My Whereabouts

I'm now in Darjeeling, known worldwide for its tea leaves, and for sitting at the "base" of 4 of the 5 tallest peaks in the world, including mount Everest. I say "base" in quotes because from the feeling I get looking down...I feel like i must already be on Everest! Man, just riding in the jeep-taxi made me feel like I was in an ascending airplane, and everything below the size of ants.

You may be wondering: "why is he in Darjeeling when just yesterday I read that he was in Bodh Gaya all ready to study Buddhism and meditation!" Well, the 10-day retreat basically keeps the participants in one compound the entire time, meaning I can't get out...the point is to really focus on the subject matter, and really meditate deeply on our own thoughts whilst having as little outside interference as possible. So, it starts on Friday (the 9th), so if I waited 'til after the course finished, I wouldn't have time to see the highest point in all the world. So after checking into a room at the Bhutanese Monastery at Bodh Gaya, and researching all the meditation offerings in town, I went right back and haggled with the monk not to charge me for the room, since I didn't even sleep there for the night! He was hesitant, but in the end, didn't charge me. I wasn't surprised, he's a Buddhist Monk after all...although i did sense a bit of irritation inside of him at first that he was suppressing.

The train ride was a bit of a crazy one. Everything was full. But in China and in India, they have no qualms about selling "standing" tickets. It really felt like a moshpit inside the train...some guys were even sleeping on the upper racks where you're supposed to store carry-on luggage. You really have absoultely no room to move even just an arm. I couldn't take it anymore, so went over to the sleeper cars, where one upper-class Indian businessman was in the same situation as I. After paying one of the attendants, he slept in a storage cabinet, and I slept underneath a bench in that area between two cars, next to the 2 restrooms. This for 13 hours. Not as bad as that 29-hour ride in China sitting in a non-reclining 90-degree seat.