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Published: August 25th 2006
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City of Haridwar and Ganges
View from temple on hill in Haridwar Haridwar
Jarrod and I needed to slow things down after Delhi so we headed northeast to the mountains. We spent a night in Haridwar and went to a spiritual ritual on the Ganges were a bunch of official looking workers provide receipts to people who donate money. What a scam! This takes place everynight and the amount of people attending is crazy, if all the money was used properly there be no beggars in this town. They put leaf baskets full of flower petals and light candles in the middle of the basket and set them afloat in the river. Unfortunatly, the river has a pretty good current to it and the candles get exstinguished 10 m downstream.
Rishikesh
Rishikesh has a population of about 80,000 and is the self proclaimed Yoga capital of the world. While things here are much slower than Delhi it's not a sleepy town. Most of the travellers here are a little eccentric looking for spiritual enlightment and healing. There are two book stores is town: 90%!o(MISSING)f the material is on medition, different styles of yoga, connecting with God (Hindu gods), out of body experiences, and of course Tantra.
There is
Ceremony in Haridwar
Lighting the candles to put in the Ganges a lady that hangs around our hostel with pale white skin and blue eyes, but she wears a turban and many layers of gruby clothes. We easdropped on one of her converations with a male German tourist and apparently she's "Indian" and is a professor in religious history. Jarrod had the pleasure of talking to her breifly one morning and she informed him that the way to happiness is through patience and understanding. There's a lot of wayward souls searching for inner peace and answers to life around here and there is a seminar starting next week entitled "The Art of Living Course - part 1" from some spiritual fellow that has obviously found inner peace with God and happiness. Unfortunatly we'll have left town by then - shucks.
In Rishikesh we haven't done a lot. We people watch from the balcony of our room. There is a pedistrian only bridge over the Ganges river that we can see from our room and as long as the sun is up, there is people going back and forth. Some brave cows even venture across the bridge which just amazes me - there is no way any Kozier Farm cows would
cross that bridge at 50 feet above the water. The monkeys like the bridge too and walk along the supporting wires.
Jarrod ended up with a respiratory infection in Rishikesh and we both felt a little under the weather at times. We are leaving after four nights in Rishikesh. The room had a beautiful view, however, the power goes out frequently here and it is very hot. We only have a fan in our room and if the power goes out at night it gets quite sticky.
Mcleod Ganj
Our first indian bus journey went off without a hitch. We splurged on a taxi (700 Rp) from Rishikesh to Dehra Dun (1hr), which we shared with another girl we met in Haridwar. From Dehra Dun we caught a deluxe sleeper bus to Dharmasala. We were a little apprehensive about a 13hr bus ride, through the night, on a bus that was supposed to be deluxe (non AC) and only cost 400 Rp. All we have ever seen are local buses that are very overcrowded, but it turned out alright. They only sold tickets matching the number of seats on the bus.
The bus made a few
Rishikesh View
From our Balcony the bridge over the Ganges stops... one at 2:30am at some roadside shops. There were a few men around, most notably a fellow yeilding an elephant gun off his shoulder. I had to pee so we asked the employees there where the bathroom was. They pointed, we looked but didn't get it and so he showed us the way.... though the dark garage/bedroom with at least five other men sleeping to the dimly lit bunkers with squat toilets. Needless to say if Jarrod wasn't with me, I would have rathered peed my pants.
Before we arrived I could not understand how it could possibly take 13hrs to travel 470km. It's not that the roads are in poor condition, they are better than many in Thunder Bay, everyone including bicycles, peds, horse and ox carts, rickshaws, scooter, cars, buses and transports use them. If there were rules to the road I am sure the traffic would grind to a halt. The paint on the road suggests two lanes when in reality there are at least four. Passing takes place at any time anywhere yet I have not even seen a close call. The horn is used in place of the turn signal and the middle
Reading on Balcony
Our Balcony in Rishikesh finger. You honk when you approach, when you pass, when you come around a corner,,,,etc.
We arrived at Dharmasala at 6:00am and there were a few taxis, a guesthouse owner in his pj's and a few locals. The pj man was trying to get us to stay in his guesthouse while we were deciding how much to pay to get up the hill to Mcleod Ganj. Then a local fellow approached and asked us "where are you from?" "Canada," we replied. "Oh, my sister lives in Canada," the man replied with a huge smile on his face. Then the man in his pj's said, "please excuse him he is mentally disturbed man." Say that in your best indian accent then picture the two of them start shoving each other around in front of us and try not to laugh. Well Carol didn't think it was as humorous as I but I think it made her nervous. Anyway, it grew a small crowd and the men went to their seperate corners.
We got a ride up the hill and then got an offer to look at a guesthouse overlooking the valley that we couldn't refuse. The real reason we
Monkey Face
In Rishikesh didn't refuse had more to do with Carol's bowels but we won't share anymore of that.
So, Mcleod Ganj seems like a very quiet mountain village with many stores, restaurants, and hotels. There is an enormous mix of people here. There are about a dozen computers in this internet cafe and the occupants include an oriental girl, one westerner, a couple indians, a monk, and a few others of tibetan origin.
Sorry, history lesson. Mcleod Ganj is the location of the tibetan gov't in exile and the home of the Dalai Lama. The town was established in the 1850's as a British Garrison and then a huge earthquake in 1905 caused them to move down the hill. In 1960, after trekking by foot across the highest mountain range in the world, the Dalai Lama and his entourage claimed asylum here.
The weather is cold by indian standards (mid 20's) and it rains alot here. We'll see how that goes and update you later as we plan on a lengthy stay here. We have to stay at least till the clouds clear and we can enjoy the view from our hostel balcony ;-)
Love Carol and Jarrod
PS. joint effort on the writing so the reference to "I" may be confusing
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Tahna
non-member comment
looks like fun!
Wow it looks like you guys are having a great time! Love to get the updates. Take your time and enjoy yourself, you're in no hurry!! Cheers Tahna