Heya folks, so it looks like I might finally grow a pair, realize a long-cherished fantasy of mine and spend these winter months in India. At this point my travel plans are still very much up in the air, but I am thinking about spending the month of December down south and then travel along the western coast up to Rajasthan and from there go explore the northern part of India; I definitely want to visit Varanasi, perhaps Rishikesh too if it isn't too cold at that time of the year (?). Now, I am sure that some of you fine people have been to India before or are perhaps even living there. Do you guys have any special recommendations for an aspiring India pilgrim such as myself? I would especially be interested in possible inside tips that might steer me away from the beaten tourist path and get me in touch with the authentic part of India... you know, the real stuff.  (I am posting this in the spirituality section of the forum since I am hoping for recommendations from people who are well versed in the spiritual/yogic tradition of this country, so... it'd be great if you mods could just leave it here. Pretty please? ???) Thx!