and into the heat

lakshman jhula (bridge) in rishikesh. the ganga divides the city with two footbridges only connecting the two halves. due to the huge number of people (the kumbh mela taking place an hour away in haridwar), the military/police had made one bridge (ram jhula) one way, while the other remained two-way but hence had a huge queue:orange-yellow-crimson-magenta-chartreuse is the new black:
waiting to cross the bridge (indians are really good at carrying things on their heads):
i finally ventured out (it was also about 105F)
the ganga:

next day, went to haridwar for the kumbh mela.
offerings to the ganga:people bathing:

surprisingly cold!

wandering the streets:i had been expecting to see huge crowds of crazy babas/sadhus, but i think they were mostly hiding out in their tent camps unfortunately, but i did get some crazy eyes, big beards, and whorls of dreads.

momos and laliguras

photos from macleod ganj/dharamsala (himachal pradesh), the home of the tibetan government-in-exile:

mountains!! ahh!!prayer wheels:

stupa:
women monks making clay emblems:
i love tibetan people, despite all that's happened to them, they are some of the most warm, jovial, open, beautiful people i have ever met
evening prayers:

hiking to triund:
it was unfortunately quite smokey:

pine and rhodedendron:
on the circumambulation path:

library of tibetan works and archives:waiting along the road for the dalai lama to drive by on his return from delhi:



my tibetan amchi drugs (trying to kill off the bugs... again), they do taste incredibly horrible (like crushed up rocks and bitter herbs, go figure) but had no side effects, definitely a lot less painful than having to take another course of tinidazole, and so far just as effective:

heading north

photos from srinagar, kashmir

after passing through an almost 3km tunnel, the kashmir valley suddenly opens up, fields of deep green wheat and yellow mustard (and military):dal lake:
wandering around the old city, kashmiri mosque architecture:
jama masjid:
mm.. reminds me of simits in turkey:
rectangle coats and burqas:
muslim town hall (sculpted and painted paper mache molding):
girl playing outside the town hall:

and her friend:wandering the city:


streetside markets:
(kashmiris have freckles! beautiful!)
taking a shikhara out on dal lake, decaying opulence:
permanent residence out in the middle of the lake: