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Published: November 17th 2015
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A view of Lakshman Jhula from the Lakshman Jhula bridge with the beautiful Ganga River On Friday 6
th November I arrived in Rishikesh on the bus from Dehradun. I’d originally planned to stay for just three nights, but I ended up catching the Rishikesh bug and stayed for seven!
I’ve quickly found that every part of India that I visit is a completely different India to the previous; making me realise just how massive India is as a whole! Rishikesh is no exception, when I first walked into the main hive of Rishikesh, right by the Ganga River, I felt very overwhelmed and if I’m honest a little intimidated by this new place. Rishikesh is full of hippies, Hindu temples and is the yoga capital of the world! It’s also very interesting that meat and alcohol are banned from Rishikesh, in an aim to promote a healthier, more spiritual lifestyle.
I had an incredibly chilled week, mainly doing café hopping! For the first night I stayed in an average hotel in Tapovan, which is the quieter area up the hill from the Ganga. When I got off the bus I asked a rickshaw driver to take me to a hotel and that was the one he showed me to, however I really wanted to
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One of the many Banana Lassis I had during my stay in Rishikesh be in the centre of where everything was happening; Lakshman Jhula, on the other side of the Ganga. I found a simple and cheap but friendly guest house, Rana Guest House, on the main market road in Lakshman Jhula which was perfect for me. The owner of the guest house was so welcoming and even gave me a free yoga session on the roof on the Saturday evening. On the Sunday morning I did another yoga session in Om Shanti Om yoga studio which was a beginner class mainly full of meditation which was very relaxing. Afterwards I had a back massage in one of the massage parlours, however this was not as relaxing as I’d hoped as the man was really tough and jabbed and prodded me really hard. I didn’t realise that I had so much tension in my back, probably from my heavy bag which I’ve been carrying on my back for all of my travels! That evening I also attended an Indian Classical Music Concert at the same yoga studio which was really fantastic. Afterwards I went out for dinner at Krishna Café which was about three doors down the road from my guest house. Most
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Outside hut number 9 in the Beatles Ashram of the cafes in Lakshman Jhula are pretty much the same; overlooking the beautiful Ganga, with a beachy décor and very similar menus catering for the tourists. However Krishna Café was particularly special, all the staff was super friendly and it was here that I met Ben and Charli from Switzerland and Paris with whom I chilled out with every evening.
On Monday I was so happy to be reunited with Alex; his trip to Tamil Nadu was sadly cancelled so he had some time to kill and decided to spend the week in Rishikesh with me! We took a lovely walk down the Ganga to the Beatles Ashram together and spent hours getting lost and exploring this massive Ashram. The Maharishi who the Beatles befriended and became disciples of built up this vast and quirky Ashram for meditation and yoga in the jungle, just slightly up the hill from the Ganga. I’m not entirely sure when the Ashram was emptied but it is now in ruins and is actually quite a spooky place. We explored a lot of the old buildings, including a ‘Beatles Cathedral’ that some graffiti artists have recently decorated. There were also small temples and
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With Alex and Ben at a waterfall in Rishikesh little ‘rabbit hole’ like entrances that Alex and I dared to enter which made their way into beautiful gardens or clifftops with amazing views of Rishikesh city and the Ganga. The quirkiest part of the whole Ashram however is definitely the little huts where the Beatles stayed. They were very ‘hobbit like’ little stone huts with just a toilet and room downstairs and space upstairs for sleeping with a little entrance at the top going out onto the rooftop for meditating. I think there were about 107 of these huts and it’s reported that the Beatles, along with their wives and friends, stayed in number 9 of the huts, which could possibly have influenced the song ‘Revolution number 9’ from the White Album. The Beatles wrote 30 songs in total during their one month stay in the Ashram including the whole of the White Album.
After visiting the Ashram, Alex and I went to one of the Ghats by the Ganga for the sunset Ganga Aarti Ceremony. Everyday at sunset people come down to the Ghats by the Ganga for this ceremony, where priests of the temples chant and sing hymns and a fire is lit and prayers are
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Stunning Humayan's Tomb in Delhi made over the fire. Then once it is dark people take their Aarti’s; small leaf baskets of flowers, insense and a lit candle, and place them in the Ganga and along with their prayers and wishes the beautiful Aartis float down the river.
During our stay in Rishikesh it was the Hindu festival of Diwali and many pilgrims visited this holy city to worship their Gods, and SO many fireworks and crackers went off all week – we had to be careful when walking down the street at night in case a cracker went off under our feet! For most of the week Alex and I spent our time walking around, shopping, exploring and eating too much in the cafes. We also took a long trek up to a waterfall on our last day which was very beautiful. I didn’t want to leave Rishikesh as I was too relaxed but I eventually needed to make my way to Delhi, as my final destination in the North of India.
Alex and I took an overnight bus on the Friday night to Delhi and spent all of Saturday doing some final Delhi site-seeing! We first visited Gandhi Smritri, the memorial museum and place where Gandhi was shot. It was great to visit this museum as my previous time in Delhi I’d accidentally arrived there five minutes before closing so this time I could spend hours reading all of the information and quotes of Gandhi himself and exploring this peaceful building. After the museum we argued a long time with a tuk tuk driver for a good price but eventually got a ride to Raj Ghat, the place where Gandhi was cremated. This is a really nice site with the black marble platform marking the spot where he was cremated with beautiful flowers and a candle on it. We also had a simple but delicious thali lunch at the canteen at Raj Ghat. Afterwards we made our way to Humayan’s tomb, a Mughal tomb built by a Persian architect in the same style as the Taj Mahal but built before it. Tour guides actually suggest that you visit Humayan’s tomb before the Taj Mahal – I did it the wrong way round, but I still really appreciated the beauty, symmetry and perfection of this huge building.
I was really pleased to be able to visit these sites in Delhi however very glad that we decided to just stay for one night there as after Diwali Delhi was so polluted and foggy from all of the fireworks. On Sunday morning I had to say a second goodbye to my very good friend Alex who has been such an amazing companion to me during my time in India, and I took a flight from Delhi to Mumbai to begin my final two weeks travelling around South India! I can’t believe I only have two weeks left in India, where has the time gone!?
K xx
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