SAYING GOODBYE

The restaurant Oasis, was our home for about 3 and a half weeks and it was here I had the great pleasure of meeting Niraj and Deepak, who ran the joint. Both from Nepal, sending money back to their families and working 16 hour days, to do so. They have dreams of setting up a restaurant down in Goa and I can't think of two better spirits to do so. Always smiling and just plain good blokes, will miss them. Dave, in this pic I am standing on the balcony with Kai, Niraj and Deepak. This was our last day in Rishikesh and we were soon to be travelling 24 hours by train to Varanasi. Rishikesh, was an experience and an enjoyable one. A place where one came face to face with the best and the worstof the western traveler. It was here I did over 50 hours of Yoga, learnt to meditate, tried an Ashram [ lasted one night, as I seemed to be surrounded by quite a few westerners, who were only too happy to talk of their dark thoughts. Having shared a room with one fella who talked of beheading the man who slept with his fiance, I thought one night was more than enough. Good grief! ]The people I met in Rishikesh were great. Of course we talked about our journeys, why we were here [Why am I here?] what life meant to us etc... After sooo much soul talk I began to long for some humour, something other than the questions of life. And of course, I realize how much I talk about life and so began to think maybe it was time to change my thinking and attention. The train journey south provided that much needed humour, as for the next 24 hours I would be cooped up in space not fit for a sheep. Welcome to Sleeper class on India's trains !!!