RISHIKESH

9th - 14th May 2015

After our 6 hour of toy train ride we were by no means near our destination of Rishikesh. We managed to get a seat on the Himalayan Queen (a train connecting Delhi to the Himalayan foothills) to Chandigarh. Chandigarh is a modern city built after India's independence. They enlisted the skills of legendary Swiss designer Le Corbusier. He planed out the city's gridded layout which devises all the areas up into different sectors depending on the specialty, eg the majority of the hotels are in one sector whilst the shops and restaurants are clumped together in another. All the different numbered sectors sounded a bit like the book 'The Hunger Games'. Unfortunately we were just passing through and didn't have time to witness some of Corbusier's iconic modernist concrete buildings. Shame. 

We caught a local bus from bus stand 16, sector 17 and rattled off onto the miles of smoggy highway out of town. Eight hours later, two hours more than planned we arrived in Rishikesh town centre. It was three in the morning and all hotels by the bus station were full or couldn't be bothered to deal with us. I don't blame them. 

We managed to get a tuk tuk over to Laxman Jula, a small cluster of life set around a suspension bridge 4km up the Ganga. Unfortunately we still had the same problem as all the hotels were shut for the night. We wondered the quiet streets for a while trying not to step on sleeping holy men and jumping every time we turned a corner coming face to face with life sized religious deities staring at is from dark corners. We eventually snuck through an open gateway just up an alley in the middle of the village. There was a small flight of steps leading onto the joint roof top of a couple of houses. It was very peaceful, quiet and had a great view. A small breeze was blowing up from the river making the night air cool and refreshing. We lay back and dozed off looking at the stars. 

We woke round seven to find we still had our bags, wallets and kidneys. (Phew) Luckily no one had spotted us so we silently crept back down off the roof and slipped out into the hustle and bustle of the morning. We found a little bamboo clad cafe for breakfast, tucked away down a tiny alley on the riverside next to Laxman Jula footbridge. It was a calm little spot hidden from the main road. A large bowl of fruit, a short doze and a few coffees later, we went off in search of a place to stay.

We took a room in the Sri Sant Seva Ashram. I think ashram traditionally refers to a building dedicated to a Hindu cultural activity such as yoga, music, education or religious and spiritual instruction. Kind of like a music or yoga studio. You can often stay in these places if you partake in the ashram's specialty. However I think this ashram is a bit more relaxed and is more of a guest house with a few classes. Our second story air conditioned room was big with high ceilings and a balcony overlooking the Ganga.

To escape the midday heat, we ventured down a small alleyway to the ashrams cafe. It was perched on the side of the building with the whole back wall open looking out over the river and catching the cool breeze from its waters. It was a beautiful spot where you could kill many an hour just staring at the scenery. To make things even better there were playing the White Album rather than Hindi and Hare Krishna songs that were beginning to wear a bit thin. So the story goes that the Beatles stayed in the Maharishi Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh back in 1968. They stayed for a month or two relaxing and writing many songs that later ended up on the White Album. You can still visit the place they stayed, however I think it's abandoned these days. 

As Rishikesh is the yoga capital of India we decided to try the afternoon class, when in Rome and all that. Following the same principle it seemed only right to have a holy dip in India's holiest river. I wanted to go for a dip in Varanasi however the water there is some of the most polluted on the planet, however up here near the source I'm told it's much cleaner. Fingers crossed and mouths firmly shut we dived in, it was bloody cold, very refreshing and best of all, our sins were being washed away. Bonus! The Ganga is supposed to flow from Shivas hair, Shiva being the destroyer is the only God powerful enough to control the Ganga. It is said that if the Ganga was not controlled by Shiva it would wash away the whole world. This power was demonstrated a day later when a Indian man was caught out of his depth and drowned just outside our ashram. Apparently a lot of Indians drown each year as many can't swim but still come to bath in the holy waters. Still it is a big reminder of the power of nature. A local man I got chatting to said over 16 people had drowned this spring time already.

In the evening we stumbled across a Nepal fundraiser on the bank of the river. We bought dinner  sat on the steps of the ghat contentedly people watching. It is really moving to see how much India is pulling together for Nepal. In Dharamkot, Manali, Shimla and now here we have seen people doing whatever they can to raise money. Later in the evening we failed our search for beer and instead settled for a fruit juice. It was pretty good, but I think me and Rishikesh are going to have problems with each other. 

The following day we went for a wonder around the opposite bank of the river. We had probably the best fruit juice ever from a little stall in a back street round the corner from the Laxman Jula bridge. We nicknamed the man who worked their 'Laxman Juicer'. This became an unhealthy obsession and we returned most days. 

We failed our attempt to go rafting (due to a long lie in and lazy morning) so we settled for afternoon yoga back at the ashram, followed by a sunset swim. Helen opted to sit on the bank while I tried to wash off more of those pesky sins. 

