Last days in India..

Tomorrow we’re heading off to Thailand where we will spend a good three month for various projects. Hmm.. really looking forward to that, because compared to India, it will be peace of cake! ;) but then we still want to come back to India to see more of it. Actually, it seems to us that we didn’t do a lot of stuff.. for sure, we checked out Varanasi pretty good and had a lovely time there. We did Vipassana what was also a very deep and intense experience (and one of the projects we planned from the beginning). Then we were a couple of days in Delhi and the rest of the time we travelled around or tried to organize things.. so we haven’t done a lot.. there’s still so much missing (well, NOT the Thaj Mahal ;) but Goa, Rishikesh, Manali, Parvati Valley, Dharmsalah, Leh.. and so on. So we will be back next December or January. For we will “only” have a 6 month Visa for India and Nepal, we will have to plan carefully to see from which month to which month we will be travelling here. Once or Visa will run out, we will come back to Switzerland. This will be end of May or end of June (probably end of June). Meaning we will be doing Kung Fu in July in China, being in August in Japan and then having Sept – Dec. In the Philippines and Indonesia.. so far we’re using way less money than we planned and we could travel on forever ;) no worries.. we will be back in 2014, but not before. It’s so much fun travelling with Sky!!! We’re just the perfect match and yes, we will stay together forever, growing old, happy and wise together! Sharing wine and Women and things beyond all imagination! Being here in India, where arranged marriage is not uncommon and sex toys are still illegal, we feel sorry for all these people having no idea how great sex actually can be! The two of us are just sooooo much ahead of the average mind! being here in India, I was wondering a lot in what direction mankind will develop. There is one billion people in this country and it’s hard to imagine that everybody will enjoy luxury one day. It starts by the disease called “cast system” that prohibits equality in this country. Probably all the poor would have to stand together and raise up, overthrowing all the rich people and distributing things more evenly. But as everybody is so religious here, it just won’t happen. People make offering to some of their thousands and thousands of gods, instead taking responsibilities for their actions and changing their life on their own. In terms of environmental protection, it would be a good start to not throwing everything away, but also here, they are far away from any change. It even affects us, for we’re throwing also everything away (no trash bins in the trains and nowhere to be found in the streets). A guy said: “it’s a cultural thing”. So then you’re culture is pretty much fucked up, pal! I would get a manic habit of cleaning up here and if you’re a messy, then you’d be just fine in this country ;) another thing that you will inevitably confront here is a huge amount of beggars. Children, old people, handicapped people.. hmm.. also there we haven’t found the best solution. We’re just turning them away, because in my life I never felt like giving money to people. I don’t feel like helping by giving money to these people.. it’s like painkillers instead of fixing the cause of your pain. It is as picking up trash thrown away by locals. It seems to be a good act, but in the long run nothing will change this way. So I haven’t the final answer to the problem. Why are some people born healthy, others not? Why are some so fortunate and others not? What remains is the only fact that everybody can achieve happiness by walking the path of Dhamma. If you can’t change it in the outside world, then you can end your misery by changing your inside world (this is where Vipassana is very right about). So instead of being miserable, these people should change deep inside. Maybe this is why I don’t like to give them money. The miserable way they confront me with is not what I think you should life. I only feel like telling them: “Be Happy!”. How was it.. there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. Yes, yes and yes.. even if it seems almost impossible to see the glimpse of light at the horizon, it’s there and it will always be there for the eye that wants to see! Ah.. finally we’re almost in Kolkata.. only five more hours to go in this train (5 out of 30 hours :P ..at least there is a direct train to bring us there. In Switzerland, if you like riding trains, the longest you can do is 4 hours and then you’re from east to west and crossed all of it ;) let’s see what sky is doing.. still sleeping I guess, but maybe a chai (tea) can wake her up ;) ===== this you don't need to read.. is just our backup for next year ;) ========== Hindi for beginners  1 ek 2 do 3 teen 4 char 5 panch 6 tscheh 7 sath 8 ath 9 no 10 tus 11 igiarh 12 barah 13 terah 14 choudah 15 pandrah 16 soulah 17 satrah 18 atharah 19 ounish 20 biis 21 ekiis 22 bais 23 deis 24 chobis 25 pachis 26 chapis 27 sathais 28 athais 29 untiis 30 tiis 31 ektiis 32 batiis 33 detiis 34 chotiis 35 pentiis 36 chatis 37 seintis 38 artis 39 unchalis 40 chalis 50 bdschas 60 saad 70 sapptar 80 assi 90 nabbe 100 so 200 do so 1000 hadschar How much is this – howra? Cold thanda hot garam water pani food khana possible milega everything sab cooch nothing cooch nei lower niche upper uncha price paisa / kimat vegetarian sakahari non-veg manchan today aach (aatsch) yesterday bita hua kal tomorrow anew ala kal very good bahud acha very tasty bahud matscha very egdam later badme more adhik less kam grill tandoori egg adna fish machli (matschli) chicken murga tikka piece bread roti, chapatti rice chawal patatoe alu cheese ghee (ghii) tomato tomatr sugar chini milk doodh (dudh) salt namak [namag] chilly mirch, tikha (spicy) ocean mahasagar and or sky acaz

