Rishikesh Land of the Baba

From Ice to Fire
Jumping from ice to fire in a matter of 24 hours is no joke. Diving into the sweltering heat from the finger-numbing ice vapours of the mountains has taken its toll and acclimatizing is trippy.

Land of the Baba
They're everywhere and it's difficul to tell which ones are real. One of them tried to sell me some hash today. He was a cool baba and gave me the spiritual sign of hands together raised to the head when I told him I was sorted.

“Wanted” Can you perform tantric sex? Are you able to stand on your head, stick out tongue and make series of strange sounds? Can you make smoke fume from nose, ears and arsehole and juggle testicles at same time? If yes, then read on!

Professional Baba wanted to take care of da cool runnings of tings in tourist hubs of India. Must have long beard and dreadlocks. Chillum and supply of hashish is essential to spiritual validity. Proven track record must include abiity to transform Self into various forms and travel to different parts of country at same time. Must be at one with self, have ability to elevate off ground, stand on finger, suck big toe and smoke chillum with nostrils, again, at same time. If you are a natural in front of camera, can give Oscar-winning performance when blowing from chillum and out-smoking the idiot filming you, then this is the job for you! Those afraid of bollocks smacking into arse when running butt-naked into holy rivers need not apply. Please send a smoke signal to...”

Propa Baba
Thought we'd try and do a competition involving Oscar for the most promising, authentic looking baba

We found him before we even started looking...
He was sitting on the floor covered from dreadlock to toe in the blackness of the street, sooted up to the eyeballs with snakey things swirling around him while spasmed out in yogic position pulling freaky faces... It happened during a fleeting second when we sped past him on the street in the rickshaw that took us towards Laxman Julha.

Rishikesh
Mother Ganga flows from the locks of Lord Shiva who meditates in the Himalayan range that crosses Himachal Pradesh from east to west. The Ganga rushes into the state of Utteranchal straight from the source. It remains fresh, clean, pure but changes into a murky colour as it gradually stretches into Varanasi, where it becomes a polluted hotbath of deadbodies and excrement. It's the holy river invaded by millions and Varanasi being one of the holiest places in India makes that part of it the most polluted in India. Most spiritual parts of India are polluted because of the billions that converge, yet Rishikesh is something else, pure in the physical as well as the spiritual world.

Bathing in the Ganga
Been in India nearly six months and my resilience continues to be put to the test. I realised that I'm still running around like a whirlwind, even in Rishikesh, where you're meant to allow the waters of the Mother Ganga relax you and take your mind to another place. I felt I'd cheated myself out of the experience because we were about to leave and I still hadn't gone to bathe. Luckily, Francisco dragged me in a few hours before we were due to head for Nepal and even dunked me in fully clothed.

Shall we terrorize the hippies with some psychedelic trance?
So we're heading to Nepal. Rainbow Gathering is enroute so might as well pop in and terrorize the hippies with some psychedelic trance, especially since it's now becoming increasingly clear that we're not gonna make it to Mountain Madness, the big psytrance festie happening near Thamel in Nepal.

Mountain Madness
Think we gonna create our own mountain madness instead... especially when I get to Katamandu to link up with Nicola! Partners in Crime come together! Let's rock with it baby, let's move, let's groove, let's fire it up, let's give it some welly! Josep leaves, Maika as well and Francisco will be off at some point too... A surprise guest is also on his way to India... It's gonna be a brand new phase of my journey... Adventure!