ok uk what

hi all

so ive been back over a week
naaah
this western life is not the realisty we all
need. I ve been blown away that folk are still coming back to this site
thanks and i shall update it soon.

namaste

bo

sanitized tube

so i took my sanitized tube in the ether. crossing
towns i want to see and missing folk who may never know me.
all was quite, conditioned and quick. for a moment i was lulled into thinking it
is sanity but then again the sirens song always seems good to those that jump!


back in the uk it seems so quiet.
clean, controlled, spacious and controlled.

i must have done this thrity times and yet the marvel of
coming through the time zones and the strange
cultural portal never ceases to amase me.


in a way i ask,' did it happen?'
was it real so far, distant, mad and fantastic.?

its all out there waiting for you!

bo

cycle

well folks
this trip is almost over but the cycle goes on!
As most of you sleep i shall be winging my way across
the globe back to a similar time zone.

AS per usual its been a more than amazing trip.
I'd like to thank you all for taking the time and patience to read
this garbled script. All the typos and bad
grammer that really aren't a part of my literature
normally could be found here as i just sat and pored it out.

Also thanks to all the many thousands of folk who
were behind the scenes. The myriad indians that slaved to take this
silly fat white carcas overland.

the sound track for this trip cannot be found in any shops
but you can illegally download it all using some bit torrent clienb

let me know if you want the tracks

i may also be running travel tours in the future so stay tuned
if you fancy a go at the madness of asia or africa

the next posting should be the epilogue and also
some pictures for your fun viewing

cheers

bo
-----

p.s all comments welcome

leave your emails

rick shaw

yes my name is not rick shaw but if you have been to india then you know it could be
as everyone wants to know me as richard shaw
i guess you have to be an india traveller to get that one.

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Well folks
today i did something that i never do
i shopped. I have never wanted to nor do i want to again
as its such an empty rediculous thing.
i mst have used half the richshaw drivers and also
unbelievably i got them to use the meters.
my teeth nearly fell out on that one.

these guys are merciless when i gets to trying to barter
i guess im getting on a bit and know the ropes somewhat.,

but when it comes to shopping
well its a waste of energy
when all around have nothing

goodness knows how folk back home
with cash do it
they have the amount that i have in rupess in dollars
and they can have anything they want
talk about hollow

anyhow

im beat

more before i fly

bo

Ganges back

I've thought about rafting on the Ganges for many a moon
so for my b'day I decided to give it a whirl.

this lovely river is green here
strange how it glows
I can recall it from varanassi being dog shit brown
but over here it still has the charm of its source and
doesn't contain the pollutants that are found further down stream.
I found a very pro outfit who have a joint
venture with a western company
the equip is good and also the people seem to be very well prepared

it was just myself and a south African girl who were on the trip
so I liked the idea of some solace on the river away from the hoards.

we met in the morning and drove north for 45 mins
before dis embarking and being givend the basics for rafting.
they had a neat machine that worked off the battery to blow the
baby up so it was nice to just relax and see the guides
not have to blow it all by hand.

the boat was nice and the tow other folk besides us and the driver
were apprentice Indians who were new to the rafting trade.
so we got on and into the main current.

the Ganges has a strange kinda south American feel to it when you get away from the roads
and folk who inhabit it. Monkeys on the shore and all manner of birds.( I even saw some
hornbills on my way back which is a big first.)

the river is 23kms from our boarding point back to rishikesh
a few grade three rapids and also some shanti small stuff that you can chill on.
so we paddled
we got wet
we got cold
we got warm
we smiled
screamed with fun
hailed the river
got wetter
and eventually I decided to just get in and drift
this green river just let me in and I flowed with the current
for about half an hour.
half an hour of mellow observing and spending time
watching the greenery.

when I eventually got back in we found our way to
some rocks that folk jump off

I felt like a 12yr old again in the rivers of England
when I walked off a 20ft drop and screamed to the river
yummy. Very nice

when we eventually got to rishikesh
I could smell humanity in the river
smell the folk
the incense and they waste


time to have a chai and watch it all
from the banks

I have a cold now and a slight ache
but the price of being reborn and
anew is worth it

om

bo

mop top india head

coming upto rishikesh by train I sat on the train
and realized how much india had changed.
the wealth from the top has trickled down
and reached the masses in many ways.
my train was busy with middle class Indians and
a few travellers. it was along cry from my early days when
I took me a day of wrangling to get the ticket issued and
then a hard wooden seat as I had invariably been given
the wrong class.

