Rishikesh

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I must say traveling from Varanasi and then to Rishikesh its hard to believe we were on the banks of the same river. In Rishikesh the Mother Ganga is much closer to its source...it is beautiful and clean....and fresh.

We took the train to Haridwar which went very smoothly...we met our contact at the train station and began our 90 minute drive up into the hills past Rishikesh to the Himalayan Hideaway. The 90 min drive was made an hour longer by a pretty bad traffic jam. The culprit? A large truck had dropped his axle just feet away from the railroad crossing. Men were gathering about and that axle was being changed right there on the street.

After we passed that congested and smog filled mess were were up and away to our retreat at the foothills of the Himalayas.

We passed through Rishikish and played the "who can spot the most hippies" game, and then continued onto our hideaway. I'm not comparing India to Wisconsin....BUT....once we got to our hideaway it did feel very northern Wisconsin. The air was so fresh and clean. The cottages were very simple and neat. The grounds and the sound of nature all around us brought me back to the times my family spent in similar small cabins in Wisconsin. It was hard to not feel at peace in this place.

We relaxed, ate great food...had wonderful Ayurvedic massage (two people working on your sore muscles in tandem for one hour at a cost of INR 800 or US $20) and even tried White Water Rafting as well as a fun trip into town.

I'll let mom tell the story......

"We just got back from the Himalayan Hideaway and we had beautiful vistas, a wonderful Ganga river rafting experience, good food and a nice relaxing time. We enjoyed watching all the monkeys...they are everywhere and fun to see. The river here is beautiful. Cleaner, and cold, and fed by all the run off from the surrounding mountains. It is very festive, colorful, and we enjoyed wandering through the town. We actually had to buy some "strap-on sandals" so we could go rafting, as they suggested not using tennis shoes. I got the best pair of shoes ($8.00). Comfy and practical and I liked them enough to bring them home with me. The food was very good, the weather has been great and overall our time in India has been a wonderful experience. It is a bit of a drive from the place we stayed to the city of Hardiwar where we picked up our train and it is wrought with adventures. Herds of cows and goats, landslides, trucks that have dropped their axles in the middle of the road etc. Always an adventure. On the train home we actually had a 20 minute stop that proved very interesting. Jenn and Michael got off the train...but returned very soon because they were met with many people, and many guns. The train area was searched behind seats, etc and finally some politician (or at least that is what we were told entered and sat down behind us). His entourage touched his feet, etc and did some other signs of respect and off we went. The "big dude" talked on his phone for a bit, snored very loudly and that was that. He must have been some kind of important as he sat in an area with about 6 seats surrounding him all empty. Interesting.
Oh...I have taken a lot of crap about my shit story but I have another one. While wandering the streets of Rishikish I was actually shit on by one of the Holy cows. Really! I must be blessed!"
-Janine

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Photos

Truck Stop
Waiting on the truck to be repaired

Cottage
This was the reception cottage at our resort

Walking
Me walking in Rishikesh