The Bo tree, or Bodhi tree, the Pipal, the Sacred Fig, in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, is where Siddhartha Gautama sat meditating until he realized the Four Noble Truths and began teaching. He was forever after known as Buddha.
That was 2,500 years ago. In a desire to feel something of what Siddhartha felt then, but also to cleanse myself in the Ganges, in Varanasi, and to be overwhelmed by the millions of people in Delhi, the architectural remains of the Mughal empire in Shahjehanabad, Old Delhi, and British colonialism in New Delhi, I am getting on a jet plane on January 29, 2014, and flying for twenty-four hours (3 hour layover in Dubai), and landing at Indira Gandhi International, in the middle of the night on the 31st.
I will spend two weeks in India, trying to grasp the culture, the language, the food, and the ceaseless energy of the people. The energy we have all seen in the Bollywood movies, and in the daily activities of any Indian friend or co-worker we may have been fortunate enough to have known.
From Varanasi, after a side trip to Bodh Gaya, I will fly to Kathmandu, Nepal, and meet a guide and a porter who will take me on a 12 day teahouse trek which will include the Tamang Heritage area west of Langtang, and a bite of the Langtang valley and national park itself. This mode of trekking includes 5-6 hours on foot per day, from village to village, a stay in a home or guesthouse in the village, including dining with the residents. We will start at about 5,000ft and ascend to about 16,000ft at the highest point, Tsergo Ri. I should be using meters, but have not conquered the translation.
What words can I summon to describe everything I'm feeling as I prepare for next Wednesday? Excitement (who would not be excited); agitation (giddiness, list-checking, overly gadgetized); concern (blisters on my feet (I have done 50 milers with the Boy Scouts in the Sierra Nevada, and I know about blisters)), water treatment and the gastro-intestinal distress that accompanies any sloppiness, personal possessions, to include meds (at my age who doesn't have 5 or 6 prescriptions to keep track of); guilt (I'm doing this all by myself, leaving family and pets to fend for themselves...it is not all that expensive, and I did ask, but I knew the Himalayan trek would not be for everyone); fear (of loneliness (the first time I went to Viet Nam, I had the US Army with me, the second time I had John Allen, a co-worker), other than one or two night business trips, I have never spent this amount of time without constant companionship)); communication (I have not been good about studying Hindi nor Nepali, and I'm glad that many Indians speak English, I hope I can nail a few phrases in the next few days).
This part of this blog is to be a description of the process leading up to T minus 10 seconds, and may not be all that enticing.
Namaste!
That was 2,500 years ago. In a desire to feel something of what Siddhartha felt then, but also to cleanse myself in the Ganges, in Varanasi, and to be overwhelmed by the millions of people in Delhi, the architectural remains of the Mughal empire in Shahjehanabad, Old Delhi, and British colonialism in New Delhi, I am getting on a jet plane on January 29, 2014, and flying for twenty-four hours (3 hour layover in Dubai), and landing at Indira Gandhi International, in the middle of the night on the 31st.
I will spend two weeks in India, trying to grasp the culture, the language, the food, and the ceaseless energy of the people. The energy we have all seen in the Bollywood movies, and in the daily activities of any Indian friend or co-worker we may have been fortunate enough to have known.
From Varanasi, after a side trip to Bodh Gaya, I will fly to Kathmandu, Nepal, and meet a guide and a porter who will take me on a 12 day teahouse trek which will include the Tamang Heritage area west of Langtang, and a bite of the Langtang valley and national park itself. This mode of trekking includes 5-6 hours on foot per day, from village to village, a stay in a home or guesthouse in the village, including dining with the residents. We will start at about 5,000ft and ascend to about 16,000ft at the highest point, Tsergo Ri. I should be using meters, but have not conquered the translation.
What words can I summon to describe everything I'm feeling as I prepare for next Wednesday? Excitement (who would not be excited); agitation (giddiness, list-checking, overly gadgetized); concern (blisters on my feet (I have done 50 milers with the Boy Scouts in the Sierra Nevada, and I know about blisters)), water treatment and the gastro-intestinal distress that accompanies any sloppiness, personal possessions, to include meds (at my age who doesn't have 5 or 6 prescriptions to keep track of); guilt (I'm doing this all by myself, leaving family and pets to fend for themselves...it is not all that expensive, and I did ask, but I knew the Himalayan trek would not be for everyone); fear (of loneliness (the first time I went to Viet Nam, I had the US Army with me, the second time I had John Allen, a co-worker), other than one or two night business trips, I have never spent this amount of time without constant companionship)); communication (I have not been good about studying Hindi nor Nepali, and I'm glad that many Indians speak English, I hope I can nail a few phrases in the next few days).
This part of this blog is to be a description of the process leading up to T minus 10 seconds, and may not be all that enticing.
Namaste!
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