India: a journey of the spirit

The first thing that hits you is the crowd. 1.4 billion people live in India and, because touts, taxi men and hoteliers get as far as the airplane shuttle corridor, you get the feeling that they're crowding you out, outnumbering you, stepping on space that would be yours had you landed in any other country in the world.

The streets are full too and not only with people. The ruminative cows, goats, pigs and even, on bigger roads, elephants add to the commotion. An Indian street is the most striking example of animal life integrated into human society. I once saw at dawn in The Golden Temple of Amritsar trees almost weighed down with the weight of birds on their branches.  Elsewhere, I witnessed an invasion of monkeys. Some little boys went out to stone them. Braver than me: rabies is rife among monkeys and it can be transmitted by any contact with their saliva.

The streets behind the ghats of Varanasi have a Gothic feel – the tall buildings seem to lean towards each other over the narrow streets. Processions of men carry corpses through the streets, then cleanse them in The Ganges and place them on a pyre to be burned. Dhobi wallahs spend their days washing clothes at the Ganges' riverbank: immaculately white cloth emerges from the brown, opaque washing water. Men at the riverbank go through the ritual of a gentle workout, a dip, a shave, a chai and a chat. Everything is dolce far niente yet strangely purposeful.

Varanasi is full of Japanese people; but it is not Varnasi they come for – neighbouring Sarnath, where Buddha preached the Fire Sermon, is the draw. Sarnath is a collection of Buddhist temples representing most of the main Buddhist countries – Tibet, India, Thailand, Burma, China and Japan.
   
Goa should be the treat at the end of any demanding trek through India. Goans have much to be happy about. The Arabian sea caresses the generous portion of coastline in their little state. Its fish yields are as generous as they are varied. Goa emerged from four hundred years as a Portuguese colony in 1961, just when package holidays were starting to take off. Nowadays migratory workers from neighbouring states do the tough work (Goan infrastructure grows apace) while locals superintend the profits of the tourist trade.

The most striking aspect of Goa is how few people there are around. Just over a million people live in Goa and its capital, Punaji, is more a big town than a city. Panaji is very attractive for it's very tranquility. Its beautiful old colonnaded houses are an essential part of the Portuguese quarter. Hotel Venite embodies the feel of this old city – it great for a beer and some local catch. In this, the least Hindu place in India, 'control of mind', the aphorism of itinerant spiritualists, is most attainable.