Rishikesh- "Yoga Capital of the World"

The autos in Rishikesh were bigger, I think they would hold like 6-8 people (uncomfortably.)
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I am continuing my tour of the "hill-stations" with a weekend in Rishikesh. While the British were in India many small mountain villages like Rishikesh and Dharamsala became popular vacation spots for fellow travelers trying to escape the heat of the Indian plains. Rishikesh is famous for being the "Yoga Capital of the World." The Beatles came here in the 1960's to meet a yoga guru and it's become a place for learning yoga and meditation ever since. It is also situated on the Ganges river and considered a holy place because it is an important pilgrimage site for Hindus.

Our hotel had a great restaurant. One of their specialities was the "sizzler" which I thought would be like sizzing fajitas at Hacienda. Well, the food came out in cabbage leaves and should have been named the "smoker." Fun though.
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With that description in mind, I pictured Rishiskesh to be like Dharamsala...a quiet, small, and peaceful town. It is much more scenic and smaller than Delhi, but still quite bustling and the pollution from the black smoke spewing autos doesn't add to the tranquility. The mountains surrounding the town are beautiful and the mighty Ganges roars through the middle of town, separating the town into two parts connected by a suspension bridge.

Leslie (a fellow American) and I left Delhi around 7am by train on Friday morning and arrived in Haridwar around noon. From there you have to catch an auto, bus, or taxi to Rishikesh. We opted for the auto which took around 45minutes to arrive here. Our trusty travel bible (Lonely Planet India) recommended several good places to stay and we happily settled into the New Bardwari Swiss Cottage. The helpful, and mostly Nepalese, staff held our stuff while a room was prepared and we searched their extensive menu for lunch. They have everything from Chinese, to Indian, Israeli, Greek, and Continental cuisine in a pleasant little restaurant on the main floor. They also have a "German Bakery," with tempting pastries displayed at the reception counter.

Rishikesh is a big pilgrimage site for Hindus, so there are a lot of Hindu statues throughout the town.
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After lunch we explored the city on foot for a bit and looked for promising yoga ashrams. There are many in town, but they are quite spread out and many are designed for only long-term courses. We decided to do the 5:00pm to 6:30pm course (which of course translates to the 5:30pm to 7:00pm class.) I've found that the yoga teachers here tend to underestimate our physical abilities a bit. And as this teacher so delicately put it....we three girls in class are a bit "heavy in the back" so he prescribed some exercises for us to work on that particular area. He was an odd fellow and so was the class, but the relaxation with the sound of crickets out the window made it worth it.

I had to take my own photo, so you can't see the horse...but I swear he's there.
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For dinner we trekked into town, across the bridge, and found an "Italian" restaurant that serves a decent pizza. We couldn't resist the pastries when we arrived home around 10pm and enjoyed a chocolate "brownie" and apple crumble when we arrived home as a nightcap.

Saturday morning we arranged for a horseback tour of some of the local Himalayan foothills. As the tour guide operator put it, "It's not real riding, you just sit there and the horse walks." So, that's what we did. It was just Leslie, myslef, and our two guides to watchfully guide the horses. We went uphill for about an hour until the grade got to be too much for the horse then got off and hiked the rest of the way to the waterfall. The mountains were lush and green. We passed small villages, rice patties, cacti, eucalyptus trees, and numerous other flora and fauna I could not identify. It also sprinkled much of the day, but that combined with the cloud cover kept us very comfortable temperature wise.

Leslie's on her horse, who's Hindi name I can't remember.
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We rode the traditional, small, horses from this area with arched ears that point inwards. It's really incredible what these horses are accustomed too. Almost nothing on the train, including honking trucks, water buffalo, or steep grades bothered these animals. (Megan- I kept thinking what Scarlett would do!!)

Other than the sore rear, the ride was perfect. We finished off the afternoon with a lunch around 2pm, a nap, and a yoga class at 5pm. Leslie and I also opted to take advantage of the local massage studios and each had an hour long "relaxing" massage. The local speciality is an Ayruvedic massage that includes dripping or pouring oil on your forehead and hair. We decided not to try that out:)