I spent April 2019 backpacking around India and Nepal with my daughter. I arrived in Delhi a few days before her and got a place stay in Pahar Ganj, down a paved alley. No taxis could get down there, you had to walk.
We stayed in Rishikesh for nearly a week, enjoying the mellower climate of the Himalayan foothills as well as the spiritual background radiation. That’s not to say that there was no commercial component to it, though. I mean, Rishikesh is notoriously the home to one of the most egregious spiritual scams and phony gurus in recent history…
In April of 2019 I traveled to Rishkesh, the yoga capital of India. I was backpacking around India with my youngest daughter, who is a yoga teacher, so, after our trek near Darjeeling suddenly fell through, we thought Rishikesh would make a fine Plan B.
Rishikesh is a sacred city on the Ganges, with yoga schools in abundance.
Lopburi, Thailand is about a three hour train ride from Bangkok’s central train station. I was there to see the collection of antique beads in the museum, as well as to visit the Khmer-era ruins.
I stayed at the funky Noom Guest House; cheap, centrally located and with plenty of character. The place is family run and has an excellent restaurant. The town is famous for being overrun with rhesus monkeys. I took some local color shots before and after I visited the museum in the Phra Narai Palace
In late June of 2019 I was up in Chiang Mai, Thailand looking for ancient beads. I had several contacts I had made while attending the Asian Bead Exhibition in Bangkok earlier in the month.
(1977)
THE ARDENT ENTHUSIAST 