"All bus go to Chilla, No bus go to Chilla"

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Varanasi to Haridwar/Rishikesh
Sion and Niki Well we finally made it off the plains and out of the heat! After a nightmare train journey from Varanasi we arrived in Haridwar to be greeted by the sweet feeling of cold air on our strained and grubby faces. Whilst its till 30c or more in the day, thats the coldest its been in a while for us crazy bastards travelling through the Indian desert in Summer, what were we thinking! We spent the first few days in Haridwar unable to bear the thought of leaving our hotel room. We have been a sorry sight; recovering from heat exhaustion, lack of sleep, stomach bugs, and an oncoming cold, we lay on the bed moaning for a few days feeling sorry for ourselves. But, hey, its better then going to work! Hah, suckers.

Haridwar is another holy city, like Varanasi, were Hindus come from all over this crazy country to bathe in the Ganges, which, unlike Varanasi, is crystal clear and icy-cold. There is a canal directed through the centre of town which creates water rapids, almost like a wave pool ina water park, only holy... Thousands of pilgrims flock around Hark-i-pairi (the footstep of God) where Vishnu supposedly left a footpriont, imbuing the water with special holy significance. There are chains running along the sides of the canal so pilgrims can take a dip without being sucked down the river from the force of the white water. It looks pretty amazing, and everyone seems to have a lot of fun whilst they wash away their sins. Its a real family affair, with kids holding their grannies so they don't get swept away and the parents bring out the blow-up water toys. Hindus definitely know how to have a good time whilst they practise their religion, with singing, dancing and swimming, not like Christians with all that flagellation and guilt.

Apart from this incredible scene that takes place every night, theres not much else to do in Haridwar. We spent a lot of time eating at Chotiwalla, which is a retaurant whose mascot is a overweight 'holy man' dressed up as a baby. They sit on thrones out the front of these restaurants with flowers painted on their faces and brightly coloured, kinda like the Indian version of Ronald McDonald..I'm not sure which is scarier...let me know what you guys think.

We also attempted an elephant ride at Rajaji National Park, which didn't quite go as planned. The elephant rides are in the early morning, so we headed down to the bus stop around 7am to get on a bus to Chilla, the closest town. We spent the next two hours being directed back and forth across the road tro different buses which did, and then didn't go to Chilla; Indians do love to get involved even if they have no fucking clue. After being kicked off countless buses, one very helpful chap informed us that every bus goes to Chilla! As you can imagine, it was very frustrating, and after finally finding the right bus, we got to the park only to be told that the elephants were having there rest now, and couldn't be woken until 5pm (when the buses back to Haridwar stop!) Well we left the elephants to enjoy their 10 hour snooze and headed back to Haridwar very dissapointed. To overcome our anguish of being denied elephant love we decided it was time to leave Haridwar and head to Rishikesh...

Aaaahhhh....Rishikesh, a town of beautiful mountains, waterfalls, yoga, sadhus, hippies and of course, the old stomping ground of the Beatles. It is even cooler up here, and on our first day we were greeted by a beautiful and icy cold thunder storm and the first rain we've seen in weeks. We put on as many layers as possible to celebrate, and sat around on our balcony overlooking the misty mountains in scarves and jumpers, relishing every moment. We found a beautiful little place to stay, called Swis Cottage, up on a hill over looking the valley, and committed ourselves to absolute relaxation for a few sweet days until we had to get on another train. Unfortunately, poor Siony got a cold, so I was forced to get massages and do yoga classes on my own. We did get to go on a beautiful walk to Neer Gaar waterfall, just 2kms from our hotel. It was so nice to be away from the grubby, hectic streets of India and in the peace and quite of nature. The Indian countryside is very reminiscent of parts of the Australian bush, there are gum trees everywhere, and sitting by the waterfall it was possible to convince ourselves we were in the Blue Mountains somewhere...if you ignore the Indians and the monkeys.

Rishikesh is a beautiful little town, and the green valleys are dotted with colourful ashrams, with vibrant murals and sculptures of the many gods and godesses of Hinduism. The most famous is the Swarg Ashram where the Beatles stayed in the 1960's for a few months, where they gained much inspiration and embraced the messages of peace and love offered by the Ashram culture. However, the lads apparently left very disillusioned by a sadhu in the ashram who used his prominent position to gain sexual favours with his dedicated followers. (Have a listen to "Sexy Sadie".) There wasn't any evidence of the Beatles stay, but it was nice to imagine them hanging out down at the Ganga strumming their guitars, and we played plenty of Beatles in rememberance.

Well, it has been a very relaxing week or so in Rishikesh and Haridwar, we definitely needed some indulgence after the heat of the plains. From here we head for Amritsar, the site of the holiest Gurdwara (Sikh temple) the Golden Temple and the land of turbans. I'll let Sion update you on our next exciting chapter, I hope you're staying tuned. We miss you guys, lots of love Niki xxxoooo

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Photos

Hark-i-Pairi
Pilgrims in Haridwar

Chotiwalla
This is the guy...pretty freaky, huh?

Niki in the Ganga
Yay...all our sins washed away!

Two Shiva's.
We befriended a little boy, called Shiva, shown here with a Shiva statue, who showed us around the ashrams for a mango juice and some rupees.

Krishna
In case you haven't seen enough sculptures of gods, here's a nice one of Krishna, in Rishikesh.

Comments

[Ouaga]

Chotiwalas
Hey guys, i think that same guy was sitting out the front of Chotiwalas back in 1998. Don't eat too much there or you turn into him...