The Magical Mystical gang has arrived in Delhi, India after a pre-tour in Varanasi, the city of light, whose sacred waters are the culmination of many a pilgrimage. People wait their entire lives to come bathe in these waters, and we had our own "Accidental Pilgrim" Jill Johnson, who fell into the river Ganges and completely submerged herself and her camera for a spontaneous blessing amongst a herd of water buffalo!

We gathered at the new terminal in Delhi airport, and flew Kingfisher airlines to Bagdogra in West Bengal. From there we took jeeps up the Himalayan range toward Gangtok in Sikkim. On Kingfisher, I read the airline magazine and caught up with Bollywood gossip. It is the most interesting thing to read an airline magazine that doesn't describe adventures and places to go and see, or tips for packing and traveling light. Instead we get to catch up on who is a new star, who is dating who, and what films are coming out. I often wonder, if I lived here, would I save money on the magazines I read on take off and landing? ;)



The journey up to Sikkim is always a wild ride, and a challenge for the yogic calm in all of us. The locals and trail guides all tell you that the trip is four hours. Ha! I have ridden this road several times and never made the journey in four hours! The roads were better than expected after monsoon and the traffic not bad for high season, so the journey only took 7.5 hours. These roads are incredibly narrow and the trucks amazingly wide. These factors can jangle the nerves in the ride up the mountain!



This road traverses tea plantations and Bengalese villages, winds along the raging river Teesta and opens into wild orchid groves slithering up giant tropical trees, before making the slipping, sliding trail up the Himalayan foothills. Once you get to the border of Sikkim, there is a checkpoint where foreign tourists register and show their Sikkim visa. We always stop here for chai and some hot noodle soup while we wait for our passports to be stamped. It's a good place for a few back and shoulder stretches or wall Handstands to get energy for the rest of the journey.



As one begins to climb up into Gangtok, the Border Road Organization (BRO) has unusual road reminders to drive safely that are funny and strangely poetic. We might have stopped and laughed more, except the sheer drops and wildly decorated transport trucks careening at lightning speed straight at us raised the inner fear factor!



Just as you think you can't bear another moment of twisting, turning, intertwining Himalayan road, the lights of Gangtok shine through the darkening night. It reminds me of working with a particularly difficult  asana, where it can ask a lot of you, and it may seem an elusive goal, and then you find yourself in that pose and enjoying it. And after a few more times in the pose you find ease and steadiness.

Isn't this similar to the journey that we have all experienced in this practice? Perhaps it is a reminder for us to look at a key philosophical aspect of yoga, Vairagya translated as detachment or dispassion. It is this power of renunciation for yogis to pursue the truth over the false, and the eternal over the ephemeral.

As we enter Gangtok, the streets and people look familiar from past visits in an almost dreamlike way--sharp and out of focus at the same time. Like a familiar fragrance that you just can't place. We arrive at the Norkhill heritage hotel and are greeted with the traditional Tibetan blessing and each of us are draped with Khata, white prayer scarfs. These scarfs are auspicious symbols and give a positive note to the beginning of our journey. Sinking into bright blue damask couches, we all enjoy the tiny snip of local Sikkim sherry that greets us!