Be happy, be happy...

phew.. we are back from Vipassana. actually escaped to a luxury hotel, where we're giving us a good treat after 10 days of abstinence to all wordly pleasures ;) hmm.. this was probably the last Vipassana retreat I did in this life. I left the course again early before completing it out of the exact same reasons as 10 years ago. let me put this together as I think it's important to be written down for it represents my actitude to life! the idea of Vipassana is to observe your body to become aware of all the sensations and the nature of sensations (they all rise and pass away and so is life.. constant changing). the whole universe is built out of subatomic particles that appear out from nowhere and disappear again in a very fast velocity (this is quantum physics). So Vipassana teaches to not react anymore to this sensations (becoming equanimous). there is more to the theory (that I strongly belief in). our mind jumps continously from the past to the future while wether past nor future are "real" (future are just possibilities, past just memories). so the only time to life is in the present moment and the more aware we become of that, the happier we will be in life. so while jumping between future and past, we will find pleasant or unpleasant thoughts about it.. if we're not aware of it, pleasant thoughts can result in craving, while unpleasant thoughts result in aversion. and this state of craving and aversion is what makes us miserable. then there is the teaching of Dhamma - the law of Nature or universal truth and its basically the three things: Morality - Concentration - Wisdom Morality means: no killing, no stealing, no lying, no sexual misconduct and no intoxicants. Concentration means: becoming master of your mind and not being slave as we are most of the time (constant chatterin in our mind that we can't stop) Wisdom is what results out of it.. getting insight in the truth so when meditating you have to go really deep to purify your thoughts, because verbal action and physical action are just projections of your thoughts (everything starts in your mind). now Wisdom again has three levels: devoting acceptance - out of fear or blind faith intellectual understanding - you thought about, but still don't live it living it at experiencial level --> path to enlightenment by learning the art of living, you'll learn the art of dying and your mind will peacefully leave this plane, for it's said, that the new mind is a child of the old mind (reincarnation). so far so good.. but Vipassana tells also to get rid of passion (eradicate fear, anger, hatred and PASSION). so with the passion part I can't cope. In fact I see and live it totally different. While Vipassana says that not only "don't liking" (aversion) creates Sankara, but also "liking it" (craving). and Sankara is the root of our misery. In my life though, enjoyment is very important. it gives me energy and strength to smile and perform wholesome actions. I'd even claim, that things will not happen when the mind becomes equanimous (as Vipassana demands). So while I'm aware that nothing last forever and everything changes, I still want to enjoy the pleasures of the moment, being prepared to let go again. this of course is not always easy, but I think it's more worth to enjoy it and deal with the consequences than letting it out entirely!!! so what happened.. I didn't like the idea of Equanimity and therefore couldn't apply that practice anymore. could not meditate at all if fact. and Goenka Vipassana is really strict (silence, no writing/reading, not doing fun things..) and the more I needed to feel passion and joy in my life and the less I could get it, the more I started being unhappy and all the bad thoughts of anger and hatred started to arise in my mind. this REALLY freaked me out!! so while not just stopping it on day 7, I managed to get to day 9 but with a lot of turbulences and dramatic situations, shouting, crying, feeling as desperate as I can remember.. phew.. it was tough! Still, I learned a lot of it!! we're happy we went for the course, but it also gave me time to make up my mind again and becoming aware of the path I go and why I go it! ..so Vipassana is not my path at the moment.. but cultivating joy and pleasure how as we were doing it the last days!! ;D finally I was infinitely happy, where Sky took my out of this course! best decision ever!! I might apply the meditation technique in another way, being more suitable for me. now we are in Kanpur and waiting for 19th, where we have a train to Kolkata and then flying to Thailand.. woah.. it's gonna be a change. but still.. we're not done with India.. we will be back for another great adventure here before touching Swiss ground again ;) yesterday we had to go back to pick up laundry and while we were waiting for it to be delivered, we went to a walk along the Ganga Riverside. It's pretty lovely there, exept for dogs feeding on rotten corpses that must have flown down in the river for days.. what a freaking scary experience!! brrrrrr.. happy didn't get nightmares from this one!! then as usual, we gathered quite a crowd around us, while getting drunk and playing didgeridoo. Even if they couldn't say one word in english, we shared food together and I tried to teach them a few of my tricks ;) we had a totally wicked jam at the pagoda, while waiting for our Rikshaw.. was just awesome!!!! :D now we're hanging out and enjoying in the hotel room.. well earned!! :D hear from us soon and be happy! :)

