RISHIKESH

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RISHIKESH

The train to Rishikesh from Varanasi was an extra long journey. It seemed to take forever! We were on the train for 22 hours, but despite this, it was really quite pleasant, and in our berth there were a number of young people. They were really friendly, and we had a good banter about the cricket, although whilst we were on the train England beat India at Old Trafford!

From the train station in Haridwar we had the scariest Auto Rickshaw that I have ever experienced! We were quite literally afraid as the driver overtook one too many cars a little too often. I have been less scared on the Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach! We did eventually make it to Rishikesh in one piece and as soon as we arrived we knew that our inkling to go there had been a good one. The hills were filled with trees and monkeys, and there were temples and Sadus (holy men) wearing orange robes everywhere. From our room (which we manged to get for 300 Rs a night) we could hear bells chiming from all of the temples and had a picturesque view of the Ganges and a suspension bridge going over it that was constantly flowing with people in all manner of colourful outfits. There were even a few small beaches there. There was one uninvited guest living in our bathroom door, a little cocky cockroach called “Billy”. Billy was the perfect gentleman though and didn't bother us, so we didn't bother him either.

Rishikesh itself had a lot more of a chilled out, spiritual feel to it than any other place that we have visited so far. In the late 60's, Rishikesh became famous when the Beatles came to stay here at the Maharishi Mahesh Ashram and wrote The White Album. We could definitely see the attraction to such a beautiful place! There were also loads of stalls selling the sort of things that we actually did want to buy, including some red psychedelic MC Hammer pants that I had to snap up and a t-shirt with elephants on for Robbie. From sat on our balcony we could hear the constant beeping of horns and the hustle and bustle downstairs, as well as some kind of chilled out sounds coming from a CD shop below. We could smell chapatis cooking and incense, and we saw monkeys playing parkour on the roofs opposite. It was a real treat to finally stop and relax and take things in a bit.

On Rob's birthday we got up at 6 in the morning and had a long beginners yoga lesson in an ashram with the most flexible human being we have ever seen in our whole lives! As he contorted his white robed body into some one legged positions, he was patient with us and helped us along with our mantra for the day. We then went for a gorgeous (and well earned) breakfast overlooking the Ganges. After finding somewhere to paint and chill we went for an evening meal overlooking the mountains. This was probably the first birthday in about 15 years that Rob has not had any beers and I think he quite enjoyed it! Sitting on the balcony in the evening for ages we took in the views and the stars and contemplated life.

During the night we were both eaten alive, we think by ants, but were both in good spirits the following morning for a last look around Rishikesh. We manged to bump into the crazy man that we'd seen around and really wanted a picture of, as well as a few other crazy characters! Rishikesh is a really special place.

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