To Yoga Or Not To Yoga

Internet access has been scarce so apologies for the lack of entries lately.  I've a backlog of things to write about and will try to get them in as I slow down my trip.  The past week has been a bit of a downer.  I got sick off of a vegetarian thali so wasn't in a very pleasant mood.  Thankfully it wasn't serious food poisoning but something screwed my stomach up so that I was belching (no, not burping I mean full on belching) every minute or so and a few instances of vomiting.  After visiting a doctor for $2 and the $7 prescription of medicine he gave me I seem to be doing better.  But then Jess left yesterday which was a hard parting.  I feel I need to take advantage of this opportunity to travel while I can, and before things like a career and family get in the way, but it doesn't make parting with loved ones any easier.  Thankfully the internet can make the world seem like a much smaller place.

So, as the title states, yoga is on my mind.  It's something I really know nothing about and somehow got incredibly popular this past decade.  Originally I was planning to do a yoga course/cultural program in Kerala over Christmas and New Years.  But in the 2nd week of my trip I began questioning that plan and have finally decided that I'd rather spend my time traveling and exploring new places than cooped up in an ashram.  The first reason was that it doesn't start until the 23rd which would mean another week in Kerala with nothing to do.  Kerala is a nice place but after two weeks I feel I've seen what I came to see and can't think of anything I'd like to do.  The second reason being that I'd like to learn some Hindi, a language that is primarily spoken in northern India or major cities.  More time down south would mean less time to practice that.  And third, some major cities I'd like to see like Varanasi and Rishikesh are known specifically for their yoga scenes.

So we'll see.  I'm working my way slowly northwards and have been enjoying the trip a lot so far (except for the getting sick part).  At the moment I'm in Ooty, an old British Raj era hill station in Tamil Nadu.  The city is marginally cleaner than other small Indian cities but still noisy, dirty and chaotic.  I'm looking forward to getting out and hiking tomorrow though, I've found India to be absolutely amazing once you get outside the main drag of the city.