An introduction to RISHIKESH!

Even though I said there was nothing to report about this day except for the monkeys, this was not even remotely true! To begin with, I met James, a Southern California hippy artist whom I grabbed on the train in order to have him share a ride with me from the Haridwar train station to Rishikesh. He was a brand-spankin' newbie, first time in India and freshly arrived today! Leave it to the youngsters to not be effected by jet lag...he was as exuberant and enthusiastic as if he was just awakening to a normal day. One would never guess he had just flown halfway around the globe, as I had 2 and a half weeks prior, crossing myriad time zones and arriving two days later!

Crossing the Ganges for the first time, in Haridwar, and observing great throngs on the banks of the famous and sacred river, coming to bathe and be purified. 

Me and James, windblown in the back of the auto rickshaw and having great fun!

James sprawls out and gets comfortable beside me and in front of the great mound of our collective baggage!

Here is my room at the very basic but clean Airbnb. The multi-generational family lives down below; two guest rooms are side by side on the terrace. My lovely next door neighbor is another young man with a wonderful accent: he is from Slovakia! 

The view from our terrace: disappointingly hazy. Foothills of the Himalayas can only barely be seen. And of course we are looking at mostly rooftops...not exactly picturesque!  

Another quirky thing about India and the whole electrical business: these crazy panels of switches! As far as I can tell only 4 are actually in use: two for different bare light bulbs at opposite ends of my room; the fan; and the switch you have to turn on for the socket to work where I am charging my phone. Not surprisingly, I frequently forget to flip the switch so that, when I think my phone is being charged, nothing at all is happening! So very irritating. And then, there is the fact that there is NO logic whatsoever as to which of the switches are actually useful! On the top row, the one in the middle presses down for one light bulb, but on the bottom, the opposing bulb is lit by the switch that is second from the left. MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL!!! Of course, as Murphy's Law would have it, I cannot begin to memorize which is which, and the correct one is always and inevitably the last one I try!!!!!

Of course any stroll through the streets anywhere, on any given day, must include the requisite sacred cow! Interestingly, I am seeing a great abundance of CALVES in the area where I am staying. This adorable little guy got a nice head scratching by me, which of course he loved! 

Joined by his darker sibling?!

With a very sketchy exchange--mostly in an improvised sign language--(nobody in this particular, non-westernized part of Rishikesh speaks a lick of English)-- I convinced this sweet youngster to also pet the calf so I could get this pic!

Albeit yet another meal with way too much starch and a glaring absence of vegetables, it was at least tasty, colorful and cheap! Definitely the CHEAPEST meal I have now eaten in India: Only seventy rupees, or $1.00, for this very ample dinner serving! 3 hours later, as I write this blog, I am STILL stuffed!!! 

In front of the very funky cafe where I dine is the exceedingly popular sweet shop. A bit hard to see, the main sweet seller is a boy of about 12 years old. He picks up each sweet with his hands, of course, and this handling of the food is interspersed with the touching of all the money being exchanged. Another hygienic nightmare! 

Hilariously, this VERY aggressive woman was SO enthralled by the novelty of the only white face she has probably ever chanced upon in her neighborhood, that she insisted upon taking a whole series of photos! Purely by gesturing, she indicated I was to pose with her much embarrassed husband, then for a selfie with herself. Of course I had to do my own selfie as well... note that Indians rarely smile--and certainly almost never showing teeth--in photos! (The children are sometimes an exception to this rule.) 

Thus ends my first day of adventures in Rishikesh... off to dreamland now; to be continued on the morrow!