India *13 -up the mountains kiss the sun out the mountains moon kiss you

.....Everyday these past few months has felt like it could have been a blog entry with amazing pix and text, but good computers have been scarce between the heres and the theres...

some words before the memories dis-i n te g r a t e . .


I last left off the story when leaving Bhagsu... new travel partner DC,(fellow bird tribe member),,, we sat next to each other in Vipassana silently for 10 days, and to be honest, most of the next few months proceeded with minimal talking....meditative moments thru magical landscapes....

Kashmiri eagle feathers adorned our scalps as we escaped set sun mountain lion meows....off to Ladak...plains turned to river valleys and windy roads led us up towards a landscape lover's heaven....hitch hiking destiny led us to little farm villages....learning what true wealth is staying with local families and hiking to master's meditation cave retreats from 1000s of years ago...fields of barley, milky way zebra striping the night sky as shooting stars spiraled their way above...more hitch hiking hair pin turns, meditation, art and climbing apricot trees...full moon treks with faith instead of maps, caverns and valleys, singing to foxes on wild sage collecting missions and singing to yaks alone in the vastness of the land and sky....salty milk tea, fresh spinach and peas from oasis band-aids on a lunar landscape... crispness and freshness of air...is this India?! it doesn't even seem like the same planet! such sweet and pure people... ipod dance parties in farmer's kitchens.....ahhhh...lamayuru! Alchi! Shreigole! Likir! Leh! Pangong! all is the beloved... all is the beloved....all is the beloved.....

And in 2 days time we exodus the mountain protected fortress of peace..snow storm on the second highest pass in the world strands us in the cold... somehow miraculously driver presses on and we make it down.... Vashist....India again....sulfur hot springs in the temple and green lush mountains and forests....new crew... laughter....painting on bodies impermanently....others having my art tattooed permanently...learning the tradition of tattooing by hand...new chapter...back in India....and now to the holy Ganga...trading in lamas and monks for saddhus and swamis...the river flows....hot days cold dips...yoga...dancing at festivals and nightly concerts on the river bank...and it flows and flows.....breaking into the Beatles ashram....hugging my way out of trouble....sitting silently and sharing chai with holy men under trees...art is flowing as i reduce sacred geometry and other symbols to hearts and smiley faces and question marks....

off to the Pushkar gypsy camel fair after all this yoga and fruit...then NYC and SF as 2009 changes to 2010...and then back here...where I am right now.... always in the flow.... feet up face to the sun...eyes downstream but just here....being carried by the Ganga of life....flowing...flowing... flowing....