ACCOMMODATION
Our
main accommodation is the guesthouse next to the Krishna Temple (see
photo), in which there are three double rooms and three single rooms.
They are simple rooms, but clean and comfortable with outstanding panoramic
views of the Kullu Valley. The family will provide you with clean sheets,
blankets and towels.
The cottage has its own kitchen, exclusively for
your use, where you can cook your own breakfast. The rest of the meals
are provided at the temple; normally rice and dal for lunch, 
and
rice, chapatis and vegetables in the evening. If you prefer to cook
your own meals, you can. Downstairs is a wash room with a hot shower,
and you have the option of a squat or a westen style toilet.
The water is piped from a spring about two hundred metres above the temple. Many people drink it without any problems, but to be safe most people use a water-filter, which we have in the kitchen. It is a ceramic filter which is deigned to filter particles - not kill bacteria, so if you want to be super-safe, you can boil your water or use iodine.
The temple has many rules, which date back to ancient
times. Foreigners and non-Brahmins are not allowed inside the temple
or the kitchen. The rules also forbid foreigners to eat together with
the family. This is the social system in these parts of the Kullu Valley,
so there is little that can be done to change them. This segragation
of course
contradicts the Ananda philosophy of creating unity and togetherness...
but what to do?! Such systems cannot change overnight.
This year we will also be providing accommodation
for the volunteers in the village next to the medicinal plant nursery,
as well as possibly organising 'work-retreats' in the forest for collecting
medicinal plant cuttings.
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