I probably should have written this blog weeks ago, as it's been two or three weeks since the trip. I'll do my best to recount the adventure though...
A few weeks ago, Hannah (a fellow IES student) and myself decide to go to Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world located in the state of Uttarakhand:
We start our adventure on Friday night - we take an auto to the metro, the metro to Old Delhi, and a cycle rickshaw to 'Old Delhi Shop #18,' the place from which the bus was scheduled to depart. The area was very crowded, as there were many people catching various buses traveling every which way. After a few unsuccessful attempts to locate people traveling with us, we spot a group of white people and flock to them. It turned out that they were traveling on the same bus. One guy, an Australian, was just passing through Rishikesh on his way into the Himalayas for a trekking expedition. The others, three Germans and a Frenchman, were to spend the weekend in Rishikesh as well. We ended up sitting next to each other on the (horrible) bus ride. Let me tell you about this bus ride - first of all, as soon as we got on the bus (around 10:30 pm) I realized that I had to pee. Crucial mistake - why did I ever leave the house without going to the bathroom first?? Anyways, the traffic was so bad that it took us about two hours to get out of Delhi. TWO HOURS. 1/2 of those hours was spent waiting in line at a gas station in order to get gas. (1. What bus company doesn't gas up their buses before boarding passengers? and 2. Why didn't I get off and use the restroom then, you may ask? I didn't want the bus to leave without me - I didn't realize we'd be there for a good 30 minutes.) Once the bus finally got out of Delhi and on the road, my seat started to bounce. I'm not talking about a little jiggle - I'm talking about a head-banging roller coaster ride. I look around and realize that my chair is the only one doing it - I had the rotten luck of getting the broken seat on the bus. It wouldn't have been so bad if 1. It wasn't an overnight bus ride - I had planned on sleeping b/c we departed at 11 and wouldn't get into Rishikesh until around 6 in the morning. 2. I STILL HAD TO PEE. AND EVERY BOUNCE PUSHED A LITTLE BIT MORE ON MY BLADDER. After a total of about 1 hour of sleep (when we were stuck in Delhi traffic) and a few torturous hours of bouncing, we pull into this side-of-the-road restaurant / possible bus rest area around 2 am. I run to the bathroom only to be greeted by a dark nasty western-style bathroom (sometimes Indian-style bathrooms are better - you don't have to worry about your ass touching the seat). I'm relieving myself when someone opens the door and in my rush to close it I pee on my leg/pants I am wearing. I attempt to wash it off at the pump outside but let's just say I don't think I washed it all off... After the bathroom experience, Hannah and I buy some snacks and look at the random rabbits they have in cages. After about half an hour we resume our journey to Rishikesh.
Around 6 in the morning, we pull into Rishikesh and are dropped off at the "bus station," which strangely looked like the side of the road. Hannah and I had booked a taxi to pick us up at the bus station and take us to the guesthouse we were staying in. When we arrived, though, the taxi was no where in site and the people at the guesthouse were not answering the phone (I might possibly have been calling the wrong number though...). The Europeans decided to go to our guest house to see if they could book a room there, as they hadn't arranged for lodging yet. We decide to just walk and have a look at the town and stumble upon a long line of people walking. We follow them and they lead us to the Ganges River. It was such a beautiful site - 7 in the morning and already teeming with life - people bathing in the river, performing pujas, washing clothes, kids selling flowers to offer to Mother Ganga, etc. I waded in the river, so my feet are well on their way of breaking out of the cycle of life and death haha. After some time, the man at the guesthouse calls and asks where we are, as the taxi had been waiting for two hours for us....turns out the bus really did drop us off at the side of the road, contrary to where they had said they would drop us off. we tell the guy to just cancel the taxi, but we were made to pay the full amount of taking us (Rs 450) plus another 400 rupees for waiting....so essentially we paid the taxi driver 20 dollars for nothing, as we still had to pay for transportation to the guesthouse from the Ganges. The guesthouse itself though was beautiful - amazingly clean with beautiful decoration. The only downside is it is located on a steep hill and one must climb quite a ways to reach the room (a weak/elderly/person with knee problems probably couldn't stay here). Hannah and I had booked a room that had a shared kitchen and bathroom - there were two other rooms around the kitchen and the europeans ended up taking those. It was awesome to have basically an apartment all to ourselves to hang out and such.
