Back down to Delhi and a return to Sundar Nagar

Lovely views of Rishikesh
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Without doubt, the most striking thing about India is the religious fervour..

This was evident in Haridwar this morning, the mass of people heading for the bathing ghats was unbelievable. We were held up for an hour as pilgrims, brahmins, sadhus, and families of daljits all squeezed through the traffic on the way to the puja. It was an uncomfortable feeling being in the back seat as while the hordes moved past me. There cant be many places on earth where religion and population all come together. The effect can be a little intimidating.

Someone said to me in Ramnager - "you have an academic mind Steve, not a spiritual one..". This is true I am more impressed by the views of the Ganges then the idol of Vishnu at the temple

The Ramjhula Bridge
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Someone said to me in Ramnager - "you have an academic mind Steve, not a spiritual one..". This is true I am more impressed by the views of the Ganges then the idol of Vishnu at the temple. I enjoy the pageantry of devotion but feel no kin to the spirtual side. I'm not adverse to sampling the atmosphere of a place - the mixture of culture, dress, history and architecture which mixes together to fire the imagination. I am interested in the way Devi and Shiva fit into Indian culture - after all, Zeus, Aphrodite and Poseidon have all gone but Vishnu, Durga and Ganesh are still alive and kicking.

We met up today to get ready to drive back to Delhi. It is a magical place and I am savouring it before heading back to the chaos of Delhi. We struck exact same populace chaos as we passed through Haridwar but were soon down on the plains and speeding south to the capital. He put his foot down and forced lesser vehicles off the road while playing dare with oncoming ten tonnre trucks.

At Meerut we stopped for food and I sank my teeth into a veggie burger. Meerut I wanted to see because this was where the 1857 "Mutiny" started and the now dusty rundown bungalows where once the homes to the rulers of the Raj. We hit Delhis northern suburbs at 3.30pm and I was becoming immune to India so when beggarwoman tapped on the window when we were at a traffic junction - I just looked the other way. But it was back to the leafy cul-de-sac of Sundar Nagar.

Here was a nice marble bath awaiting me. I'd spent nearly three weeks on the road and it was lovely to just lie back and enjoy a soak.