High in Rishikesh

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Well we made it OK to Rishikesh. We travelled by 'deluxe' coach from Delhi - fully air conditioned apparently (this just meant that they left the door open). We booked a coach directly to Rishikesh. We assumed that as we had paid to go to Rishikesh and more-over that it clearly said 'to Rishikesh' on our ticket, that we would actually be taken to Rishikesh. How foolish of us. The coach stopped about 40km from the town. Everyone got off. When we said we had a ticket all the way to Rishikesh thare was much discussion and scratching of heads.

'Sorry, but this bus does not go to Rishikesh'

'But it clearly says Rishikesh on the ticket - and you inspected it before we got on the coach'

' Sorry -but you must get a taxi to Rishikesh'

To be fair they did give us a 40rp refund to cover the taxi fare, but having travelled for 8 hours the prospect of another journey was not appealing. We managed to get a taxi (well a slightly larger verson of an auto-rickshaw). It was built to take 6 people comfortably. So naturally the driver squeezed on 10 passengers for the 45 minute journey.

So much for the joys of travelling in India. On the plus side, we have found a great little hotel (Green View) in a quiet part of the town - we can see the Himalayas from our bedroom window (plus lots of Rehsus monkeys who are all over the town). Apparently its very close to where the Beatles stayed.

This is a very holy place for Hindus. Consequently there is no meat or alchohol in town - so we are going to be quite healthy by the time we leave. We are right on the banks of the Ganges. The first night we went to the river to watch the locals light little flower filled baskets and send them downstream - to see these lights drift off into the darkness was quite wonderful.

The town is full of Temples and shrines. Its also full of Yoga and meditation courses which we are going to investigate. David will need to do something to help him get over the shock of Jose Mouinho resigning (getting sacked?) from Chelsea!

The 20/20 Cricket is very big in India - its been great to watch but why must England have such a pathetic Cricket team? Still, while we are here we are supporting India.

Rishikesh is a great place - very peaceful after Delhi and as ever the people we have met so far have been very nice. We are not sure exactly how long we will stay here but probably at least a couple of weeks.

Bye for now and be in touch soon.

Dee and David

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Comments

[Paul and Marie]

Is this where the budget airlines got the idea?
Hi Dave and Dee. Stopped 40km short eh! sounds like a budget airline flight - Miles from where you want to be and having to squash as many in as they can for the journey. BUT you got to what is a beautiful destination in the end. Chill out and enjoy yourselves. Mum worries like mad, but we are trying to reassure her the best we can. Paul and Marie

[Denise and Jeff]

Om Shanti!! Dave and Dee, Great to hear from you, mum especially looks forward to your emails and postings, as you can imagine! Glad you are enjoying the Yoga, not as easy as you first think it will be eh?? Your adventures sound brilliant so far, keep us posted, Take care xxx