HOLY COW!!!

I can't even remember when we wrote the last time something in our blog. well.. maybe it's time now and we will have also another 17 hours on the train to Delhi to write more :P where to start.. hmm.. Varanasi is really cool! We like the place, even if it so touristy here along the Ghat that your hasseled every five meters if you want to buy something. so the following Hindi phrases are a must to now: Nei - no (best say: NeneiNenei ;) NeiChaie - I don't need Cuchnei - nothing (to be said when asked "what do you need" bus - enough! chau/cello - get lost (piss off) ha - yes acha - good (when somebody talks to you.. acha.. acha.. tek..) mau tai chae - very tasty tanda pani - hot water eig, dou, din, chad - one, two, three, four so yes.. India keeps us pretty much busy and we're kinda looking forward to get to Thailand to have some more time for ourselves (as Nepal was hard to be on your own, India makes it almost impossible). well.. exept for Vipassana ;) after the last days, we can surely need some time to silence our minds and be for ourselves. Will be interesting not having anything coming from the outside world during 10 days. we also just barely managed to get our transportation.. for our course in Sarnoth got canceled, we decided to go to the closest one and it's half way to Delhi. So we spontaneously decided to go to Delhi to get our Thaivisa (now 60 days instead of 30 days, but with some extra money and lots of time and nerves to get that :P the fast decision in Varanasi caused quite some troubles.. first getting a ticket from Varanasi to Delhi.. a long ride in a train that we spent with some hashcookies and a bunch of Indians. but then nothing disappeared while we were in the train and we could sleep fairly well (probably better than the people sleeping on the floor with newspapers :P when we arrived in Delhi we drove around to find the Visa Application Center and the rest of the day we spent getting money from an ATM and the traintickets from here to Vipassana (near Lucknow) and from Lucknow to Kalkutta from where we will fly to Thailand. yes.. everything takes much longer and the less time you got, the more you realize how slow is everything going here. well.. the only fast thing was the Vedic-massage I got here (I had one 10 years ago and this one was for sure the last in my life!!) it's comparable to getting a Tattoo or a Marathon.. after 15 minutes you ask yourself, why you wanted this and after 30 minute you wish it would already be over and then when it's finished you feel great! :) but still.. my back hurt and two other places in my body were injured after this "treat". it's basically a very fast and strong massage (only men get massaged and only by men) so it's by far not as nice as a Thaimassage and for it's so rough, you probably end up feeling pain in some part that was doing fine before :P was only 4 bucks for one hour and in the meantime I recovered again from this torture.. but not worth the pain ;) India they say wether you love it or you hate it.. so we decided loving it ;) even if it can be tough certain times. well.. this time we don't spend much time in India, but we will be back in the end of our journey and then having two Bullet Enfields and riding all over India. no more waiting for buses and no more getting train tickets. it's just such a waste of time waiting in the tourist offices.. India can also claim to be world leading in certain points.. first it gets the title of "biggest trashcan in the world". because there are no trashbins to be found in any city, everybody throws everything on the ground (at least making piles in the streets). it's because of the fucked up cast system I think that most people don't take any effort to care about the others. (and the guy picking up the cowshit with his bare hands probably believes he deserves this :P then it's at the same time the biggest toilet in the world. because you can pee everywhere what is also widely practiced. some men are even sitting down to do so (as real gentlemen do ;) and third.. India is the biggest Zoo on earth.. also helping for title two and supported by title one. because there are cows, dogs, cats, monkeys, chicken, cocks, goats and many more anymals to be found in this city.. one can not understand if this makes sense or not.. cows being worshipped and washed at the Ghats in the river Ganga, but standing all day long in the polluted and noisy streets, feeding on trash that people threw away. I'm not sure if this is a happy cow-life or how much people actually really care about all these beasts. I'm having a cold for the last 10 days being on and off and sometimes having no tasty what really sucks!! :P sky thoug is coughing since we went trekking and has an inflamed nose after putting a second nose ring. hopefully we get better soon.. but at least no stomach/shitting problem. so we are stuck here in Delhi for the next few days and will probably walk around a little and see what the city has to offer. probably also going to the cinema for having time here while waiting to get our passports with the Visa back. eventually it's not as stressful if you don't need anything but are just squandering around. in Varanasi we went for shopping and got a lot of nice clothes, some incense and tea and spices. then we also managed to send it back home, but with a lot (really a lot) of fighting, yelling, being frustrated and ripped off in the end. there were some situations where I lost my temper and afterward I wondered if it was worth it or was sorry that it's needed in some moments (if somebody asks you for tripple price for example). hmm.. sometimes you have to be at easy and have peace of mind and sometimes you have to defend yourself and don't get into the role of the victime. ahh... I'm so happy to have Sky with me!!!! this helps a lot and makes everything so much easier and more enjoyable! and when I'm too stressed out, she has some ways to ground me and let me forget everything else.. yeah.. we're really doing well together! :D

