Goodbye India

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I’m writing this entry on the 7 hour bus journey from Rishikesh to Delhi. It’s our last full day in India before we catch our flight to Dubai. I’m looking out the window at the passing villages and countryside, people, food stalls, cars, cows everywhere and I’m thinking maybe this place isn’t that bad after all but that’s easy to say when you’re on an air con bus where you can’t hear all the car horns, shouting and general chaos. Maybe India would be ok if it was on mute. I think it’s safe to say we’re glad we’ve been but won’t be in a rush to come back. It was my idea to come to India so I might leave the rest of the trip planning up to Tom!

Our week in Rishikesh was pretty much spent doing yoga and reading. We did yoga twice a day, which was great; a nice peaceful get away. Rishikesh itself is in a nice setting, on the ganges river with big hills surrounding. It’s strictly vegetarian and every restaurant has an identical menu so meals got a bit repetitive; most restaurants had a nice bakery so we could enjoy some vegemite toast (our vegemite supply is starting to get dangerously low so we’ll need to find another supplier soon)!

Everyday we had to cross the bridge over the Ganges to get to the yoga hall which was an experience in itself; one day we got stuck on the bridge for half an hour because it got so overcrowded with people, motorbikes / cows blocking the way and of course everyone pushing, shouting, not letting each other past. We were happy to eventually get over the other side before any riot broke out. Hundreds of rioting Indians on a wobbly bridge was not a fun prospect.

Hopefully we can both look back on the last month in India and try to remember the good stuff… the trekking, cricket, some of the palaces / forts etc, the village trip and the yoga. At least it makes us even more appreciative of where we live and what we have. Now on to Dubai for a two day stopover of indulgent food, shopping and watching rugby (Aus vs Scotland!) and then on to Lebanon.

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