Rishikesh and Haridwar

see all photos »

A friend commented that it seemed like my entire internship was just one big holiday, with me going on trips every week-end and seeing Jaipur’s sights and shopping to my heart’s content. But the reality is that my internship involved working 9-5, Monday through to Saturday. Every spare moment, every day I could possibly take off was spent exploring Jaipur or enduring 8hr train and bus rides to visit other cities where we would run around trying to take in everything in a single week-end. So understandably, nine weeks in, I was quite tired and in need of a break. I took 4 days off from work, and set out for Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world, with 3 friends.

see all photos »

It took us 16 hours to make it to Rishikesh; 7 hours on a bus, 40 minutes in a tiny rickshaw inching through peak-hour traffic in Delhi, another 7 hours on a sleeper train to Haridwar, and then an hour on a local bus further north to Rishikesh. We arrived at 6:30 in the morning in the freezing mountain cold and made the painful walk through the fog to our ashram – Ved Niketan. Upon arriving we were so cold we couldn’t feel our feet, and the four of us promptly put down our bags, crawled into a double bed under the single blanket we’d brought with us, and tried to get warm. When he saw how cold we were, one of the ashram’s workers brought up two heavy blankets and laid them on top of us as he chuckled to himself at how pathetic we looked (well, at least I think he did – I would’ve if I was him)

the only thing we could hear at night was the running water of the Ganges and the occasional bird that sang along to the river current.

see all photos »

I had been silly and hadn’t even considered the fact that Rishikesh was; a) up north, and b) in the mountains. So I came totally unprepared for the cold mornings and evenings – no close-toed shoes, no socks, only one jumper, and no warm pants. The days were pleasantly warm though, and we spent them wandering down the one main road which was lined with stalls selling prayer beads, statues of gods and goddesses (Rishikesh is a holy city after all) and grandfather-style men’s clothing. The people in Rishikesh were extremely friendly, and were accustomed to foreigners wandering around – many people come to Rishikesh to stay in the ashrams to learn about Hindu philosophy, find inner peace, relax, do yoga, meditate or just escape the outside world. Set along the bank of the Ganges close to where it flows down from the mountains, Rishikesh has an extremely laid-back feel to it, and I can see why so many people flock here in search of relaxation; at night the sounds of trucks honking their horns and trains steaming by and the ear-splittingly loud music of wedding season which is so typical of large cities like Jaipur is absent in Rishikesh – the only thing we could hear at night was the running water of the Ganges and the occasional bird that sang along to the river current.

see all photos »

Our ashram was quite a large institution, and ran two daily yoga sessions, meditation classes and philosophy lectures. The four of us would wake up at 8 and head straight down to the large yoga hall where we would take part in the 1.5hr “advanced” yoga class – led by a short man with his shirt tucked into his shorts who calmly barked out yoga positions; “Inhale soft. Exhale soft. Right leg back. Mountain pose. Legs straight. Stitch! Middle spine. Upper spine. Stiggle (which I think was supposed to mean ‘stay here’). Inhale….! And join feet. Dog pose” On our first day we discovered a wonderful little café called ‘The Office’, run by two friendly brothers who I think may have been twins, this place was aimed at foreigners, and served up big bowls of fresh fruit, muesli, yoghurt and honey, fresh-made hummus and coriander dip on organic brown bread, large mugs of sugary chai, and the best samosas I have had in India. They even made chocolate and banana samosas which were divine! All of our meals save for one lunch and one dinner were had at this place – and in one day we would walk in past the fresh cooked samosas and pakora no less than four times. At 5 we would make our way back to our ashram for the evening yoga class, after which we would head back to The Office and settle down for dinner.

I had decided to cut myself off from the outside world whilst I was in Rishikesh. I turned off my phone, stayed away from the internet café, and didn’t even have a watch on me. Usually a control freak, I am usually constantly checking my phone, seeing what time it is, organising and planning, rushing off to whatever I have to do next. In Rishikesh – none of that. I never knew the time unless someone mentioned it, I never felt rushed to go anywhere, and the days were dictated by how we felt, not what had been planned. The ashram’s gates closed at 10pm so we would be in bed by 10:30 and for once I didn’t wake up feeling tired. It felt so good, even if only for 3 days, to live in the present, and not in the ‘later this afternoon’ or ‘at 8 o’clock’.

Bianca and Shannon left us on Wednesday morning, amidst the pouring rain and flooding, to go to Thailand and Spain. Having walked them the bridge, on my way back to the ashram my shoes broke under the strain of walking in 10cm deep water, and I had to walk back barefoot, amongst the freezing cold dirty water and cow turd. Feeling utterly defeated and soaked to the bone, I have to admit Rishikesh had lost a little of its charm. But as the day cleared out, and Adit and I lunched on samosas and bruschetta, I was glad we had come to Rishikesh, and was excited about the day we would spend in Haridwar, which is basically a bigger version of Rishikesh.

Living in a basic ashram meant not having any hot water – so after 4 days of cold showers, we were anxious to find a hotel which had hot water. We found one which was quite new, clean, didn’t smell, and after being assured that there was hot water and having bargained the price of our room down from 700 rupees to 300, we were quite content. And then we found out that there wasn’t a hot shower – just a tap with hot water which we could use to fill up a bucket. We were also looking forward to having a sleep-in after our 8am yoga sessions. That didn’t happen either – at quarter to 7, someone knocked on our door asking to come in to get a bucket of hot water for a lady in another room. Also, the blanket, mattress and pillows still had their plastic coverings on under the covers, and so every time we moved the plastic was crunch. Looking back it was quite a ridiculous hotel stay – but at the time we were so frustrated!

The time we spent exploring Haridwar was lovely though – and made the frustratingly annoying hotel experience worth it. With a lot more hustle and bustle, Haridwar is actually quite lively. We went to Harki-peri down by the Ganges river to watch the Ganga Aarti ceremony, which takes place every evening. Hundreds of pilgrims come to Haridwar every day to watch this ceremony and send a basket of flowers with a candle down the river, bringing good luck to all their loved ones. We were man-handled by some ‘priests’ who helped us bless our families, splashed Ganges water on us, led us in prayers, and then proceeded to ask for a ‘donation’ of a hundred rupees. The actual ceremony was amazing though and the crowd came alive to the banging of drums and the lighting of giant flames.

The end to our holiday was not as relaxing as our time in Rishikesh. We missed our train by 20minutes, and had to catch a 12 hr local bus back to Jaipur instead – but I’m very glad we went to Rishikesh and Haridwar. A great destination for my last mini-vacation in India – Rishikesh did the near impossible and pushed aside all the OCD tendencies in me and allowed me to simply relax.