We started the next day with an eight am yoga class followed by a massive bowl of fresh fruit and musli, in little Buddha Cafe high up overlooking the river. Many locals and pilgrims were out having their morning holy dip, others were just having a wash. A few hours past while we sat and ate, everything happens on Indian time here (slowly slowly). 

Eventually it was time to give rafting a go. We crossed the river, hopped on the back of a scooter to the rafting place and were bundled into the back of a jeep heading 16km up stream. It was a pretty spot surrounded by lush Himalayan foothills lit by the hazy afternoon sun. Everything was peaceful except the river, which looked a bit pissed off and not particularly inviting. It was just me and Helen in the end, however we had two guides in the boat and two safety folk in canoes following us down stream, which seemed a bit OTT, but we soon realised they were incredible canoeists and were using the lift up stream so that they could have a play. The rafting was amazing. It was pretty hard work paddling especially at times when the boat was at such an angle you couldn't reach the river with the oars. At one point we nosedived into a rapid throwing me and one of the guides over board. Refreshing would be an understatement. We glided onto the riverside beach outside our ashram in the early evening wet, tired but feeling awesome. 

A storm had started to gather up in the mountains, lighting up the hillside every now and then. Over the next hour or so the winds picked up and all of a sudden the storm was at our doorstep. Rain battered our windows and started trickling into the room. Then thunder roared so strong and loud you could feel it in your bones. We stood on the balcony to watch the light show. Literately ever three of four second the foothills and valleys were illuminated as clear as day. We eventually retreated to the ashrams cafe and waited it out, eating whatever they could cook by candlelight as the power was out.

The storm had cleared the air the following day. The bamboo cafe we spent our first morning in had not survived the storm well, but on the whole I think most buildings made it through the night.

We decided to venture to a waterfall a mile or so up the river. We successfully navigated the local bus network and were dropped a short walk from the entrance. It was a beautiful place about a twenty minute hike up from the main road. At the top and bottom of the falls are two partly man made pools. These tend to fill up with visitors pretty quickly as they are the main attraction. However we crept off the crumbly path about half way up and found our own mini waterfall and natural pool. It was a beautiful spot tucked away behind a massive rock, so we weren't visible from the path. We stayed there for about two hours before we headed back into town fully refreshed.

We caught the afternoon yoga session back at the ashram, then set about booking a flight to Kerala in a nearby internet cafe. An infuriating three hours later we had our flight booked and were sat up high over the Ganga in a rooftop cafe in need of a beer. I don't know how they get by with just tea and fruit juice. 

Happy Birthday Helen was the order of today. I slipped out in the early hours to pick up a few bits and arrived back round half eight laden with tasty stuff from the bakery, and some presents. I found Helen on the balcony watching the world go by. We stuffed ourselves with baked goodness, then it was time for the grand opening. All the trip we have seen hippy western travellers wondering around in massive floaty elephant print pants. Many a joke has been made about their appearance and so it only seemed fitting to get Helen her first pair. Boy was she happy to see them. She was even more over the moon when she saw how well they were made. Her favourite detail was the miss-aligned pockets if I recall her shouting correctly. However folded between those pretty purple elephants was a silver necklace that I picked up in Vashist a week or so back while Helen was climbing. It went down well, this was a big relief.

Now it was time for our second rafting expedition. There were three others joining us this time, two Indian guys and an Ozzie. The plan was to do a 26km route that started much further up stream than our previous route.

It was much easier to paddle with the extra arms and we were speeding along in no time. At one point we all tried to stand up through one rapid. Helen was the only one to make it through still upright. There were some massive rapids that bent and bounced our little rubber boat in all directions. At some point we all spent some time gliding along on our own in the waters. Two and a half hours later wet and knackered, we glided back on to the river bank by our ashram. We were definitely in need of part two of Helen's birthday... The spa. 

Our location for the afternoon was the more upmarket hotel of Devine Ganga. We had booked two treatments each the day before. The first was a head / mind relaxation massage where hot oil is dripped on you forehead and you get a bit of a head massage. It is apparently a really popular India treatment, but we were not that convinced. It was nice and all that, but probably won't do it again. The second treatment was a full body massage which was really good but at time verging on painful. The rooms looked out over the hillside and the river which added to the whole experience. I was sitting looking out the spas massive window when I was told Helen wasn't feeling too good and had been sick. We think it was a devious street stall samosa from lunch after rafting, mixed with a good dose of river water. Helen slept in the spar for an hour trying to get her strength back. The chap there was really helpful and bought some special tea that is good for the stomach as well as recommending things to eat that would help. We stayed at the hotel for dinner overlooking the river as the sun turned the sky pink. It was very nice but a shame for Helen. She said it was the only time she has been sick on her birthday without drinking any alcohol!

The following morning we paid up and arranged our bus to Delhi enabling us to catch our flight to the south. Helen was still feeling fragile so opted to sleep all day until our night bus. Kerala here we come.