Blogs from Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India, Asia - page 33

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Asia » India » Uttarakhand » Rishikesh October 18th 2005

17th/18th Illness. It was the salad sandwich at the waterfall, bastards. ... read more

Asia » India » Uttarakhand » Rishikesh October 16th 2005

Saw a classical India concert in Swarg ashram. Talked to an Israeli woman on the way, she'd been living in an Ashram for a year. She recommended loads of Yoga teachers to me. Concert started late but it was worth it. First acts were six Indian school girls, sounded nice. Everyone moved forward for the second act. Local group, a vocalist, violin and tabla. The tabla player was really good. A guy I met was really going for it, dead strange dancing ala Bez from the Happy Mondays. Tried my best to bite my lip. Last act were awesome. Apparently the best Tabla player in India with two sitar players. He lived up to his reputation. An hour or so of improvisation, really impressed. Strangest part of the night was at the end. Everyone clapped in ... read more

Asia » India » Uttarakhand » Rishikesh October 15th 2005

Walked to Red-Chilly adventures and asked advice on a local trek. Decided to head for the waterfall. It was a 4/6/km walk. Stopped off at a Chai shop on the way and ate and drank tea with a group of Indian students. They were very polite. We exchanged emails and took pictures. The shorter walk through the forest to the waterfall was beautiful. Many species of butterfly and the water was very clear. Met a group of Israeli lads, exchanged stories about our travels. Decided to walk higher to see the source of the waterfall. Eventually we spotted a cave where several Hindu Holly men were living, walked through the cave and we found the main waterfall, it was amazing. Walked through the waters, several slips and sat around for half and hour or so. Great ... read more

Asia » India » Uttarakhand » Rishikesh October 14th 2005

Walked to Lakshman Jhula. Its very quiet, full of cobbled streets and Hindu Holly men. Used the bridge over the Ganges to get to the 13th-storey temple of Swarg Niwas. Amazing views from the bridge. Removed my shoes before I went into the temple. Walked around each level. There are various shrines for each Hindu deity. As the pilgrims walked past each shrine they ring a bell, a call to pray - Eno would love it here. Walked around the main Bazaar, lots of stalls selling books, clothes, herbal medicine and beads. There were a tribe of monkeys on a fence, an Indian guy was eating nuts and they all ran at him until his gave them up. It was very funny. I've taken a picture of it. Walked to Swarg Ashram. Lots of ashrams are ... read more

Asia » India » Uttarakhand » Rishikesh October 13th 2005

Took the bus from Haridwar to Rishikesh, auto rickshaw driver nearly started a fight with a taxi driver. They kept ramming into each other, crazy 'astards. Met a couple from the Wales. Will and Hazel, they have been traveling for 4 months, their next country is Nepal. Very friendly and gave me lots of advice. Bus journey was nice, very scenic and comfortable. Staying in the Swiss Cottage in high bank. Beautiful views of forested hills. The town is set on the Ganges. This place is very "new age". It’s the "Yoga Capital of the World". There are lots of ashrams and all kinds of yoga, reki and massage classes. Not really my cup of tea but it has a great ambience. Brought cotton trousers, purple t-shirt and a jazzy long sleve shirt. I feel like ... read more

Asia » India » Uttarakhand » Rishikesh October 12th 2005

First impressions of Haridwar, nice and quiet. Got on a bike with a passenger seat at the back to Hotel Alpana, no helmet! Driver was very friendly. Alpana is expensive but clean, polite staff. Hardiwar is more peaceful than Delhi and has a religious vibe but compared to Stoke it’s chaotic. I walked up a steep hill, for 2 miles to the Mansa Devi temple, wish-fulfilling goddess. Beautiful views from the hill. Monkeys are on either side of the trail, trying to steal bags they mistaken for food off the pilgrims. To enter the temple I had to take off my shoes. I was blessed by a Holy man and they put a yellow spot on my forehead, oh dear. On the way up and down I was asked by locals for a photo, what a ... read more

Asia » India » Uttarakhand » Rishikesh August 29th 2005

Par ou commencer????? Tant de sensations et de nouvelles experiences en si peu de temps. Comme Johanne disait dans le premier courrier: Dehli c'est agressant!!!!! Et c'est peu dire!!!! Apres avoir pris le train (patience patience pour acheter les billets) nous sommes arrives a Rishikesh, une ville sainte au bord du Gange au pied de l'Himalaya. C’est la capitale mondiale du yoga, il y a des temples et des Ashrams de partout. Les paysages sont superbes, le Gange est ici propre, nous allons d'ailleurs nous baigner cette apres midi pour accompagner les pelerins qui prennent leur bain sacre. Au cours d'une marche dans la montagne je suis arrive par hazard dans un temple ou les gens m'ont invite apres m'avoir demande qui m'envoyait ici. Dans ce temple ils ne veulent pas de touriste mais comme c'etait ... read more

Asia » India » Uttarakhand » Rishikesh August 28th 2005

OUF! Nous sommes encore vivants... L'arrivee a Delhi nous a secoue. Notre guide, ami de l'agence de voyage, nous attendait a l'aeroport tout sourir, avec sa feuille de papier sur laquelle il avait fierement inscrit Johanne et Aurel en fluo. Quel reconfort de le voir! Armes de nos bagages, nous affrontons la chaleur (46 C)avec calme et assurance. Il nous reconduit a notre hotel 30 km plus loin dans le main bazar dans sa belle voiture avec air climatisee. Nous pensions mourir sur la route tellement c'etait cacophonique. Les vaches, les rickshaws a velo et a moteur, les voitures, les autobus bondes, les gens a pied, quelques-uns qui dorment sur la route. On depasse n'importe ou, les gens roulent dans n'importe quel sens... Premiere agression difficile a digerer: le bruit. Les moteurs et les klacsons. Puis, ... read more

Asia » India » Uttarakhand » Rishikesh November 12th 2001

Gorakhpur If there is one message i would shout to the world at the top of my voice, it would be to avoid this hellhole at all costs. it took us about 3 hours to change american dollars at a bank, and they would not take pounds? or visa??... then we -by the grace of god- managed to secure berths on the train THAT evening to dehra dun, so we had one whole afternoon to kill in hell. thankfully we managed to somehow end up in some air conditioned hotel and basically sat there the entire afternoon, eating food and drinking sodas, until about 2 hours before our train left.. then the funniest thing happened.. a waiter came over to us stealthily and with a serious face and asked "do you want the booze?". all of ... read more




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