February 8 Rishikesh

 Above; inner courtyard of Ashram:Akhanda yoga

 Below 8 AM daily fire puja ritual: lots of singing around the fire with ghee, herbs etc

 Below: wash your stainless steel plate and cup after eating.

 View of the Himalayas below

 Below on my walk down to the Ganges I saw bricklaying in progress.

 Voila! The Ganges, green as grass...first view

 More views

 Moment of spiritual truth...enter the waters....read below

 People were totally immersing themselves in the water for spiritual purification.

The night was better but woke up again with the same issue and it continued all day so far. I took breakfast today, and lunch so far, so good. Decided to take a walk to the Ganga ( Ganges) and met a lady from Calgary, so we spent time together. Very nice kind lady. We eventually found the way down, through a maze of homes, backyards, alleys etc. The Ganges is green!! I dipped my feet and hands in, but no total immersion as the locals were doing. You meet tourists here from all corners of the globe on spiritual quests. Still very weak, so it was tough going up again for lunch. Then I met a lovely South African lady at lunch and she is advising me on further plans I have in my South African travels. I am sitting in my room now and every few minutes the cow moos!! Very loudly, but that is music to the soul of India, so I go with it. MOOOOOOOOO!!!! Right this second!! The weather has warmed up significantly today, and you can actually see the mountains, hence the pics. People don't understand how a Canadian can freeze in Indian winter when there is no snow, but we have heated homes, and dress for the outside weather. It is much warmer today and survivable.

I had a good sleep to help recover from this nightmare ! I have censored the worst parts to care for your sensitivity !! The stomach is still not right but I am now eating more. I went to the 4 PM yoga class which was in the basement. ( icebox with stone marble floor ) Today it was an Indian lady teaching, and it was quite hectic. Lots of breathing, bumble bee breath, and Sun Salutations, and poses like the bow. Really got the heart rate up. Lots of twists etc...and a different teaching style to the other lady. (Oh  by the way, I found out that the Buddha in the pics has two cobras, not ears by his face. Lighting indoors is poor in India.) I went to supper, which I am getting used to but not enjoying like I did in Pondy. It was nice to drink herbal tea and chat to the ladies afterwards. Nowhere to go at night, so I am going to read, and try to make my first yoga class at 6 AM with yogi Vishvaketu. He is the swami here.