rishikesh

If I keep eating Indian sweets at the same rate as I am now I'm going to come back to the UK as big as a mandir. It's hard not to when there's such a variety on offer and they all look so appetising. Laddu is becoming a particular favourite.

I went to the cinema in Haridwar yesterday to see a Bollywood film: 'Shakalaka Boom Boom.' I enjoyed the film, which is set in New York (a New York where everyone is Indian including the entire NYPD) and stars Bobby Deol, Upen Patel, Celina Jaitley and Kangana Ranaut. I managed to follow the plot most of the way through, and had bits and pieces explained to me by the people sitting around me as it went on, although it did get a little complicated at the end. The film is about the rivalry between two successful singer/composers called A.J. and Reggie and their competition to be number one in the cut-throat music industry. Hopefully it will be the first of many Bollywood films I go to see. One of the characters in the film was played by Dalip Tahil who was briefly in Eastenders a few years back (as character Dan Ferreira). I didn't like him in Eastenders, although frankly he didn't have much to work with, but he did do a good job in this film. I thought it funny that in the first film I go and see he should pop up. The atmosphere in the dirt floored cinema was great, but it could have done with air conditioning.

This was actually my second attempt to go to the cinema: last week I tried to go and see 'Namaste London' in Delhi but was refused admission to my seat because I had a camera. I'm glad I've got up and running now cinema-wise.

I've sent out some postcards to my family this morning. I've been finding it difficult to find any worth putting in the post, but have just about managed to buy some half decent ones. I'm not overly confident they'll arrive judging by the way the postmaster at the post office chucked them on his desk earlier today, but here's hoping and let it not be said that I didn't try.

I've left Haridwar now and moved on to nearby Rishikesh. I arrived this morning at 11am. A bus was leaving Haridwar station as I walked in and it only took an hour to get up here. It's in a prettier location than Haridwar (a lush tree lined valley through which runs the Ganges), but - rather than being a holiday spot for Indian tourists - it's full of Europeans/Americans with dreadlocks, acoustic guitars, and roll up cigarettes (types generally prone to annoy me). Rishikesh is often called the yoga capital of the world and is where The Beatles famously came in the 1960s to stay with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Even though ultimately things didn't work out (in fact they turned r-r-rather sour) they were later followed by Mike Love of The Beach Boys, Donovan, more recently by Kate Winslet, and now most recently by me. In contrast to the late George Harrison, I'm going to steer clear of the ashrams and chanting and plan to spend my time admiring the view and watching the river flow by in the valley below.

My Mum might like to note that I haven't forgotten to take a single anti-malaria tablet since I arrived in India. I've made it a target to get all the way to 26 July without forgetting a single one. Keep also meaning to record that I had my haircut (in Bikaner) a couple of weeks ago including a head massage and the total bill was only 25p. The lad did a good job too.