What I've Been Up To

So I haven't written anything substantial for a while, and of late I've been in a highly emotive state, which always lends itself to good expression...so here goes...

I left CORD and the Ashram on the 23rd. I felt as though I did when I left Sydney. I'd spent almost three months there that everyone felt like family, and they took care of me, and did the little things that you take for granted when you're around the people you know and love. And when those things were taken away from me, the change was very noticebale and I felt quite cut.

Before I got there I guess, I'd grown emotionally independant....meaning that I'd just learned to live by myself and not worry about having company while travelling. But now, I seriously am missing home and people. The other day I had visions of driving on Pennant Hills Rd. And I miss driving! I miss the speeds and being able to do a 100km in an hour!

I have though, changed my mind set slightly on how to deal with the next few months. From here on, there are only a few "sectors" of travelling to go, before, well, I come home. The first is what I'm currently in: the pilgrimage stage of this trip: meaning, I just came from Haridwar, am in Rishikesh, and will go to the Yatra sites of Uttarkashi, Gangotri, Gaumukh, Badrinath etc.

When I come back, there''ll be a CHYK camp at the Ashram for a week, and then I fly to Dubai for another week. So, they're sectors 2 and 3, leaving the last sector for the rest of India...from Delhi through to Gangtok, to Konark, to Bombay, Bangalore and then home...

So thats the way I'm looking at things...not to say I'll make everything go super fast, but, knowing that there is an end in sight.

In some ways the next few months will be the most diverse and the toughest. Chardham is all about trekking to the various places (Gaumukh for example is a 19km trek each way, and comes complimentary with land slides and a comfortable 30cm wide walking path, between a sheer mountain face, and the raging torrent of the Ganga), whether I'll have a decent place to sleep, and so on. Then camp: I've always been more on the anti-social, and introverted side of things, so meeting so many new people (and hell, actually just being around people again) will be a change. Dubai: well, the heat will be enormous, but in a way, it will give me a taste of the things I miss from Aus...

And finally the Rest of India leg, will be tough just cos of the heat...its been something like 40/42/45 in Delhi and the interior will be just more of the same hot stuff...

So thats just a brief look into what I've been thinking...theres heaps more...I've been keeping that travel journey, so the rest of its in there if anyone of you could be bothered when I come back...