Rain, Yoga, Savassana!

Pounding rain hits the stucco roof of the small room where I sit typing this. It seems the monsoon has arrived, and the rain is more frequent now and a bit more of it pours from the skies each time. It creates waterfalls of red mud on the walkways of the yoga center I am staying at for the next few days. Our friend Rajan Simkhada, who helped spearhead the village school project for HANDS encouraged me to retreat to the center for some well-needed rest, and I am so glad to be here! Guests stay in white safari style tents, each with two beds with firm mattresses and quilts. \flowers and tropical plants are everywhere and bird song fills the air, giving the feel of staying in a rainforest, and with the rainfall, we very well are! \from the flagstone porch of my tent I can look across the valley to Swayamboth, a famous Buddhist temple where Lord Buddha once taught, 2,500 years ago. Each morning guests are given freshly made mint tea and have a yoga class with Dr. Subodh Simkhada, a certified yoga teacher and Naturopathic physician. With no work scedule to hurry off to, participants can sip tea while listening to his lecture on yoga and spirituality, and then begin the day with a series of asanas meant to gently wake the body and mind. AFterwards, you are given a menu of simple, organic breakfast items to pick from, this morning I had homemade muesli and yogurt. Hiking, resting, writing, sitting are the acticities for the rest of morning, after lunch there is massage, yoga, evening meditation and dinner. I feel as if I am in yoga heaven! I have never treated myself to a stay like this in a place like this and it is dreamy! Nepal's prices fit my pocketbook-it is $45 a day all inclusive, spa treatment and food and classes and tent-and be assured-no HANDS funds are going into this stay! It is well worth my visit to the ATM I found in Kathmandu that actually works to draw out $7,000 rubees for my two day stay!
If you are curious to see pictures of this amazing place, go to their internet site:
www.yogainnepal.com I highly recommend such a stay here for anyone planning a trip to Nepal.
For now, I am off to my tent to finish an Indian novel I picked up somewhere and then start Rudyard Kipling's Kim novel, one I found at a guesthouse in Pokhara and have always wanted to read. IN two days I leave for \delhi by bus-a 36 hr. ride and then a 12 hr. bus ride up the hills to Dharamsala-wish me luck!!!