..last days in Nepal..

our Visa is running out and the next adventures are awaiting us in India! :) we made plans until China.. meaning that we fly the 21.12. to Bangkok, where there is a mix planned out of getting Tattooed, partying in KoPhangan, diving in KoTau and Thaimassage course in Chang Mai.. so we will definitively be busy there :) we checked the Wudang Mountains in China for KungFu and it's looking really cool. so we want to be there in July. next stop from here is Varanasi and then a Vipassana-course (10-day silent meditation) near Varanasi and having 7 days to make it to Kalkutta. today we gonna take a bath with elephants and go to the breeding center in Chitwan (we're here in Chitwan close to the National Park). on the way here we stopped at Begnas lake and chilled out for three days. also a wonderful and lovely, peaceful place here in Nepal. Me and Sky started to practice stick fight together and it's a lot of fun!! (I hope Sky will also get as much into it as me ;) then we could make breathtaking performances with flaming swords one day! :D yesterday we cicled to a nearby park with some lakes (and a lot of jungle ;) and spotted a crocodile on the other side of the lake (after discussing taking a bath :P ..the decision became clear instantly ;) hmm.. that's probably it.. keep meeting beautiful people and sharing a lot with them. Even more sharing amongst us, for it's wonderful having time to travel and explore! we're almost everyday far below our budget, what makes it very relaxed and enjoyable to travel (eating good food, having a good treat..). okay.. I sign out.. getting ready for the day (sunny and warm birds twittering and the far sound of an Enfield passing by.

