An ayurvedic treatment.
Photo: Ananda in the Himalayas.

by Brook Wilkinson

Question from reader Maryann_Robinson:

"Could you tell me what places in India you recommend for instruction in meditation, introductory yoga, and Ayurvedic medicine? Do you have any recommendations on same in the US?"

I asked travel planner Sanjay Saxena of Destinationa Himalaya to answer your question, since I didn't have time to take a single yoga class while I was on assignment in India a few years ago. Sanjay is recommended for travel to India, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Tibet on Conde Nast Traveler's annual list of the world's best travel specialists. Here's what he told me:

"Yoga is intrinsically wound into Indian life and a traveler can expect to see (and partake in) basic yoga in almost any city. All you have to do is ask at your hotel where the local yoga group is meeting and just show up. If you are serious about learning the daily yogic life or training to become an instructor, then your best options are in Kerala or Rishikesh.

"Rishikesh, which translates as 'Land of Rishis or Yogis,' could be considered the capital of yoga and meditation in India. There are many ashrams along the banks of the holy river Ganga. Most are low-budget, offering no-frills accommodations and a fairly strict daily vegetarian diet (complete avoidance of eggs, meat, garlic, onions, intoxicants, cigarettes, etc.). All have wonderful tranquil locations -- quite and peaceful, perfect for contemplation and meditation. These are excellent places to learn and practice yoga from skilled exponents of the art.

My guide and me on camelback at the Pushkar Camel Fair in Rajasthan, India.

By Brook Wilkinson

Jamie Rhein over at Gadling is urging anyone and everyone to attend the Pushkar Camel Fair, and I wholeheartedly agree. The thing is, though, it's all about timing. I attended the fair in November 2004, as did my colleague Gabe Struck. You see, we were both writing an article for Wendy Perrin's 2005 World's Greatest Travel Specialists list. Wendy sent us off to take roughly the same trip around northern India, but I was allowed to use one of her trusted travel agents, while Gabe was restricted to guide books and web searches to help plan his itinerary. Simply put, the Camel Fair was the highlight of my trip, and the lowest point of Gabe's. Why? Because Mollie Fitzgerald of Frontiers International Travel cautioned me to go to Pushkar just before the official fair dates, when camel traders far outnumbered foreigners. I ended up spending much of my time on camelback, riding high enough to avoid the masses but low and slow enough to survey the otherworldly scene of vendors selling everything from peanuts to pirated videos to camel paraphernalia. In contrast, Gabe went on the last day of the fair since he'd read that a religious festival would cap off the festivities. He arrived to few camels (most had already been traded), intense crowds of tourists, and piles of trash. So follow Jamie's advice, but choose your dates carefully.

Back from India, the Materialist was actually more moved by the holy city of Varanasi than by jewelry shopping in Jaipur -- where she bought this necklace.

by Wendy Perrin

If you were following our sister blogger The Materialist's travels through India, you know that she got so ill she projectile-vomited 12 times. Now recovered and back in the office, she is so effusive about Varanasi -- the subject of Tara's last post -- that we asked if she'd like to weigh in. Her take:

"La Perrin has been good enough to let the Materialist -- fresh back from India and 2 pounds lighter! -- butt in and add her two cents on Varanasi.  In doing so, the Materialist is going to become, for a few lines, uncharacteristically serious and DEEP and say that of her entire trip (including the jewel shopping in Jaipur), it was Varanasi that moved her most.  The Materialist will speak more of this in the India Iconic Itinerary feature she's writing for the September issue, so will say here only that no place more intensely nor truthfully captures the polarities, the brilliance and contradictions, of India -- its poverty and splendor; its despair and joy; its squalor and spectacle -- than Varanasi . . . .

Man overlooking the Ganges from Varanasi in early March.
Photo: Ahmed Shihab-Eldin

By Tara Kyle

Our sister blogger The Materialist, back from two and a half weeks in India, was telling us today that, of all the places she saw, it was Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, that moved her the most. Varanasi came up because of a post we saw on one of our favorite travel blogs, Worldhum, about a five-part series NPR is airing this week, "The Ganges: A Journey into India."  On a 1,550-mile trip beginning in the Himalayas, Philip Reeves chronicles the complexities of a nation where burgeoning economic might coexists with abject poverty. The Ganges, which now hosts rafting trips for India's growing middle class, remains a key symbol of India's contradictions, particularly along its 7 kilometers passing through Varanasi.

Coincidentally, several classmates of mine at Columbia University's School of Journalism were just in Varanasi too, to report on India's religious traditions. In her daily dispatch, "A Sacred Space Soiled," Columbia grad student Neha Singh Gohil describes the dangers (typhoid, dysentery and polio among them) facing those whose faith compels them to bathe in the Ganges' polluted waters, and the battle to clean it up.

Street stalls in India
Photo:  Indian Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

By Wendy Perrin

In my last post--the one about business travelers who take baby food with them to West Africa so they'll have something safe to eat--I asked readers what they pack for snacks when traveling to hygienically challenged parts of the world. After all, you can eat trail mix for only so many days.

Loyal reader joe_kayaker, winner of this month's prize for Best Comments Posted, shared this advice:

"As a regular traveler to India, and sometimes wilder places, I always pack several freeze-dried camping meals.  They're tastier than baby food (yup, I've tried it) and much lighter and more compact--big plusses when traveling. They're available at your local REI or camping store. You do need a source of boiling water, but in India there is almost always a tea kettle available. Boil suspect water for at least 15 minutes; better yet, boil bottled water."

Great idea, Joe.  Maybe I'll branch out from Clif Bars.  Thanks for all your enlightening tips.