Rishikesh - Men in Orange

All over the towns of Rishikesh and Haridwar are the Men in Orange.  These are Sadhus, people who have renounced  a regular life for one dedicated to achieving spiritual liberation, partly through living a very austere life.  Some are newbies (men or women who have just left their regular lives & families) and usually look relatively neat & tidy, often with pressed clothes,  while others have obviously been 'on the road' for some time.  As many have no money behind them, many spend part of the day begging for alms or donations. Anyway, here are some shots of a few in Rishikesh.
As usual, click on a pic to embiggen.

 Well-to-do Sadhu in a race with a Royal Enfield :)

 A few guys wandering down a road.

Some guys looking for alms on the side of a road.

Still doing pretty ok- keeping connected.

Sitting in a quiet garden.

Keeping things organized at a tea stall

Living in a cave for 32 years.

...and his current built-up 'cave' on the banks of the Ganga,
with a three foot tall door.

Nice matching sneakers!

A stop for a bite - a chhota of Choti-wala

Not that I'm pushing this particular restaurant, but there's a vegetarian restaurant in Rishikesh, one of a chain, called Choti-walas.  There are apparently a number in the region that are copy-cat versions, and one copy-cat apparently is even right beside the 'actual'.  Don't know, but the one I ate near the Ram Jhula bridge was really fast, had very tasty food, fairly reasonably priced, and seemed clean enough.
There is also a certain 'entertainment factors' to the entrances to these places at the entrance, as the photos below show.
Please click on the picture to embiggen!

Welcome to Chotiwala - ISO 9001 certified!

An absolutely excellent thali - different tastes but great!

Greeting you at the front

...and greeting you at the front of the other Chotiwala next door!

The real greeters!

.....and the other one in the other place.

A good look at his 'choti' - the hair thing on the back of his head.

...and if you need a home delivery!

monkeys.......

OK.  I really, really don't like monkeys.  I mean, really don't.  They are truly nasty, brutish and short.
However, they have their moments.
We are in Rishikesh, in Uttarkhand, northern India, and the place we were staying has a large expanse of flowers over their outside eating area, and next to the room we had.  Turns out that a local troupe of monkeys love the little bit of nectar in the base of the flowers.  Once a day, later afternoon, they come and pick flowers and chew on the base of the flowers with the nectar.
Not like they're nice about it. They will actually make threatening gestures at people if you try to keep them away from the outside seating areas next to your room, and can be aggressive back at you if you try to chase them away.  Freaking monkeys.
 

Our room on the right, the 'blanket' of flowers on the left.

....and of course, tearing a seat cushion apart for fun.

A touch of a 'Taj'

Near Aurangabad is a 1660AD tomb called Bibi Ka Maqbara, known as the mini-Taj Mahal.  Built by the Mogul Aurangzeb for his first wife.  It certainly resembles the Taj Mahal, but rather than built all in marble it's mostly a kind of plaster.  It's still good for a visit.

First, on the road a few water buffalo strolling by:

An old door feature

The inside ceiling of the dome

The mausoleum below the main floor

Looking toward the ceiling in one of the four recesses

A recess with marble screen

A few pics of the mosque next to the tomb

Anne and another visitor

Trying to get a pic

A Modicum of Mumbai

We've spent a few days in Mumbai, after an exhausting three weeks in Agonda on the beach, and on our way north.  We were really lucky that our stop here coincided with a short stop by our good buddies from Vancouver, Cassandra and Doug.  We got to have a couple of meals & drinks with them, and now we're heading off again in different directions.
Anyway, here are a few pics from around the Collaba area in Mumbai, where we usually stay.

Please click on the pic to embiggen.

Shoe seller just off main road in Collaba

A couple of tailors at their shop off the main Collaba road.

A small fruit & veggie stall.

Fruit and veggies at another stall.

Could work as an exercycle....but no, a sharpening business on
the side of the road.

A poor worker sleeping out of the mid-day heat.

Actually, at Elephanta Island, near Mumbai, a woman slogging through the low tide to dig some edible out of the mud.