Sky goes High and Ocean meets fresh water

well.. I guess there won't be too much blog of this trip. While I really needed to write things down during my last trip, here I feel processing all of it by sharing it with Sky. So there is less need to tell all this to the world ;) anyway still want to let you know a bit, what's going on here. So after a few resting days in Pokarah, I started with a SIV paragliding course. even if it cost some dollars, it was great fun and more than that, improved my handling of the glider. in the course you do asymetric collapse and turn the other direction (force the glider to do what you want to do and don't let the glider take you down). then another good excercise is going from full stall (your glider collapses entirely above your head and you enter some kind of free fall). To do this you have to keep your glider stalled until it's back over your head and then release the breakes partly and you'll start to fly backwards.. totally amazing, but it works! :) all of this you do over a lake, so if you still crash, it's into water. In the last flight, you even throw your rescue chute and land controlled in the water where a boat picked me up and brought me back to the dry land :) there's a movie of it and it will be uplaoded in Facebook soon.. pretty good action for being in holidays! :D even Sky got a little flight in Pokarah from the take off down to the landing zone, so she got at least the touch of paragliding. She will do the course in Colombia when we arrive there in 2017.. (I know, a long way to go, but we WILL make it happen!!! :D today we are in Bandipur.. a very laid back village in the mountains with no cars or motorbikes, surrounded by stunning landscape and very peaceful. So today is my last flying day.. I paid two day rentals for equipment and yesterday the wind was quite mellow, so I decided to fly today. then I'm happy to focus again on being on the ground, because it's still somewhat risky to be in the air.. if you're a pilot you have do make constantly decisions that impact on your safety. So I'll try to keep it as safe as possible, but still landed too short and then overshoot before yesterday, because I got a performance glider (and not a school glider) and I didn't know it's exact behaviour.. well.. nothing happened and I gained some experience out of it tomorrow we want to hike to a cave near from here and play some dideridoo.. finally we have two of them and can play together, what is actually total fun!!! :D we met some real Japanese Japanese people and they also enjoyed a lot when we were playing. hmm.. what more to tell.. we're enjoying our time here FULL!! eating good food, drinking tasty masala chay and playing "Jass", a Swiss card game.. we opened a score of 1 000 000 ;D ..let's see in when we reach the limit! :D soon breakfast should be ready.. then we're gonna do some Acroyoga, taking a shower, relax and then I'll take off into the sky this afternoon.. so far this trip has been just WONDERFUL and strengthening our loving bond! that I met Sky is by far the most wonderful thing ever happened in my life!!! LOVE YOU BABE!! :* :* :*

the long way around :)