After showering, we go out to explore the town. It was surprisingly peaceful - much less crowded than Delhi and hardly a honk was heard. We walk around for a bit, take a look at the shops and walk down on the banks of the Ganges. We happened upon Cow Beach and climb the rocks.
--shit, I am realizing now that all the days have jumbled together in my mind. I will just give a general overview of what we did instead. hahaha.
One afternoon we decide to try and find an elusive waterfall that one of the Germans' friends had went to...all we had to go on were some pictures. The walk starts out okay, we see some beautiful scenery and have a view of Rishikesh from up above. Then we start to walk up this trail...and continue up...and up...and up. For three hours. Keep in mind I'm in a long skirt and sandals (I wasn't aware we would be hiking that day.) Towards the end of the hike I give up - we were following a little stream and I decide to just sit by it and wait for them to finish the hike and come back down. Lukas, one of the Germans, won't leave me alone though, which pushes me to continue so that he doesn't lose out on the hike. I'm so glad I continued though, because not even ten minutes later we happen upon an excellent place to take a dip in the stream, with a few mini-waterfalls. We strip down and get in in our underwear and OH MY GOD IT FELT SO REFRESHING. Oh, I forgot to mention that about half an hour into the trek it started raining. And never really stopped... Anyways, the stream was nice and cold and had a strong current so it was quite clean. It was a little difficult to stay in one place (Lukas can vouch for that - at one point I saw him trying to go on his stomach headfirst down one of the mini-waterfalls, kind of slow-motion like and just staring at me. After a minute he gets up and has a huge scrape on his chest. Apparently he was just taken away by the current. He didn't call out because he thought I saw it happen but I didn't and just thought he was doing it on purpose. HA!) After a good dip we head back down, which was, of course, MUCH easier than the ascent. We return to our guesthouse, shower, and go get something to eat.
Let me just take this moment to explain how amazing the food was here. There was a large selection of cuisines. A few of my favorite foods I had were banana pancakes with nutella (multiple times), falafel and hummus, pizza, cheesy roasted potatoes, bruschetta, nutella/chocolate crepes, nachos, and a yak cheese and tomato grilled sandwich. And everything was SO cheap. Drinks cost 50 cents. My meals were around 3 dollars (that usually included dessert). The most I ever spent on a meal was $4.50, which included an appetizer, a main course, a desert and a drink. It was amazing; I wish Delhi had those prices. Needless to say I ate like a pig in Rishikesh (we spend a LOT of time eating). It is a holy city, though, so meat and alcohol are not allowed there.
A few other cool things we did:
We saw the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Ashram, where the Beatles stayed during their stay in India and composed most of the songs on the White Album. Unfortunately, it was closed and you had to pay some sketchy guy to go inside, so we only saw from the outside. It looked pretty overgrown though, but I can see how gorgeous it might have been back in the 60s. The pathway to the ashram, however, was hidden away and quite difficult to walk - it was composed of large, unevenly dispersed rocks:
Later on in the evening we try to find the actual waterfall (with directions from locals). After an hour walk (this time on level ground), we reach the gate and are elated - finally we will see the waterfall! To our dismay, it was "closed" for the day, as the path is dangerous in the dark. Hannah and I never made it to that waterfall...
One night we hung out on the beach and it was absolutely beautiful - the moonlight lit up the river and the fog surrounding it. There was a cool breeze coming off the river that felt amazing. Oh, what I would give to be back in Rishikesh!
