More from Rishikesh

A place for spirituality, yoga, karma, and being ill like never before. Thankfully the majority of what ever i had in haridwar is gone...well other then the lovely traveller's diarrhea. However Jack has been bed ridden for the past three days and is throwing up constantly, not fun. But there is a plus that, well for me... I get to wonder around the town as i please. I just got back from a 7km circuit of the upper town crossing over the two main pedestrian bridges and walking up and down little forest paths and narrow alley ways it was really wonderful and i got some nice areal shots of the bridge and the 'wedding cake' ghats as well i got some nice shots of a holy man on the side of the road who put the orange paint on my forehead opening my third eye. I am always very pleased when i get that because it is almost like the equivalent of my UK Press Pass, i seem to immediately get more respect by the locals and they are much more willing, almost to much, to have their photo taken. frankly it really makes my job easier as i become a bit more accepted into the community therefore i am able to take more and better photographs. I had this done in varanasi during a ceremony i took place in, by the end of it i had about 25 pilgrims all standing around me watching the 'event' and once i emerged with my entire forehead painted in white and red, the photos came as if pouring from the sky. taking images of the pilgrims bathing in the ganges was a breeze and they all wanted their photograph taken, they even lined up for me at one point to have a group shot. so for all photographers coming to india, make sure you frequently get the proper 'press accreditation' to take photos. the pilgrims in india that i have seen so far in the holy cities (varanasi, haridwar, and rishikesh) are not the pilgrims i was imagining in my head before i arrived in india, i imagined old tattered men dressed in robes with long white beards and paint on their faces, the sadhus really. but the pilgrims are far from that. as jack put it, they look like a group of football (thats soccer for all you north americans) fans. its thousands upon thousand of men walking the streets of these cities every day (we are here in the yatra season, so they are in abundance). The age range is between 18-30, they are all dressed in what looks like orange track suits. reebok, adidas, nike are the major brands in pilgrim fashion. any thing they can find that is orange they are wearing (i saw one guy wearing a orange polo with the 'Tide' detergent logo on the front) and they are all yelling out mantras at the top of their lungs, always messing about and making noise with drums and various noise makers, and once they get to the ganges to bathe. its more of a party in the pool type scene with them jumping off the rocks into the water, splashing about, frankly none of these pilgrimages seems to be taken very seriously, but i could be wrong. just wasn't what i was expecting i suppose.

tomorrow we are taking a 963km train journey to Jodhpur in Rajasthan to start the 4 week tour of Rajasthan before heading back to delhi to fly home. I am really looking forward to it and im trying to convince jack and alicia that taking a camel safari out into the desert and camping in the great thar desert would be amazing! maybe that is just the canadian in me wanting an outdoors experience. and the british in them wanting to stay indoors with a nice cup of tea.

before i left for india everyone was really hyping up the food here. indian food is shit. other then the thali and one restaurant in varanasi and my daily mango lassi, not to much has made me to excited about my next meal. maybe it is the spots we are choosing, but nothing is all that great. however i am certainly eating a lot better here then in london with three big meals a day. i always seems to be eating a lot here, and almost double the amount of jack and alicia. it is good food, better then in the uk at least. so dont worry mom, i am well fed here! however i am craving a nice big burger or a massive steak, frankly anything that has meat in it. in northern india the majority of indians are vegetarians and in the holy cities (the three i have been to) meat and alcohol are illegal (apart from varanasi, but it was difficult to find)... i would kill for a big mac right now. i think the first thing i do when i get back to london, even before going home, is head straight for the hamburger union on leichester square. anyways, it looks like rain right now as i am sitting here on my balcony so i think i had better head inside and to the internet cafe to post up this blog, then its dinner time. namaste.

quinn