Prem Mandir
On the way to Radha Kund we noticed a massive temple, and got out there on the way back.
Prem Mandir means The Temple of Divine Love, and the place is a perfectly manicured magnificent Hollywood love machine. Everything's so perfect there that you can't help but feel warm and fuzzy, no matter where you look.
The temple is only 12 years old, and is dedicated to both Krishna and Rama.
The view from the bus
Dioramas all over the shop. And a million selfies were had too, many of which Phil and I starred in.
These flowers were actually real
Once upon a time, when there was huge torrential rain washing everything away, Krishna turned up and picked up Govardhan Hill and used it as a huge umbrella, to protect everyone. All whilst still doing some great renditions of beautiful sacred flute songs. What a multitasker.
Phil being a little cheeky. I noticed frowns from some of the locals when he did the pointy finger thing. But I didn't tell him, because I didn't want to hurt his feelings.
The whole place was lit up like a Christmas tree.
No photos inside though.
One good thing about this place was that there were some amazing female singers leading the chanting, which was projected on a massive screen outside. The footage was from a huge recent gathering in the big round hall.
Notice the men and women are all mixed up in this diorama.
Delhi Belly
Phil and I have been getting closer travelling together, even to the point where we now both have bouts of diarrhoea at the same time. It's like when women have their periods together after hanging out in close quarters for a long time.
Phil's Delhi-belly, a term which also applies outside Delhi, was worse than mine, and he ended up suffering over the bowl much more than I did. He still wasn't right when he left India on his way to Europe, poor bugger.
It was a pretty convoluted trip from Vrindavan, having got our wires crossed with a succession of rickshaw drivers (Translation: they kept trying to rip us off). But we were finally dropped at a random spot in the middle of nowhere and an old clunker bus actually turned up and delivered us right to the outskirts of Delhi.
It was crowded, and dirty, and there was hardly anywhere to be. There was actually human shit on the back seat apparently, and Phil wasn't what you would call happy about it. He was about as far from happy as Donald Trump is from being an empathetic rational human.
I was at the front of the bus, and thankfully Phil was warned by his fellow passengers not to sit right at the back. Just so you know, this is not usual. I've never seen shit on an Indian bus, besides the cowshit that's on everyone's shoes.
But we soldiered on, our driver was rather of the skilled and tenacious sort, and, despite the geriatric nature of our bus, he spirited us into Delhi at pace.
We needed a ricky for the last few clicks, this briver bid the beed for us. A squinting Count Drocula in the mirror.
We stayed in Paharganj, close to the main New Delhi Railway station, but it's really not the travellers' enclave it used to be. There's not that many travellers around these days, compared to locals.
First stop, big Tibetan breakfast - thukpa and fried veg momos. Bloody amazing.
Then it started to rain. When it rains in Delhi the place gets filthy-slushy. The usual dust on the streets turns to mud, and you just carry it around with you, on your shoes, on the bottoms of your long pants, and invariably eventually into your socks. Especially when you've got bad shoes like me, or when a vehicle goes past at speed and splashes it on you.
The view of Chhe Tooti Chowk from our guest house, Hotel Shelton. It was really a good place to stay, for Delhi, albeit a bit pricey. But Phil was shouting, lucky me, I enjoyed it. And this time it was warmer inside than outside.
Sorry you can't read this easily, but it's a burger place called Burger Singh. I really should move to India, with all the really bad names, I'd find a job easily.
Phil at my 60th birthday dinner at the Madras Coffee House. It was a great spot, in Connaught Place. South Indian food again.
Phil had some organising to do, including buying and sending some clothes to a friend in Germany. I helped. Getting just one medium sized box of clothes packed and posted at the GPO took at least an hour. It actually finally happened, but the procedure was excruciatingly slow.
Beautiful Sikh gurudwara. We didn't go in.
I instinctively grabbed this mop when I noticed it leaning against a wall. I so miss doing domestic duties, like cleaning bathrooms and toilets, and mopping floors and doing endless dishes.
More Indian old school English
Feeding the pigeons
Regal eagle
Good luck with that
Amazing old cinema
Eventually it was time to leave the capital. Phil had booked us a place near the airport, which turned out to be nearly impossible to find, as it had the same name as two other hotels, and the actual map link they sent was incorrect.
But we found it, I went out for food, Phil slept, and he flew out to Vienna in the middle of the night. I did the same the next morning, to Bangkok.
It was a such beautiful time alone with Phil, we haven't spent that much time together forever. It's really a precious thing, to be able to spend time with a good friend, to have conversations until they're well and truly finished, with no time limit. Nowhere particular to be, nowhere to go. Getting to know each other more, in a process which never ends.
And then, suddenly, I was alone again.
Jay Jay Mā India
It was finally time to leave the Motherland, to leave what I have to say is one of the trippiest and most unique countries in the world. There just ain't nothin' like India.
I was here awhile. First I explored Rishikesh and Dharamsala, and then spent about a month in Rajasthan, before eventually making my way to Nepal.
I then returned to India, and the second part of my odyssey encompassed Odisha, Kerala, Madurai in Tamil Nadu, and then a whole bunch of sacred places in Uttar Pradesh - Varanasi, Khajuraho and Vrindavan.
My route for the second part of my India adventure.
Zoomed in.
But I'll be honest and say I was sorta ready to leave.
Well, I was ready to leave the crazy chaotic places I'd been to in the north over the past few weeks or so. Some places in India can grind you down.
North Indian food, as delicious as it is, is very rich and oily. I love it, but after eating it for weeks and weeks on end I noticed I'd always go for other types of food when they were available (which often they weren't).
I'd go for South Indian food over North Indian any time I could. It's lighter, generally fresher, and healthier, and is normally available in the larger cities of the north, somewhere.
India's changing. One of the biggest changes you really feel is population growth. The country is just so bloody crowded these days, in many places. It's relentless.
When I first visited India the population was around 900 million. Now it's 1.4 billion. That's a massive increase - 500 million more people, a rise of over 66%, in only about thirty years.
Some places that used to be quiet and cruisey are now crawling with locals and tourists. And that has a huge impact on the vibe of the place, and, of course, massively increases the levels of rubbish and pollution.
Middle class Indians travel now. The tourist industry in the country has exploded with growth, and every major historical site, pilgrimage site, or recognised nature spot is now crawling with visitors. Hotels, restaurants, tour bus companies, and all sorts of other spin-off businesses have now sprung up all over the place.
I mean, I'm a tourist too, no judgment. It's just changed the whole place.
But having said all that, India is still bloody amazing. It's incredible. I could stay for a long time, but I'd be picky about where. There's stunningly beautiful quiet places that are still the same as they always were. Lots of them.
But I'm leaving now, and I feel a huge sense of excitement.
Soon I'll be back in the tropics, sitting on the saddle of my bike, killing my unfit cycle legs as I head north into the wild hills of northern Laos.
Yes, the next chapter of my long long journey is almost ready to begin.
And it'll include delicious fresh food, iced fruit shakes, and huge lung-healing breaths of cool clear mountain air❤️
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