On Monday, after a delicious breakfast at the German bakery, the Europeans and Hannah Montana part ways. They were determined to reach the waterfall and decided to stay in Rishikesh that day and book an overnight bus to Delhi in the evening. Hannah and I wanted to do a little shopping and go in the wedding-cake looking temple, and go to a city called Haridwar in the evening for the huge Ganga puja:
Inside, the temple was beautiful. There were hundreds of shrines to various gods and goddesses. Each effigy had its own bell hanging in front of it and people would ring the bells and touch their heads/chests or join their hands in front of them. Hannah and I joined in (I rang the bells for some of my favorites, such as the goddesses Kali and Durga). We made it all the way to the top, where we were blessed, a tikka was placed on our foreheads of orange dye, and we were given holy water to sip/put on our heads. I touched the water to my lips and ingested the slightest bit (a blessing doesn't work if you don't, right?) and put the rest on my head. After the temple, we buy little bottles in order to collect some holy water from the Ganges. Apparently, even if you keep the water a hundred years, it will never change (nothing will grow on it, no worms etc.) That is amazing, considering the amount of bacteria in the Ganges (especially during the monsoon season). I have my bottle though so in a hundred years we shall see what happens. =)
Around 4:30 in the afternoon we catch an auto to the bus station, where we were to catch the city bus to Haridwar, about an hour south of Rishikesh and the holiest city of Uttarakand. It is said that it is one of four sites where where drops of Amrit, the elixir of immortality, spilled while being carried by the celestial bird Garuda. The bus station is very disorganized and we talk to a few people milling around, also waiting for the bus to Haridwar. They had been waiting for over an hour. Once the bus arrives, we see people making a mad dash for it and realize that it wasn't going to be a normal bus ride. There is a huge fight to get on the bus - people pushing, shoving, elbowing, all trying to jam into the door. People are throwing their kids on the bus. Old ladies were pulling me back by the shoulders in order to get in front of me. Hannah and I throw a couple elbows and fight our way into the bus (luckily - not everyone made it on!). We also had our luggage, but some guy sitting down put it between his legs. The bus was absolutely PACKED. After a little while Hannah and I notice that we are the only women standing. We were the only white people on the bus, which I guess meant we didn't need a seat? It was a bit gross, as we were packed in between many Indian men and one man somehow weaseled his way in between us. About halfway into the ride, our bus starts violently rocking back and forth - I look out the window and realize that we are driving through RUSHING WATER. There is no longer a road - just a river. (It had been raining since morning - Hannah and I were soaked literally all day). I was legitimately scared for my life but, even though we drove through two more rivers, we made it safely to Haridwar. On the bus, though, we met a family going to Har-ki-Pauri (literally Steps of Shiva), where the Ganga Aarti takes place every night. The family (a husband, wife, son, and the wife's parents) helped us out every step of the way. we probably wouldn't have made it had they not been there. We didn't realize we needed to get off the bus before it made it to the bus station and walk a ways to reach Har-ki-Pauri. Thankfully, they guided us. Upon reaching Har-ki-Pauri, it was just absolutely amazing. We give our shoes to the person and can finally just sit down, rest, and take it all in. There were hundreds of people getting ready for the Ganga Aarti, many little stands selling flowers and things for puja, and people bathing in the river (although it was much, much dirtier here - due to the heavy rains all day and the fact that it's further downstream than Rishikesh). We broke out some snacks and just sat, ate, and watched. It was glorious. At 7:30, some designated men (there were either 7 or 9 of them) lit the holy flames and everyone crowded around and waved the holy smoke in their faces and around their heads. Hannah and I did as well, of course. It was such a beautiful site, and the rain stopped just for those 15 or 20 minutes it took to light the flames and perform the puja.
Afterwards, we realize we are not going to be able to catch an overnight bus back to Delhi in time for classes on Tuesday (Monday was a holiday - Independence Day), and decide it would probably have been too dangerous anyways due to the rains. We go to a hotel (recommended as a budget hotel by Lonely Planet) and check in. It was absolutely disgusting. I don't think they had cleaned the room at all and, even though we got new bedding, there was hair all over it. All we really wanted was someplace to get dry and a room with a balcony, so it fulfilled those two needs. We had the guy at the front desk get us dinner (we didn't want to go back into the rain) and I had the worst butter paneer ever. I'm pretty sure there was a ground-up animal in it, no lie. Hannah shared her dal with me though so sub thik hai (all is well). We sleep on our scarves above the bed sheets and I fall asleep to the drip-drip-drip of a leak in our room. In the morning, I am awakened by what I think is a man washing the windows of our balcony but, after putting on my glasses, realize it is just a monkey. We go book a train back to Delhi in the afternoon, eat some breakfast, and try to go to the Mansa Devi temple, which is a temple on the hill to which you can take a cable car. It is said that those who go to the temple have all their desires fulfilled. Unfortunately, they weren't selling tickets until 1 and our train was at 3, so we couldn't go. =(
The train ride was pretty cool - it reminded me of something out of The Darjeeling Limited. We rode in 2nd sleeper class so it was pretty nice. We arrived back in Delhi around 11pm Tuesday evening and return in auto home.
