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I arrived in Rishikesh after having my astrology session with Vivek feeling in high spirit and wasn’t disappointed with what I found. After being around only local people for two weeks, I was ready for a change and to see and hang out with some other travellers for a while. Rishikesh is so full of them you cannot possibly not meet people. I’ve met many nice people and had many great conversations. I’ve even managed to make friends with two girls going to Amritsar on the exact same day and train as me… bonus. Hopefully the girl power of three will deter any men from thinking they can touch me in inappropriate places this time.
Anyway, on to the place itself. I’ve been staying in the Shri Sant Sewa Ashram right in tourist central in possibly the crummiest room ever with cockroaches as my roommates. What can I expect for £3 per night though? The weirdest thing is the décor though. One wall has wallpaper with the pattern of red bricks, but only in an arch of these red bricks, the rest grey…. Odd and the other three walls are a kind of 70s pattern. They’ve even wallpapered over the
shelves on the wall. This is all finished off nicely with the children’s kitty bedspread. Amazing interior design skills, I must say!
Luckily Rishikesh hasn’t given me reason to need to coop myself up in my room too much, apart from my flu coming on today. I decided to take a few yoga lessons, work on that flexibility, I’m not sure it’s done me much good though. I seem to just be putting myself through pain. I’m sure it will come on with time, but I doubt I’ll ever be as good as my yogi instructor. What with his boylike frame and ability to bend in ways I could never conceive of doing. I can see why everyone is drawn to yoga though, it not only tones and stretches, but is super relaxing. In the relax poses I swear I was almost falling asleep (mainly because it was so ridiculously early in the morning! )
Rishikesh has all your usual touristy crap, shop after shop of clothes only tourists would wear, little shops selling imported food like Nutella and Quakers oats for those who can’t live without them and more internet cafes and tourist offices than you can
count! If you want real India and more serious spiritualism, maybe go to Haridwar, but for novice in things like yoga and meditation, I think Rishikesh is pretty spot on!
Apart from the yoga and a little bit of shopping (a beautiful pearl ring set in silver J) I’ve pretty much just been strolling around, taking it all in. Inspired by a man feeding a cow with a bread roll, I decided to buy a big pack of them and feed every skinny cow I walked past on one of my walks. It took me literally 5 minutes of walking to go through the entire pack of 12 bread rolls. This shows how many cows loiter the streets here! Some were getting a little greedy and were still following me despite my best efforts to show them that the pack was empty!
Like Haridwar and Varanasi, the River Ganges runs through Rishikesh also and I decided to take my first dip, with the encouragement of a girl from Argentina that was keen, seeing as this is one of the cleaner parts of the river. It was one of the most refreshing moments I’ve had in India. Not too
sure if it was such a good idea though, seeing as now i'm cooped up in my room with a flu coming on! At the time though it was pure bliss due to its icy cold feel. I had to go in fully clothed, obviously, as we were already attracting a lot of attention, hence the title ‘celebrity status’. That is, a group of guys asked us if we would have our photo taken with them. I find it difficult to say no, but this time I wish I had, because it turned into a long photo shoot of having my picture taken with each of the 6 guys, on many different phones.
This isn’t the first time I’ve felt like a celebrity, virtually every time I walk down the street I’m asked to have my photo taken with someone. It’s bizarre. One time a guy said ‘please, my son wants his photo taken with you’… the poor boy of around 7 years old looked scared for his life! But obviously, I obliged and hope that I haven’t scarred the poor child. Another time a guy just wanted me to take a photo of his daughter with my camera,
not with me, just of the daughter. I know his daughter was beautiful, but why he thought I’d want to have a photograph of her, I don’t know. But this is one thing I’ve learnt about India, don’t ask questions. India works the way it does and there really is no logic to it. It’s just India!
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neeraj
non-member comment
At least I am reading n leaving comment!
Hi there! Good. You had a good time in rishikesh. Reading your blog since you entered Haridwar! (ya sent u 1 private msg too). keep on goin! India has full of surprises for you. however, could you answer this comment by putting what's your totaly journey plan? i mean you wl restrict yourself to 1 state outta 28 (i.e Uttrakhand) or planning 2 go 4 more?? bye