So I spent Tuesday morning doing random stuff like looking for a place near the train station to stay for the night and trying unsuccessfully to find a laundromat or laundry service with a couple hours service.
I then had to go to a doctor to sign off on a form that testifies to my fitness to go on this trek. So a walk-in doctor appointment involved not even a half hour wait and cost me 500 rupees or about $6.25 U.S. She asked me the questions on the form and put her stamp of approval on it and sent me on my way. It was that easy.
That afternoon, I decided I would do some yoga and eventually called and found a place that had evening classes.
I showed up at Sunshine Yoga a little before 4 p.m. and started warming up near the entrance to the shala as the instructor did not arrive until a little after 4. He was not expecting anyone until his regular 5 p.m. class.
He took me inside and the space, I was greeted by a large gray Buddha on the wall smiling meditatively down on the room. There was something about that Buddha on the wall that was quite calming. It was really an amazing space to practice in.
The instructor introduced himself as Ramesh and asked about my yoga experience. When I told him I had just completed the 200 hour course at Samadhi Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh, he smiled broadly and said he too had completed the 200 hour at the sister school, World Peace Yoga Ashram in December.
He went ahead and started me out with a private lesson as he indicated the group class would probably be beneath my level. I told him I could wait and do the group class but he insisted on doing the private lesson.
So he introduced me to a form of yoga I had never tried using a bamboo pole as a prop. The core of the lesson involved doing the full 24-part traditional hatha Surya Namaskar using the pole. He was able to help me get into some crazy backbends using the pole. It was really quite cool.
The rest of the group arrived and we all did some pranayama breathing exercises before I parted ways with the group class. It was definitely a fun class and not quite like any yoga I have done to this point in India.
I had a pizza that evening and got some sweets to take with me on the massive train ride across the entire width of the country.