.
1) Mad Main Bazaar in New Delhi where one can immediately get lost in the crowd.
2) The bastard money changer who on day one ripped me of $100. I gave him ten one hundred dollar notes and he cleverly palmed one and told me I only gave him 9 notes.
3) The Ganges River at Rishikesh, my Shangri-la.
4) There's no Medicare or disability pension for cripples in India, they become beggars and/or saddhus and are at the mercy of us passer-bys.
5) The cable bridge at the magic town of Uttarkashi, half-way to Gangotri, source of the Ganges. I love this town, really relax and chill out there.
6) My non-friend Balu on a good day, when Dr. Jeckyl over-rides Mr. Hyde. Here he is helping a peasant woman take her grass-cuttings back to town.
7) The hot-springs of Gangonani, just before Gangotri, where you can relax in a hot tank, out-flow from Siva's pituitary supposedly, still it got me high.
8) My favourite temple in all the world, dedicated to the Nature Spirit, cool for an atheist like me. I walked around it 7 times and hoped for a good year in 2012.
9) The anthropomorphised image of the Nature Spirit. I thank my lucky stars I make it here, difficult to get to all the way from Auz, from sheer willpower I made it.
10) The endless man-made lake formed from the damming of the Ganges River at Tehri. For years I cruised alongside the river but the old roads and villages are now under water and one now travels far above it.
11) Sunset deep in the foothills of the Himalayas where I was invited for a traditional Hindu wedding at the bride's family village.
12) Me and the village women watching the Hindu wedding ceremony.
13) The blessing of the cow at the wedding, essential for future prosperity and fertility.
14) My favourite chai-shop on the beach at Goa.
15) Sunset over the Arabian Sea in Goa, a place I found it hard to tear myself away from.
16) Night lights in Mumbai, a city still in the doldrums from the terrorist attacks.
17) The Gokul, the best pub in all of India and just about the only lively spot for non-Bollywood stars in all Mumbai.
18) The Lodhi Gardens in New Delhi, 14th century tombs and palaces where I relaxed many days for free with no pedlars, beggars, hustlers to hassle me.
19) Every day somewhere in India is a religious parade, this time Sikhs in medieval garb taking over the Main Bazaar in New Delhi.
20) Humayun's Tomb at New Delhi, one of the most magnificent monuments in the world where I sat in awe and read the Moghul Emperor's life story in the gardens.
21) One of my spirit guide animals, the Indian Rhino, at the Delhi Zoo. They came over to pose for me as if they knew they were special to me. Saying goodbye to them, I said goodbye to India, this time round.
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anarcho-queer, rock and roll punter and mystic adventurer in Australia and India
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