Pictures are on my facebook, as always.
A few weeks ago, Hannah (a fellow IES student) and myself decide to go to Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world located in the state of Uttarakhand:
We start our adventure on Friday night - we take an auto to the metro, the metro to Old Delhi, and a cycle rickshaw to 'Old Delhi Shop #18,' the place from which the bus was scheduled to depart. The area was very crowded, as there were many people catching various buses traveling every which way. After a few unsuccessful attempts to locate people traveling with us, we spot a group of white people and flock to them. It turned out that they were traveling on the same bus. One guy, an Australian, was just passing through Rishikesh on his way into the Himalayas for a trekking expedition. The others, three Germans and a Frenchman, were to spend the weekend in Rishikesh as well. We ended up sitting next to each other on the (horrible) bus ride. Let me tell you about this bus ride - first of all, as soon as we got on the bus (around 10:30 pm) I realized that I had to pee. Crucial mistake - why did I ever leave the house without going to the bathroom first?? Anyways, the traffic was so bad that it took us about two hours to get out of Delhi. TWO HOURS. 1/2 of those hours was spent waiting in line at a gas station in order to get gas. (1. What bus company doesn't gas up their buses before boarding passengers? and 2. Why didn't I get off and use the restroom then, you may ask? I didn't want the bus to leave without me - I didn't realize we'd be there for a good 30 minutes.) Once the bus finally got out of Delhi and on the road, my seat started to bounce. I'm not talking about a little jiggle - I'm talking about a head-banging roller coaster ride. I look around and realize that my chair is the only one doing it - I had the rotten luck of getting the broken seat on the bus. It wouldn't have been so bad if 1. It wasn't an overnight bus ride - I had planned on sleeping b/c we departed at 11 and wouldn't get into Rishikesh until around 6 in the morning. 2. I STILL HAD TO PEE. AND EVERY BOUNCE PUSHED A LITTLE BIT MORE ON MY BLADDER. After a total of about 1 hour of sleep (when we were stuck in Delhi traffic) and a few torturous hours of bouncing, we pull into this side-of-the-road restaurant / possible bus rest area around 2 am. I run to the bathroom only to be greeted by a dark nasty western-style bathroom (sometimes Indian-style bathrooms are better - you don't have to worry about your ass touching the seat). I'm relieving myself when someone opens the door and in my rush to close it I pee on my leg/pants I am wearing. I attempt to wash it off at the pump outside but let's just say I don't think I washed it all off... After the bathroom experience, Hannah and I buy some snacks and look at the random rabbits they have in cages. After about half an hour we resume our journey to Rishikesh.
Around 6 in the morning, we pull into Rishikesh and are dropped off at the "bus station," which strangely looked like the side of the road. Hannah and I had booked a taxi to pick us up at the bus station and take us to the guesthouse we were staying in. When we arrived, though, the taxi was no where in site and the people at the guesthouse were not answering the phone (I might possibly have been calling the wrong number though...). The Europeans decided to go to our guest house to see if they could book a room there, as they hadn't arranged for lodging yet. We decide to just walk and have a look at the town and stumble upon a long line of people walking. We follow them and they lead us to the Ganges River. It was such a beautiful site - 7 in the morning and already teeming with life - people bathing in the river, performing pujas, washing clothes, kids selling flowers to offer to Mother Ganga, etc. I waded in the river, so my feet are well on their way of breaking out of the cycle of life and death haha. After some time, the man at the guesthouse calls and asks where we are, as the taxi had been waiting for two hours for us....turns out the bus really did drop us off at the side of the road, contrary to where they had said they would drop us off. we tell the guy to just cancel the taxi, but we were made to pay the full amount of taking us (Rs 450) plus another 400 rupees for waiting....so essentially we paid the taxi driver 20 dollars for nothing, as we still had to pay for transportation to the guesthouse from the Ganges. The guesthouse itself though was beautiful - amazingly clean with beautiful decoration. The only downside is it is located on a steep hill and one must climb quite a ways to reach the room (a weak/elderly/person with knee problems probably couldn't stay here). Hannah and I had booked a room that had a shared kitchen and bathroom - there were two other rooms around the kitchen and the europeans ended up taking those. It was awesome to have basically an apartment all to ourselves to hang out and such.
