Rishikesh is known as the ‘Yoga capital of the World’, it would seem there is nowhere better to go to seek spiritual harmony than here. However, another web page describes it as the ‘Thrill seekers paradise’ with the highest bungee jump in the world and plenty of opportunities for white-water rafting.
Rishikesh is the gateway to the Char Dham pilgrimage route. The only down side for us staying here is that this holy city is both vegetarian and alcohol free!! (see previous post as to how much I dedicate myself to lifelong learning in Shimla) so this was hard, especially as it was my birthday whilst we were there.
The hotel we were booked into was a disaster so we moved. However, it’s a very popular destination and most places were already booked up for the weekend, we ended up staying in a luxury hotel called the Divine Resort. And believe me it lived up to its name. What a difference!! There were guests here from Australia, Germany, Italy, UK, USA and those are just the few accents and languages we heard.
There are a shed loads of Ashrams to visit (the Beatles one being the most famous) and the 3 main places of interest are the suspension bridges over the Ganges. Laksham Jhula (1930), Ram Jhula (1996) and Janki Setu (2020). We chose to visit Laksham Jhula and of course it’s being refurbed but we did get across and see the 13 storey Trayambakeshwar Temple (also known as Tera Manzil Temple)
To be honest the hotel was so lovely and we were so tired from non stop travelling for the last 6 weeks we just laid around and relaxed. Had a coffee in the cafe, had a mocktail on the roof bar /restaurant and just mouched.
However, the one thing we did shake a leg for was a cooking class on the evening of my birthday. We booked it online and had been contacted the previous day by Yamini, asking what we liked to eat so she could make it more personal and enjoyable.
The following day we were told to wait outside the hotel to be picked up at 5pm. We waited but no sign of a car or tuk tuk only and old guy and a girl on scooters both on their phones. Yup, they were our ‘taxi’. Neither of us have ever been on the back of a scooter before and just getting on was difficult enough. I had to be helped by one of the hotel staff who flipped the foot rest down for me.
Once we were on (with no helmets of course!!!) we set off onward and upwards around the treacherous, teeming streets, avoiding potholes and other cars pushing in front and made it safely to their apartment block.
Yamini and her family lived on the top two floors. The very top floor was rented out to a Japanese lady and her Indian husband, there was also a lovely garden on that floor too. The cooking class was to take place in her rented apartment as the kitchen was bigger and more accessible.
Yamini’s mother was doing the cooking with Yamini translating when necessary as her mum wasn’t confident in her English skills (although it turned out she understood all of what we said!)
We had asked to cook Aloo Gobi (potato and cauliflower curry) and a lentil dal along with a bread we had been eating all through the holiday, called Laccha Paratha, a type of roti but more flaky.
We had a brilliant evening, they were all so lovely, mum showed us around their apartment and dad rushed out and came back with a birthday prezzie for me, which I thought was a lovely gesture. We were ferried back on the brother’s larger scooter which felt a little safer as it was bigger.
What a brilliant way to spend the end of my birthday. I’d been thoroughly spoilt, the hotel also gave me a birthday cake which was an Indian version of a black forest gateaux.
With the cake and some chocolate treats from Fortrum and Masons my OH had been carrying all the way around India, it was a perfect day. Well almost shame about the lack of bubbles. 🍾
Haridwar
Our reason for visiting Haridwar is to watch the evening ceremony on the banks of the Ganges. Haridwar is an important Hindu place of pilgrimage, where the River Ganges exits the Himalayan foothills.
We arrived in our hotel and relaxed till 5pm till our driver picked us up. He had organised VIP seating for us to view the nightly Ganga Aarti (river worshipping ceremony) at Har Ki Pauti ghat, a set of steps especially for worshippers to bathe in the fast flowing waters to cleanse themselves from their sins.
People also go there when a relative has died, they bring their ashes to perform a sacred ritual believed to release the soul from the cycle of reincarnation and achieve salvation (moksha)
Our position on the metal cabinets with everyone in front of us sitting cross legged on the floor meant we had an uninterrupted view across the river.
It was really interesting visiting these two places but I felt we really didn’t get the passion that some of our fellow guests felt for all the ‘healing and well being’ aspects of the place. For us it was another experience of how other people live their lives. That’s what makes the world such an interesting place and why we love experiencing it.
That’s it for our travels this time in India. I don’t think that we are done just yet, there are many other places to see, but not this year.
Namaste 🙏