on this occasion I had decided to go with the middle
class Indians to get back amongst them after delhi's 'scene'.

it's my favourite way to travel the train. the transience of everything mirrors back so
much of my life and experience. fun looking out at the affluent new houses
staring down at the effluent new houses by the riverbank
awash with plastic and crud. This really is the land of opposites and extremes.

having got to haridwar in the night
it took a little mad conversation to realize
that we cant go in one taxi as that's against the rules.
i.e. they have a monopoly and know how to rip the traveller off.
feigning disgust and acting my best I put on my
dr Livingston routine and told them it was pathetic.
how can you get annoyed over 3$?
eventually I was streaming my way past the river up
and by the Disney hotel( I shit you not) and the water theme park that has
been erected for the rich. Then by so many lovely weddings illuminating the night
with madness and light. Eventually I got to rishikesh or is it Tel Aviv?
anyway I was the only Englishman in an area that had about 100 Israelis
all celebrating the end of yom kippur. So it was indulge and bulge
those of you who know india know what it can be like!!!
(more for another time)

anyway I got a room with arather nice solo Israeli traveller
and am spending the few with him sharing
its a pretty place here, with the bridge and all.
its obviously changed so much since the mop top
scousers made it famous
you cant throw a cat without hitting some yoga teacher
or ashram.
-------------------------------------------------------

bo

birthday

hello all

well today is my birthday.

at 38 i have been travelling 'solo' for 22 years.
yes i am an old fart whos young at heart.
at this time 38 yrs ago my older brother was outside the small house i was born in
asking my mums friends if he could call me batman as he didnt want a brother called peter.

i've been blessed to visit over 50 countries
in my brief time on this planet

its still beautiful

thanks for following me

much more soon

bo

lullaby

a small excerpt from my completely new journal
which is rather odd as i never kep a journal.
iam fortunate in that i can recall everything thats happened
almost!

I feel that in many ways back home we are asleep, anaesthetised from
the realities of the planet. Society's trick is to keep us dulled
and away from seeking real answers,meaning and fulfilment.
When i travel I 'wake up' and see the dawn, feel raw to the earth
ans sky -all the pain and wonder of life hits me and passes through'

i'm in rishkesh now.
ohh dear beatles what have you done!

more soon

bo

lumbering mass

still in delhi now

the shatabdi express is the very fast version of the
japanese bullet train. (It actualy moves at 60 miles an hour but
for india that is very fast indeed!)
It's an experience as its full of rich indians who are overweight and get
almost everything done for them. Yes folks its all about the cash on that vehicle.
So each time i come here i try and get at least a journey on it just to juxta pose
it's internal existence compared to the realities outside the window.
there is something quite sick about it actually.
fat folk moving around on a bubble of air conditioned metal
while outside folk scrape to make ends meet.
in many ways i can see the parallels with the rich in the west.
we all live in debt and the rich float above looking down in a bubble of
anaesthetized nonchalance.
the staff onbaod had to work flat out as in my 5 hrs from amritsar to delhi
we had three meals of quite a good quality. they also served drinks and pandered to the rich folks demands. the extreme difference between rich and poor here is very obvious
whereas in the uk we hide it behind debt and a stiff upper loin cloth.
the lady next to me for the first half of the trip was a doctor who had just moved to canada.
we talked of corruption and the billions that are creamed off here by the elite
as the poor cant even get a meal.
a little bit like how the us government gave over 110$ million to build
the superdome donw in the hurrican hit south and yet folk havent even got
enough to rebuild homes or for basic eminities.( will someone please wake dreamland america up
to the realities that it shares alot of the third world issues with india!!)
anyhow the other guy next to me was a website database cha who did some work for the
uk companies in leeds and yorkshire my hometown.
small world hey?

so we ate too much
felt fine in the ac
moaned about the long journeyish?
then the rich had their bags moved by coolies
and i walked off back into the screaming mass of humanity that dwells
on the sidewalk near the entrance to the olde world charm that is the
indian railway station

you have to come here
soon to see it before its all gone

bo