Hello devoted readers! Namaste!
Our stay in Bir as turned out to be an incredibly pleasant one, full of self discovery and exploration. We lodged up in the ‘Deer Park Institute’, which is a center for anceint Indian wisdom! The days were started off with a hearty breakfast (provided by the staff of ‘Deer Park’) followed by a few brief introductary lessons into meditation, which proved to be extremely calming and a great start to the day. From there, the group would explore the vast cultures of Bir by venturing into the small town and perhaps purchasing a cup of chai at ‘Friends Cafe’. We would then head back around noon for another home cooked meal at ‘Deer Park’. After lunch, we engaged daily in what is known as “Karma Yoga”. This is summed up briefly by participating in work around the institute. Jobs such as farming, handicrafts and cooking were given as options. Many experienced Buddhist monks visited ‘Deer Park’ during our stay, and we were lucky enough to be able to listen to their infinate wisdom on Buddhist philosophies.
Along with our extremely postive experiences at ‘Deer Park’, the group also engaged in many excursions. The girls, accompanied by Adam and Heather, took a hike up to a local waterfall, which included a small goat throwing lesson, given by a few locals, as the animals could not cross a small creek without a little air under there hoves…. 🙂
Next the group headed up to ‘Billing Ridge’, which is world renoun location for paragliding. Once we reached our destination, literally hundreds of paragliders from all over the world made their way up to the peak of the mountain. We watched eagerly as they set off on their flights, drooling at the thought of what the experience might feel like. Finally our last day held the most enjoyable excursions, a hike to a local hot spring. After an hour and a half car ride, followed by an hour hike we reached our destination. Beautiful green scenary all around us and only the drivers to share the suiductively warm water with, the entire group enjoyed themselves throughly. The accompanyment of peanut butter and jam sandwiches only made the experience that much more enjoyable. And yea is was reasonably expensive J. (ask your son/daughter about J once they get home lol)
And this brings us to now! 🙂 Bir has been a great sanctuary to rest our weary minds, bodies and souls, but we are all excited for our trip to Mcleod Ganj, which departs at 9:30 tomorrow morning. Only the future knows what it has instore for us!
Shanti Bahar!!!
Sending lots of love back home
The best group in all the land…. 🙂
Shanti
