Too many deep people...

I have been in Rishikesh's Swarg Ashram area for about a day and a half now. I must say, I am throughly unimpressed. I am staying at a blah hotel (Green Hotel) that has a redeeming Italian restaurant downstairs. It lacks a rooftop hangout area which I have become so used to here in India. The Interpid tour I just finished up could have also been named "Rooftops of Northern India" just as easily as "India Unplugged."

There just seem to be too many "deep" people here for my liking. I understand that yoga and meditation (why people come to Rishikesh) are meant to turn you inwards and blah blah blah, but I just find all the overt searching for spirituality really dull. REALLY dull. I thought that the Shah's daily life was pretty boring, but the idea of talking to some of the soul searching people here in Rishikesh makes sticking my face in fresh cow shit sound good.

The other thing that is really pissing me off is the insistant "pilgrims" begging for alms. Some of them might very well be religious pilgrims asking for alms, but when I sat and observed them for a while, I noticed they only asked westerners for "hallo, just one rupee". I am generally annoyed by the clanging of the metal bucket for money by people who chose to be poor when there are real poor people who didn't choose to be.

This is not to say I am not relaxing and having a decent time. I have sampled many lassis, and I finished the book Seven Years In Tibet in 2 days. Also, that made me want to buy the Dalai Lama's autobiography. I could only find it in one shop, and the guy wouldn't swap or give me a discount if I gave him my just finished book. Instead I bought the DL's memoirs at a different shop for half the price.

Tomorrow I will head to Haridwar in the evening so I can catch the train to Delhi early the next morning.