Weeeeeeeeeeee... here we are! :) back from the AnnaPurna Circuit (and some more trails we did) that took us about 20 days. It was really beautiful being out in the nature and even if they were constructing roads along the way, there were still many paths to go and incredibly views to enjoy! :) for we haven't taken any notes during that time, but purely enjoyed nature and it's hidden treasures, this will just be a short roundup of the things we've experienced along the way! we took a local bus out of Kathmandu and it took the whole day during through the stunning mountains here in the Himmalaya.. we first were afraid that our backpacks might fall off the roof, but they made it safely with us to Pokarah. We still needed one extra day to sort things, pack our luggage and then move on into the mountains that we still haven't seen for it was cloudy these days. Getting up early, we managed with two buses (the second one you wonder how long it still makes it in these rocky roads ;) to get to Khudi where we took our first steps into the mountaneous landscape! :) ..cheap lodging but more and more expensive getting food as you walk deeper and deeper into the canyon that lies behind the AnnaPurna Range. We met some French guys they even carried a guitar and a plastic didgeridoo (as I did of course!!! :D and we had a nice little jam together. too bad we lost them early.. we had a small and a big backpack and plenty of water as well as a first aid kit that turned out to be very, very useful!! :) we were actually pretty fit, even if Sky had some problems with an inflamed ankle and caught a cough, while I suffered little headaches and pain in my legs after long days with steep climbs. but still.. we got as high as 5500m.a.s.l. and the heavy backpack I carried most of the time gave me some good excercise after all! :D we were blessed with almost just sunny days.. clouds came over the peaks from the South only after two O'Clock in the afternoon and this gave us plenty of time to walk good stretches. Sky is incredibly fit!! :) I'm happy to travel with her because she can really keep up whit what we do! :) it's so much fun to share things together and when I asked myself what will it be that tops any other trip I've ever done in my whole life, then this is it!!! so exept for some days of rest we needed to recover from streneous walking, we walked around 200km during our trek. We were so happy not having any guide or porter, just being on our own.. it can easily be done (just don't generate extra work around here). it was incredibly interesting to see different animals and plants, people doing things here in a different way, having a different culture and getting a bit more in touch with all this! ..after "Namaste" (what means "hello"), they add wether "buy" or "dye" for older and younger brother (similar girls). so the caring about each other starts even in the language in the way they speak. the food was good, exept for a Dahl Baht with a Cricket (looks almost as ugly as cockroach when cooked in your food and accidentely discovered when fishing with the spoon in the soup :P (you survive) otherwise we had a good treat and eat plenty of tasty meals and fell every night into a deep, well earned sleep after having walked a lot. The higher you get, the colder it gets at night and the better build the houses are (it's not we're talking about insulation, but less holes for wind to blow in and thicker blankets at night. we carried quite some stuff with us (18 + 5 kg = clothes, water, backpack) and we used all of it when we were in high altitudes. looking back, I think we made a good choice of what we needed.. as well the yoga mat we used a lot for acro, the didgeridoo almost every day, contact balls, sound equipment a meteor (hey, I'm getting better! :D and well.. some small accidently packed things but all in all packed well. along the trek we met people that heard of us.. the legendery Swiss couple traveling with a didgeridoo ;) yes.. had some good moments playing for the crowd or doing acroyoga or some other fancy kung fu stuff or contact juggling and we were happy to contribute and inspire young and old! :) we made some friends along the way.. an Isreali couple and really good vibes (just terribly slow in packing and walking ;) hehe ;) so we were splitting up every day and eventually they find us here in Pokarah. We already caught up with emails and pictures (glad it doesn't take a lot of time) and tomorrow we get a visa extension and some more ideas what to do here in Nepal.. but so far it has been just AMAZINGLY AWESOME!! :D ..yesterday we drove back from Nayapul on the roof of a bus and if this is not the best way to travel, what is? :D (I thought they wouldn't tourists allow to do this, but for insided it was more packed than in a can of Sardines (no exageration!! :) we were more than happy to be on the top, wrapped in, in our blankets and jackets. ..then.. before the Police control they stop and ask you to come down, so everybody is happy in the end ;) funny to mention that by law only the driver has to wear a helmet on a motor bike, that's where you don't find a single passenger wearing a helmet ;) hmmm.. I think that's if for now. more important than writing all this is living it truely and fully and so far we've done pretty good ;) tomorrow we get some more ideas what to do relax in some beautiful place where we finally have enough time to get better in Acroyoga :) much love! Ocean and Sky

Kathmandu.. One-Way Please :)

finally I can post this entry.. like 4 weeks later :P so here we are.. Kathmandu, somewhere far, far out in the Himmalayan Mountains. I'm writing my first blog in a txt-file, because the internet here isn't working (surprised.. no, not really ;) thanks again to Walti and Therese, who drived us to the airport from where our long trip started. the flight was quite OK. we were waiting all the time for the food served ;) there were no little TVs in the seats and a nasty layover at Delhi airport. But we slept where we could and had even a little nap in our Hotel here in Kathmandu and now we're pretty ready to take it up from here :) the on-arrival-visa was no big deal.. but outside you get in contact with the nepalese (similar indian) culture of taxidrivers assaulting you permanently ;) well.. we never reached the recommomended "Green Peace Lodge" but another 20 dollar hotel where we were hooked up with a travel agancy :P but was a good thing in the end for we have now all the information we need to make plans for the next three weeks! :D once arrived in the city center you feel less pray to the (tourist) hungry predators for there are quite many of us ;) there are zillions of beautiful things I'd like to buy (even just for using in a RolePlayGame ;) but no way we're loading more into our backpacks. ..they're just 13kg each at the moment and because we have so many contact balls with us (around ten ;) there is no extra space in our luggage ;D our plans are to get permits for the AnnaPurna and do the 2-3 weeks round trip on our own. this saves us money, but above all it's the adventurous way I'm known for and it's absolutely possible (we talked to a Swiss guy being guide here :) ..you could even go to the mount everest base camp (there are guesthouses along the way), but I'm opting for AnnaPurna.. as touristy it may be (well.. probably both ;) the view trekking around this mountain has to be stunning!! :D so that's it for now.. arrived and taken off again into the exotic beauty of Asia!