Journey to the River

ISBN 9781943493067 Author Rick Clark Pages 222 Journey to the River is based on the journal Rick Clark kept as he and his wife, yoga instructor Fran Gallo, traveled by train around India in 2001. The vivid imagery and poetic language make the book a compelling read for new and inveterate travel readers, Indophiles, and poetry appreciators alike. The beautifully wrought sentences and paragraphs take readers to such sprawling metropolis as Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), and Mumbai (Bombay); to such archaeological destinations as Bhubaneswar, Konark, Mahabalipuram, and Pushkar; and to such spiritual outposts as Pondicherry, Kanyakumari, Pushkar, Dharamsala, Rishikesh, and Varanasi (Banaras), especially the burning-ghats (cremation platforms) on the Ganges River, to which the book’s title refers. The inveterate travelers meet and interact with many Indians, and some they share compartments with on trains, including a Sikh family and two whispering soldiers on their way to the fron