Rishikish, the Beatles and the Kosher Delhi

After Varanasi, I needed to go somewhere more low-key. The place really took a lot out of me. It was where I came up with the wishful thought of being able to "turn off India." Like a little switch inside my wallet that I could just reach into and flick as needed. I imagined the switch could freeze the moment and stop the people tugging at me...silence the horns, motorbikes and rickshaws...and cleanse the air of any fouls smells. Of course, no switch like this existed, so I would brave through it all, continuing to step over cow shit as needed. But I did wise up a little in my planning. With only 8 days left of my trip, taking a 26 hours train ride anywhere sounded slow and completely unappealing. Instead, I booked a $50 ticket on Spicejet (I wish they had a frequent flyer plan- I'd have a nice amount of miles by now) and head to Delhi for a night before my next endeavor. It was the smartest thing I did. But, while the flights are quick and cheap, you actually give up some great things about train and bus travel, especially the conversations with Hindi people that I would never have otherwise. I've had some great long talks with people about everything from cultural differences, to politics, to sex. I talked for hours upon hours in conversations that were really enlightening, hearing about arranged marriages, views on Bush and Iraq, and Indian porn, to name a few.

I decided to setup camp in Delhi and scope out the situation for when I returned. It's a big, loud and fast Indian city, but it's also a lot more cosmopolitan than anywhere else I'd been here. Since I was coming back in a week, I could unload my pack and leave some stuff to pick things up when I return. As a backpacker, you can't buy too many things on your travels, or else you have to carry it on your back the whole time. I was now 6 lbs lighter and refreshed. I even got to a tailor and had some shirts made, coming back in a week to pickup the finished goods (yes, it was cheap, and pretty fun to weed through the silk, linen and cotton selection for my desired masterpieces.)

The next morning I headed to Rishikish, about 6 hours north of Delhi, by train. I had planned to spend a decent amount of time here considering that this was my final stop before heading home. The beautiful town is in the wooded mountains and rises abruptly from the valley floor and the Ganges. It's a religious place, with lots of action on the river. It's also known for the many ashrams offering meditation and yoga. You may recall that the Beatles put Rishikish on the map when all 4 of them came back in the late 60's for a couple of months (Ringo left early, apparently not liking the vegetarian food.) I stayed in a place high in the woods looking down into the valley, similar to what the monkey is looking at above. Speaking of monkeys, one day I was out reading on the long balcony that connected the rooms on my floor, I heard this woman scream from a nearby room, and then something drop and break. I ran over to her room and found her outside the room pointing in. A monkey had come in and was eating some cookies she had, on her bed. Right on her bed!! She was petrified, I thought it was adorable. They had to come up with a stick and shoo it out. There were no cookies left.

Without the monkey around, I'd wake up in the morning, open my door and see this million dollar view:

I ended up having a great time in Rishikish. In between yoga and meditation classes, I hung out with a really fun bunch of people. The group below (and some others not present for the photo) became a core for the week, represented by Swiss, English and Kiwi folks (there are virtually NO Americans traveling in India.) People were all ages, and everybody had different reasons of why they came to Rishikish. It was great. There were 19 year old's girls seamlessly hanging out with 50 year old moms. I fit right in and became comfortable immediately.

It's a very Buddhist community here, as evidenced by this daily service that happens right on the Ganges. It was nice just to sit and listen.

On one afternoon, I went with this guy from New Zealand to the famous Beatles abandoned ashram. What a place. There were like 2000 people here at one time, doing god knows what (some were writing the White Album.) From these photos you can see these pod like shelters that they lived in, stretching as far as the eye can see. It's closed up, but you can bribe the guard 30 cents and he lets you in.



After Rishikish, I took a train back to Delhi for a couple of days there. For the first time in a while, I slept in clean sheets and A/C. It was strange coming into this nice hotel after where I've been for the past 5 weeks. Normally, a nice hotel would elicit pleasurable goosebumps in me, but I felt out of place...as if I was doing something wrong. Gone were the $1.00 meals, in and was the $22 breakfast buffet. I felt sad, and it's as if my journey came to a screeching halt. All these westerners running around complaining about things. OK, I know what you're saying... yes, that might have been me only a few months back. But, I set out on this trip to get out of my comfort zone and see something new. This kind of thing changes you and brings you back to reality. It was so amazing to meet Indians, but also to meet other travelers from all walks of life looking for the same ideals. I've thought a lot about Rachel, my niece while I was here in India. I had imagined traveling with her with the same excitement and wonder in both our eyes. Even though we were 20 years apart, it wouldn't matter. I imagined going to Varanasi with her and being overwhelmed together, then coming back to our hotel and breaking out laughing over something. I really miss her.

OK, I promised not to be all serious in this post, so I'll just end with a few pictures I took here in Delhi. I leave tonite to come home, and I'm a little sad. But I know that this journey has taken me somewhere I needed to go and I feel ready to brave anything. A rude New Yorker? No problem. Throw it at me, and watch how calm I am. At least for a week.

And one last one. Susan had asked for a photo of what the internet places I wrote at looked like. Here's one that was actually cleaner than many of the others, and only a few flies! How about that wallpaper??