New York City, November 12-17

Above: a beautiful Japanese maple at the botanical gardens.

We are behind on our posts, so this will be short. We tried to see everyone we know and love who lives in New York in 5 days. This resulted in eating out a lot, as well as a fair amount of wine-drinking.

Simona fell in love with the delicious happy hippie food at Caravan of Dreams. Try the tofu scramble and the fresh juices. Eli was appalled that he could only accompany his coffee with almond or soy milk. Although it is limited in its range, this vegan restaurant makes for a great pit stop after a yoga session with Patty at Shiva Shala, Simona's favorite place to practice (thanks Jessie!).

We took an excursion to the Bronx to visit the botanical gardens. We hadn't seen fall colors in ages, and the trees seemed wonderfully alive.

Prague, Czech Republic, Nov. 7-12

Above: Frank Ghery's Dancing Building alongside the Vltava, and ELi enjoying yet another bowl of gulas.

Prague was something of a 360 degree change from India. As soon as we boarded a European train, we noticed how quiet it was. And how much space we had. And how damn cold it was.

We spent five days traipsing around Prague and visiting all of Simona's old stomping grounds. Eli embarked on a quest to find the best gulas in town. He found his Platonic bowl at U Vystrelenyho Oka, or At The Shot-out Eye, a dirty little pub down the street from Simona's old house with wooden benches, surly customers, a thick carpet of smoke in the air, and a barman who inexplicably wears shorts when it's 0 degrees Centigrade outside. We highly recommend it for the people-watching alone, not to mention the one-dollar pints and tasty fare.

One of Simona's favorite spots in Prague is the city's semi-public pool complex. For a meager admission fee, you can battle crabby old women for lap space in the Olympic-sized pool, swim outside (under the snow!) in the heated outdoor pool, and relax in the scalding industrial "steam room" (which seems to be nothing more than a closet with a really, really, hot steam pipe in it). We rode a tram down the river to duck out of the frigid air and warm ourselves at the pool for an afternoon. It was delightful.

Old Goa - October 25

Above: Eli contemplating the ruins at the Old Goa watchtower, and a shot of us inside of one of the city's churches.

We took brief respite from the beaches of Anjuna and yoga with Rolf - a trip with some fellow yogis to Old Goa. Yes, the Portuguese once reigned supreme in this coastal state. And, where there are Portuguese, there are cathedrals. Old Goa, the former capital of the region, is a stark contrast to the rest of India. For starters, there are lots of wide open spaces with no people. Moreover, the familiar symbols of Christianity that we thought we had left behind in Europe have returned. All in all, the churches in Old Goa are a mere echo of the many European counterparts we saw in Italy. One even claimed to be modeled after St. Peter's. However, it was interesting to see the living history of this complicated country.

Goa, October 21 - ?????

Above: a church in the middle of the jungle (the Portugese were in Goa for many years) and one of Goa's many beach cows.

When we arrived in Goa we remarked that we could be in Thailand or Belize - this part of India is different than the India we have seen, and much more watered down. They serve raw vegetables in restaurants geared towards westerners, where the food is washed in purified water. The streets are full of young Israelis and Europeans, here to enjoy the beaches and party scene. But a few traces of India remain, namely the crazy driving, ubiquitous cows, colorfully dressed women, and delicious curries.

Our days have been filled with yoga, meals, and beach. We are practicing with Simona's longtime teacher Rolf and have met a number of ashtanga devotees from all over the world, many of whom are here for two or three months.

One of the most exciting parts of our stay here is the journey to yoga practice in the morning: via motorbike. Those of you who know of our driving skills would be very scared at the prospect of either of us operating a motorbike. We decided that Eli was the best candidate for team driver, despite his distracted tendencies, because Simona felt too unsure to negotiate the Indian traffic. The ride has been scary at times due to the many cows, dogs, bicycles, and reckless drivers on the road, but it's also very fun. Thankfully, not so many people are on the road when we are headed to practice at 7 a.m.

Delhi & Siliguri, October 20 & 21

Above: the streets of Siliguri at night, and the inside of Siliguri's temple.

Our journey from the mountains of northern India to the country's southern shores required two stops: in Siliguri and Delhi. Both cities were teeming with people celebrating the Durga Puja holidays that commemorate the victory of the mother goddess over the nastiest of demons. The crows added to the Indian cities' already chaotic natures.

In Siliguri, we stood in line along with the Hindu pilgrims waiting to enter the temple to worship the goddess. We were swept in along with the crowd, among bright lights and more bugs than we have ever seen in one place. The colors of the temple were vibrant and rich, much less subdued than those of Italy's churches.

We made the mistake of riding the metro in Delhi on one of the festival's biggest nights. Added security meant that the station was equipped with metal detectors, but because in India there is no practice of queuing up, getting through the detectors was an exercise in embracing chaos. We found ourselves in the middle of what can only be described as a mob of men trying to shove their way violently into the metro. There was a separate women's entry because the crowd was so rough, but Simona did not get into it. We tried our best to push, shove, and elbow our way just as everybody else was doing, but we are novices, and we found ourselves nearly trampled. It was quite an experience.

We also got to visit Delhi's bustling backalley markets, which are mazelike and sell absolutely everything. Simona practiced her bargaining skills and secured a dozen silver colored bangles for a dollar, probably twice what a local would pay but at least one tenth of what they would sell for at home.

Pelling, Sikkim, October 17 - 19

Above: A Sikkimese boy and prayer flags, and Eli sampling tomba, the local millet beer.

Pelling has changed since Eli visited back in 1989. There are significantly more hotels and Bengali tourists than he remembers. However, the people are still remarkably friendly and gentle and the gompas, Buddhist monastaries, are still filled with exquisite carvings and mural work.

Pemayangste gompa was the artistic highlight of our visit -- housing seven manifestations of Padmasambhava, the guru who first brought buddhism to Tibet. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed. We will say that the angry manifestation, Senge Dradog, is enough to give anyone pause.

Our visit coincided with a massive North Indian puja festival, during which many Hindu families go on devotional trips. Every morning, we were awoken (at 5 a.m., no less) by chants of om navah shivayah blaring from the temples, and at night the pilgrims poured in to make offerings to the goddess. It's been amazing to witness, and the chanting was a nice accompaniment to our morning yoga.

Singalila Ridge Trek, India & Nepal - October 12 - 16

Above: Impressive Khangchendzonga mountain as seen from Sandakpu, and a telling sign at the peak of our ascent.

Our four days hiking in Northern India and Nepal were hard work but very fun. We did have some problems at the outset. For starters, we began our ascent with the inauspicious sign of Simona coughing up what can only be described as the largest and ugliest piece of phlegm I have ever seen. Second, we had to replace our hungover guide after about three hours of hiking. However, after that, things went breezily.

As far as treks go, it wasn't the most difficult: the highest point was 3636 meters. However, as the photo of the sign above attests, there were some pretty difficult patches (particularly the five hour descent from the Sandakpu peak). The views, however, were well worth the effort.

We had the pleasure of meeting many local villagers along the way, who fed us their deliciously simple staple dish - rice, dal (lentil curry) and curried vegetables. There were many beautiful flora along the way, but we recommend to anyone interested in this trek to come in April/May - our guide says that at that time the mountains are "on fire with wildflowers."