After showering, we go out to explore the town. It was surprisingly peaceful - much less crowded than Delhi and hardly a honk was heard. We walk around for a bit, take a look at the shops and walk down on the banks of the Ganges. We happened upon Cow Beach and climb the rocks.
--shit, I am realizing now that all the days have jumbled together in my mind. I will just give a general overview of what we did instead. hahaha.
One afternoon we decide to try and find an elusive waterfall that one of the Germans' friends had went to...all we had to go on were some pictures. The walk starts out okay, we see some beautiful scenery and have a view of Rishikesh from up above. Then we start to walk up this trail...and continue up...and up...and up. For three hours. Keep in mind I'm in a long skirt and sandals (I wasn't aware we would be hiking that day.) Towards the end of the hike I give up - we were following a little stream and I decide to just sit by it and wait for them to finish the hike and come back down. Lukas, one of the Germans, won't leave me alone though, which pushes me to continue so that he doesn't lose out on the hike. I'm so glad I continued though, because not even ten minutes later we happen upon an excellent place to take a dip in the stream, with a few mini-waterfalls. We strip down and get in in our underwear and OH MY GOD IT FELT SO REFRESHING. Oh, I forgot to mention that about half an hour into the trek it started raining. And never really stopped... Anyways, the stream was nice and cold and had a strong current so it was quite clean. It was a little difficult to stay in one place (Lukas can vouch for that - at one point I saw him trying to go on his stomach headfirst down one of the mini-waterfalls, kind of slow-motion like and just staring at me. After a minute he gets up and has a huge scrape on his chest. Apparently he was just taken away by the current. He didn't call out because he thought I saw it happen but I didn't and just thought he was doing it on purpose. HA!) After a good dip we head back down, which was, of course, MUCH easier than the ascent. We return to our guesthouse, shower, and go get something to eat.
Let me just take this moment to explain how amazing the food was here. There was a large selection of cuisines. A few of my favorite foods I had were banana pancakes with nutella (multiple times), falafel and hummus, pizza, cheesy roasted potatoes, bruschetta, nutella/chocolate crepes, nachos, and a yak cheese and tomato grilled sandwich. And everything was SO cheap. Drinks cost 50 cents. My meals were around 3 dollars (that usually included dessert). The most I ever spent on a meal was $4.50, which included an appetizer, a main course, a desert and a drink. It was amazing; I wish Delhi had those prices. Needless to say I ate like a pig in Rishikesh (we spend a LOT of time eating). It is a holy city, though, so meat and alcohol are not allowed there.
A few other cool things we did:
We saw the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Ashram, where the Beatles stayed during their stay in India and composed most of the songs on the White Album. Unfortunately, it was closed and you had to pay some sketchy guy to go inside, so we only saw from the outside. It looked pretty overgrown though, but I can see how gorgeous it might have been back in the 60s. The pathway to the ashram, however, was hidden away and quite difficult to walk - it was composed of large, unevenly dispersed rocks:
Later on in the evening we try to find the actual waterfall (with directions from locals). After an hour walk (this time on level ground), we reach the gate and are elated - finally we will see the waterfall! To our dismay, it was "closed" for the day, as the path is dangerous in the dark. Hannah and I never made it to that waterfall...
One night we hung out on the beach and it was absolutely beautiful - the moonlight lit up the river and the fog surrounding it. There was a cool breeze coming off the river that felt amazing. Oh, what I would give to be back in Rishikesh!
