Little Israel

One thing I hadn't banked on in coming to India was running into quite so many Israelis. There seems to be some sort of Jewish hippy trail in operation which means you bump into them at certain spots only, but then in very large numbers.

I met quite a few in Kathmandu, but really first became aware of the phenomenon at Pushkar in Eastern Rajastan. This is a Hindu holy city associated with Brahmin. It envelops a small holy lake with ghats cascading down to the water's edge on all sides. The town is strictly vegetarian and alcohol free, although religious prohibitions do not extend to marajuana, which is available in all shapes and forms including the uniquely Indian 'bang lassi'. It's a pretty spot but ultimately a little bit too phoney for my taste. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of pilgrims bathing in the waters when I took a stroll by the lake shore, but instead the whole town from the beggars through to the sadhus seemed to be in the business of fleecing tourists of their every last rupee. As I say, these tourists were predominantly a young and wealthy Israeli set bent on experimenting with long hair, ethnic clothing and large, pungent reefers. Inbetween puffs, they could avail themselves of just about every cosmic Indian cure-all going, from your basic fare of meditation and yoga through to a much advertised spiritual cure for Aids. It was an interesting place to see, but I was happy to escape the psuedo-hippy treadmill and the strong smell of bullshit to get back to a rather more real India.

Leaving Delhi the trip has entered an interesting new phase. We have lost all but five passengers and gained none for the short leg to Mumbai. Among the farewells was a sad one to Graeme, who was the last survivor of the original group who set out from Istanbul in June. This part of the trip replaces a planned visit to Iran, and with such a small group we've been given license to concoct our own itinerary. So after discussion we have opted to head north for the Himalaya and the old Raj hill stations. Hopefully Amritsar and the desert cities of Western Rajastan will also make it onto our bespoke tour.

Our first stop has been another Hindu holy town beautifully situated where the Ganges bursts out of the wooded foothills of the Himalaya. Laxman Jhula is a major centre for yoga and the place The Beatles came to in the 1960s in order to smoke a lot of joints and play the sitar. And you guessed it, it's also heaving with those very same Israeli tourists we kept meeting in Pushkar. So many in fact that people keep opening up conversations with me in Hebrew and the restaurants are falling over one another to offer Israeli menus.