where there's a will, there's a way.

After my visit to Delhi I will return to Rishikesh for a couple of months of recalibration. Another repetition of Swamiji's lectures (I sent my notes to LA!), some consistent yoga practice and the freezing Ganga will have me full-strength again in no time.. From there the idea is to settle down somewhere in the mountain. The mountain makes me strong.

Internet is painful here and I have been thwarted several times in my attempts to update this blahg..But Delhi should be a great place for full updates, and I should head there in the next week. I love you, all...

with greatest affection,
LMA