On Monday, after a delicious breakfast at the German bakery, the Europeans and Hannah Montana part ways. They were determined to reach the waterfall and decided to stay in Rishikesh that day and book an overnight bus to Delhi in the evening. Hannah and I wanted to do a little shopping and go in the wedding-cake looking temple, and go to a city called Haridwar in the evening for the huge Ganga puja:
Around 4:30 in the afternoon we catch an auto to the bus station, where we were to catch the city bus to Haridwar, about an hour south of Rishikesh and the holiest city of Uttarakand. It is said that it is one of four sites where where drops of Amrit, the elixir of immortality, spilled while being carried by the celestial bird Garuda. The bus station is very disorganized and we talk to a few people milling around, also waiting for the bus to Haridwar. They had been waiting for over an hour. Once the bus arrives, we see people making a mad dash for it and realize that it wasn't going to be a normal bus ride. There is a huge fight to get on the bus - people pushing, shoving, elbowing, all trying to jam into the door. People are throwing their kids on the bus. Old ladies were pulling me back by the shoulders in order to get in front of me. Hannah and I throw a couple elbows and fight our way into the bus (luckily - not everyone made it on!). We also had our luggage, but some guy sitting down put it between his legs. The bus was absolutely PACKED. After a little while Hannah and I notice that we are the only women standing. We were the only white people on the bus, which I guess meant we didn't need a seat? It was a bit gross, as we were packed in between many Indian men and one man somehow weaseled his way in between us. About halfway into the ride, our bus starts violently rocking back and forth - I look out the window and realize that we are driving through RUSHING WATER. There is no longer a road - just a river. (It had been raining since morning - Hannah and I were soaked literally all day). I was legitimately scared for my life but, even though we drove through two more rivers, we made it safely to Haridwar. On the bus, though, we met a family going to Har-ki-Pauri (literally Steps of Shiva), where the Ganga Aarti takes place every night. The family (a husband, wife, son, and the wife's parents) helped us out every step of the way. we probably wouldn't have made it had they not been there. We didn't realize we needed to get off the bus before it made it to the bus station and walk a ways to reach Har-ki-Pauri. Thankfully, they guided us. Upon reaching Har-ki-Pauri, it was just absolutely amazing. We give our shoes to the person and can finally just sit down, rest, and take it all in. There were hundreds of people getting ready for the Ganga Aarti, many little stands selling flowers and things for puja, and people bathing in the river (although it was much, much dirtier here - due to the heavy rains all day and the fact that it's further downstream than Rishikesh). We broke out some snacks and just sat, ate, and watched. It was glorious. At 7:30, some designated men (there were either 7 or 9 of them) lit the holy flames and everyone crowded around and waved the holy smoke in their faces and around their heads. Hannah and I did as well, of course. It was such a beautiful site, and the rain stopped just for those 15 or 20 minutes it took to light the flames and perform the puja.
Afterwards, we realize we are not going to be able to catch an overnight bus back to Delhi in time for classes on Tuesday (Monday was a holiday - Independence Day), and decide it would probably have been too dangerous anyways due to the rains. We go to a hotel (recommended as a budget hotel by Lonely Planet) and check in. It was absolutely disgusting. I don't think they had cleaned the room at all and, even though we got new bedding, there was hair all over it. All we really wanted was someplace to get dry and a room with a balcony, so it fulfilled those two needs. We had the guy at the front desk get us dinner (we didn't want to go back into the rain) and I had the worst butter paneer ever. I'm pretty sure there was a ground-up animal in it, no lie. Hannah shared her dal with me though so sub thik hai (all is well). We sleep on our scarves above the bed sheets and I fall asleep to the drip-drip-drip of a leak in our room. In the morning, I am awakened by what I think is a man washing the windows of our balcony but, after putting on my glasses, realize it is just a monkey. We go book a train back to Delhi in the afternoon, eat some breakfast, and try to go to the Mansa Devi temple, which is a temple on the hill to which you can take a cable car. It is said that those who go to the temple have all their desires fulfilled. Unfortunately, they weren't selling tickets until 1 and our train was at 3, so we couldn't go. =(
The train ride was pretty cool - it reminded me of something out of The Darjeeling Limited. We rode in 2nd sleeper class so it was pretty nice. We arrived back in Delhi around 11pm Tuesday evening and return in auto home.
Pictures are on my facebook, as always.
