Rishikesh

Well I made it! After travelling 7477 miles by air and then 8 hours by bus. We have landed in Rishikesh. It is amazing here! It reminds of one big shakedown street at a music festival. Everyone on the side of the road trying to sell you food, purses, post cards, drinks, clothes trinkets. Everyone drives like a bat out of hell and uses their horn constantly. But it is not a hostile horn it is just move! We had many near deth experiences driving however, and many near head on collisions. But we were in a large air conditioned charter bus from Delhi. Twas very nice. The roads are horribly bumpy all of us almost purged our spines.
Nothing has been as crazy as I though it would be surprisingly. There are cows everywhere, mangy dogs, and monkeys. They are just as common as pigeons! But in Rishikesh we are right at the mountains and it is sooo beautiful. The wind last night and this morning was magical!
We had our first yoga class this morning and it was too amazing and much needed after all of the cramped travelling. We will be taking it easy for the next couple of days and starting our full on schedule on Monday.
So far I have not gotten sick at all. still having a bit of traveller back up but once our routine kicks in I imaging that will change! Speaking of which, we are expected to use the bathroom the indian way. Which means no toilet paper! They do have a bidet of sorts and a little faucet with a bucket to fill and then to pour water over the "soiled" area and use your left had to remove any debri. Dont worry we smuggled in some TP!
The food is Fricken AWESOME!!!!!! So delicious, after eating meals in India for two days now I dont miss meat at all! We have to sit cross legged on the dining hall floor just like the picture which is tricky on the back and knees. My left leg keeps going numb! Oh my goodness though, the porridge we had this morning was divine! It had slivers of fresh coconut and milk AND I dont know what else but it was Delicious.
WE have a full class of 30 people. 28 chicks and two dudes! Everyone is super nice. There are from all over too: Brasil, Hong Kong, Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland, Canada of course, Paris, a country I have never heard of near Poland and I cant remember where else.
I was so tired yesterday I cried Had a near anxiety attack. But I Slept like a baby last night and all is well today. My low back has barely survived but we have yoga class number 2 in a couple of hours so we will see how that goes.
I wish you all were here with me, this is definitely an amazing experience. I am pretty much the least world travelled out of the whole bunch. SO I guess I've some catching up to do.
Until the next time...
Katie