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Today i decided to visit the Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi Temples in Haridwar. I checked out of the hotel (Slipped a note to Oscar and Mireia under their door telling them where i was going and that i would be leaving for Richikesh that afternoon, i also told them the hotel i was likely to go to) and decided to stop and use the internet for an hour to email home and post the last blog. After about half an hour there as a power cut (happens at least once a day, often more) and i lost half my blog. The owner of the internet spot gave me a shrug so i just paid up and left, heading towards the first temple. When i arrived i bumped into Oscar and Mireia who were waiting in the queue. They got me my ticket and we headed off together.
To get to the temples, which were both at the top of massive hills (one on each side of the river Ganges) we had to take a small cable car. To get to the top of the first hill took a couple of minutes and went up about 160 meters, in the queue i got separated from the other two and ook the car after them with 3 Indians, 2 boys and a girl, they all seemed a little shy but the one next to me passed the boy opposite me a camera and suggested he take a photo of the two of us. Once we reached the top i met up with the other two and we set off. To get to the temple we had to pass through a maze of stalls and people selling everything from jewelry to food to small baskets of flowers and bags of puffed rice which is used to worship the deity the main shrine was dedicated to, the wish granting god Mansa Devi. a wish fulfilling goddess. Once we had reached the temple itself, removed our shoes and stored them with the shoe man we were faced with another maze, this one lined with small shrines, each with its on holy man passing out flowers and forehead spots in exchange for donations. After having received two of these blessing and running out of coins to donate i decided to dodge the remaining blessings.
We reached the central shrine. a small and beautifully decorated room with a statue of the goddess and a number of garlanded animals around her. Being a temple many people were there to worship, some just touching the rail around the shrine, throwing food packets and money whilst others were on there knees praying before the shrine. Feeling a little out of place i moved on past the shrine and waited for the other two to catch up. We left the temple, walking along a caged path with monkeys all along it. The guide warned about the monkeys as they have been know to grab food (or anything else they fancy) off people walking down the mountain, but they were cute none the less so i took some pictures :-)
We got on the cable car and back down to the bottom, following the signs to the bus which would take us to the next temple. After a few hundred meters however the signs stopped. We asked a guard and he pointed down a road to our right, we carried on, passing through what looked like a poor residential area. women were sitting outside their houses with children an some of these ran up to us with the now familiar smile and repeated 'Hello'. We passed what looked like a small shrine but as we passed the children told us it was a school house. Despite their friendliness we felt pretty sure we were going the wrong way and after another minute walking we were about to turn round when i saw a sign in the distance pointing to the bus stop further down the road. We got to the stop and waited a few minutes until a few cars arrived and a security guard beckoned us over and pointed towards a car. we got in with about 5 other Indian people (it was a big car) and we headed to the second temple, about 5 minutes away on the other side of the river.
Thios was much like the first temple but smaller and with no cages to hold back the monkeys :-/ But the cable car ride was brilliant. 200 meters this time, passing along a steep valley between two long forested mountain like hills. The view was spectacular, below us was a long winding path which the hardcore pilgrims and those who cannot afford the cable car take, this was along side a small stream with the occasional small waterfall and although i didn't see any from 100 meters up, i could hear monkeys below. After exploring the second temple for a while we went back down and took a bus that took us on a long route back to the main road, the ride was about 3 times longer than the ride to the temple, so after the first 5 or so minutes we were looking around for landmarks or signs that we weren't going somewhere we didn't want to go, but we weren't and after 15 minutes or so we got back to the min road and headed back to the hotel, stopping at a pace called Dosa Plaza for food, a chain resturant/fast food place where we had reasonable food. I was even lucky enough to find a dead fly in mine, but i managed to battle on through what was otherwise very tasty food after flicking it to the floor. Then we headed to the hotel so Oscar and Mireia could pick up their bags (i carried mine with me l day, I'm so glad i packed light, it didn't really bother me at all) and we headed to the bus station and quickly jumped on a bus to Richikesh.
I liked Haridwar, but i would not have wanted to stay there for more than one or two nights and meeting the Spanish couple made it a lot more enjoyable. You could tell it is a little off the normal tourist route, with most people passing straight through to Richikesh. In all the time there i only saw one or two tourists/backpackers besides Oscar and Mireia.
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stilbonmaria
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