VIDEO-A stroll through Pokahar

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This is a short video offering a peak into some of the people I came across in Pokahar, a beautiful town in Nepal, used as a launching pad for treks into the Himalayas. With the mountains providing a backdrop, the town is set around a lake and is one of those places you want to take with you.

VIDEO-Bus Musicians

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On the bus ride from Pokahar, Nepal to Kathmandu, these two young boys who coudn't have been more than 12 jumped on the bus for 5 minutes and played some very interesting Nepalese folk songs on violin-like instruments. Unfortunatley, the other people on the bus treated them like an annoyance. However, I was enchanted by there playing.

VIDEO-Trekking Anapurna

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Words can't really do justice to these mountains and neither do images but hopefully I can give you just a fleeting feeling of what it was like to be at 15,000 feet above the cloudline, walking among giants. Unreal...

SLIDESHOW-Hitting the Cloudline, Himalayas

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We woke up at 5AM at Gurapani and made the hour long hike up to Poon Hill to catch one of the most awe-inspiring views of the Himalayas that you can get, short of being up on Anapurna itself. It was cold, the air was very thin, but we made it up there as the sun broke rose above the horizon. We were amidst the clouds but as the wind swepft the top layer off, we gasped as the peaks of 8 mountians exploded into our sight. It was one of the greatest moments of the trip so far and a feeling we will hold close to us forever. To the left is our trusty guide Lok.

Himalayan Stream of Consciousness

Lifting the sky, heaven waits, journeys, stars in their own right behold graciousness…Rhododendrons grow, lotus in my hand, tea, warm pants, milk from the buffaloes, funny to the taste, yantras, mantras, sri yastra guide me home, happiness evades me but is always found, losing loss, death impermanence, bring something to your family, a token of love unconditional acceptance support, rosy cheeks, high peaks, wide smiles, innocent eyes that are filled with snow, pulling the Yak, nurturing the valley Himalaya.

SLIDESHOW-Beginning the Anapurna Trek, Nepal

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I cannot describe the feeling of hiking the Anapurna trail in Nepal, one of the most amazing high altitude treks imaginable through the majestic Himalayas. I have dreamt of the day that the Anapurna mountain range would be within my eye sight...it took 28 years but we are here, and soaking up every minute of it. Our Nepalese porter/guide, Lok, is amazing, a kind soul who takes care of us like we are his children. The scenery is undoubtedly the most beautiful I have ever encountered while backpacking and is lush and green. A huge river creates mamoth waterfalls over huge boulders and a rhodedendrum forest is waiting to bloom. Song ideas are coming fast as we are coming up with soundtracks to suit this awesome landscape.
We have not encountered the Moaist insurgents yet, who have made travel here dangerous for the foreign traveller, until a recent ceasefire was arranged with the government. If it hadn't been for that we would not be in Nepal right now. We expect to encounter them on our way up to Poon Hill, where they collect a $15 "voluntary Tourist Visa" even though it is far from voluntary.

SLIDESHOW-Pokahar, Nepal

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We left Varanasi thinking we would have a somewhat hard 2 days of train and bus travel to Pokahar, Nepal where we would start the Anapurna trek. Unfortunately, it took 3 days and was some of the worst travel conditions yet, and I was was feeling the sickest I have felt in my life. I picked up yet another stomach bug, and when you are travelling on a rickety bus with chickens in the seat next to you, horns honking non-stop, it can make you wish you were home in a hot bath. However, you cannot, we pressed on, and we finally arrived to the glorious sight of the Anapurna range on the horizon. Unfortunatley, my iPod was stolen from me while I was passed out sick on the bus, but we are both ecstatic to be here. These photos of are our first day in Pokahar, which we love. We are headed out trekking in 2 days, which will give me a little more time to recover. Stay tuned...

VIDEO-Famous On Trains

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When we travel by train in India, we seem to attract an awful lot of curious attention. If you ever wanted to know what it was like to be a monkey at the Zoo or a famous rock star then hop on board the India Express...

VIDEO-Musical India

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We laughed as we walked down the narrow streets here as ragas and the drone of the tambura wafted through the air. Varanasi is known as the music capital of India and offers up a smorgasboard of musical perfomances, shops, and lessons for the interested traveller. Every night we checked out a different performace, from the guitar-like sarod, to the sitar, flute, and tabla. We even managed to sneak in some lessons for ourselves in between all the yoga and meditation.

Vipassna

vipassana: 'insight', is the intuitive light flashing forth and exposing the truth of the impermanency, the suffering and the impersonal and unsubstantial nature of all corporeal and mental phenomena of existence. It is insight-wisdom (vipassan�-pa���) that is the decisive liberating factor in Buddhism, though it has to be developed along with the 2 other trainings in morality and concentration. The culmination of insight practice leads directly to the stages of holiness.

Vipassna is the practice is an art of living which manifests its profound practical value in our lives—lessening and then eliminating the greed, anger, and ignorance that corrupt all relationships, from the family level to international politics. Vipassana spells an end to daydreaming, illusion, fantasy—the mirage of the apparent truth.

Like the sizzling explosion of cold water being thrown on a red-hot stove, the reactions after bringing the mind out of its hedonistic tendencies into the here and now are often dramatic and painful. Yet there is an equally profound feeling of release from tensions and complexes that have for so long held sway in the depths of the unconscious mind.