last night in Rishikesh

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And so this is officially our last night in our little village of Ramsjoula near Rishikesh. Today has been another adventure to say the least and it is with great sadness that we leave the friends we have made here behind and continue on our journey, so back on the road tommorow, and what an adventure or mission that will be. The reason is because having tried to book train tickets 3 days ago to get back to Delhi and on to Agra, it was impossible as all the trains are over booked indian style so no way of getting any kind of seat, let alone a bunk bed for the night journey.

Today i have to say has been another amazing experience, as we had the pleasure of meeting a lovely local at the little Oasis restaurant just around the corner from our yoga school at dinner last night, and as we mentioned we wanted to go up today and visit a sacred temple which we heard was nearby, the guy suggested that we could join him today on a pilgrimidge walk up to the temple to pay our respects and make our wishes. So that is what we set out to do this morning at 6h30. Up with the birds, we enjoyed a quick chai before starting on our journey up the "hill" which we later found out was more like a very steep uphill mountain. The walk was long and tiring and painful on the legs at times with all the steep steps, but the faces we crossed and the things we saw was just a unique experience. It was a peaceful walk up for 4 hours solid, but we exchanged many moments with the locals who were either dressed in bright coloured saris or young ones being carried by their parents. Couples walked hand in hand, little old men struggled up to make the spiritual journey together with the rest of us. On the way we crossed many monkeys and donkeys and horses and just kept on going until we finally made it to the temple, where we took our shoes of and made the sweaty entry to the temple inside. There, we lit our insence and left it to burn in hope that our spirit will live for long here.

The journey we have made so far for our first week in India has been incredible. Something i would not change for anything in this world. I am happy to say that i feel not only incredibly happy, but calm, fitter and ready to face whatever is next on this journey.

It won't be an easy one tommorow to Agra, but we have taken the decision that that will be our next stop to visit the Taj Mahal, and as with everything else these past days, if i have been able to get into positions i never thought i would in my yoga classes and make my teacher proud of the improvements i have made in just 7 days,k then i know all will be fine for whatever is next on our way.

We will leave the ganges river flowing fast, the cows mooing and crapping in the streets, the chickens clucking and the monkeys flying from tree to tree around the villages and along the footbridges, where we have sat and watched them for lengths of time in amazement at their balance of sitting on type ropes with their young ones clutched to their tummys!

So with a big smile i am checking out for now.

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