The Search for Adventure

I have been in Rishikesh for 2 days and spent most of it hiking in the hills and reading on my balcony overlooking the Ganges. I decided to splurge for a room with a view and it has been worth every rupee. Below the balcony is a long suspension foot bridge with cows, monkeys, holy men, and motorbikes crossing throughout the day between the various temples and Ashrams perched on the steep hills on either side of the river. Prayer bells and sanskrit chanting can be heard throughout the day.

As beautiful as it is here I have the urge to move on. This is a vast improvement on Delhi, but I am still feeling dissatisfied. There are numerous tourists here (mostly israeli for some reason) and I have yet to escape the same redundant continental restaurant menu, which has plagued me since I got off the airplane. I am under the growing suspicion that this is the culinary situation in every town listed in the guidebook. Thanks Lonely Planet! Although the breakfast omelettes and hashbrowns are surprisingly good I cannot help but consume them with guilt. This is not what I came for.

In my abundance of down time I have been reading an autobiography of the impressive adventures of Sir Edmund Hillary (the first man to summit Everest), which has lead me to instantly realize the obvious missing component - my perpetually insatiable desire for adventure.

I was under the naive assumption that after taking a 14 hour plane ride to the other side of the world into a vastly different culture than my own that adventure would be waiting for me once i cleared customs holding a sign with my name on it, but not unlike my driver it failed to show up. The search for raw life experience shall continue and i think it may prove to be more difficult than I anticipated, which should only make it all the more worthwhile once i find it.