So we survived! 7 days in India and we are breathing fresh air (fresher than its been...)! We have spent the last 7 day trying to adjust to the world of travel and the other world that is India.
India is a land of contradictions, juxtapositions, and most of all contrasts. Rich buisness men in armani suites riding in tiny auto rickshaws spewing diesel fuel, beautiful temples who's outer walls are surrounded by slums, and bright colorful people in a dusty dingy landscape where sky, trees, and ground are all the same dull gray hue. And imagine it all to the wonderful clamor of traffic horns!
On arrival we were greeted with a dizzyingly fast taxi ride through the heart of Delhi, were traffic rules do not apply, where cows, dogs, bicycles, rickshaws, schoolchildren, motorcycles, taxis ect weave in and out of one and other at terrifying speeds (when the roads are not blocked by traffic) all the while laying on the horn to alert you of there intentions of not slowing or stooping or using any sort of regular traffic etiquette. We found ourselves on a crowded street full of shops, dog, people, tourists and barely enough room for the taxi...ahh and then our hotel in the midst of all the chaos!
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| From the roof of the hotel |
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| The room and the chaos outside |
The hotel was shabby and the room looked nothing like the photos promised us online. We were promptly made to pay for the room we did not want and then escorted to the other 'nicer' hotel down the street owned by the same company (four 'Star India Hotels' in all...take your pick) the room was better but for a price! And the noise! We slept through the night (thank you ambien and earplugs) and tried our luck the next day with a new hotel only to be swept up and taken to a tour agency who promptly sold us a tour we did not want and took our money before we could say 'tekai' (okay in India...picture the head nod...)...Luckily we were given a nice hotel room and a driver for the day who convinced us that all Indians are liars and cheats and that he was the only honest one who just wanted us to 'love' India. He became our guide...and for a slightly higher cost than we could have had on our own we were escorted around India (well around Delhi anyway...)
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| Offerings on the Ganges |
We drove to Rishikesh, in the province of Uttarakhand in Northern India. The drive was chaos as we soon learned is the way in India. Two lane freeway with trucks, cars, tourbuses, horse drawn carts, bicycles, cows, sheep, all wishing to pass eachother at any cost. The Freeway was lined with shops, houses, shacks all the way from Delhi to Rishikesh ( five hours) with the exception of a few sugarcane fields. Our driver seemed pleased to use his horn more than his brakes...but we made it in one piece.
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| Temple at the Ashram |
The peace and quiet we sought at the Swami Dyananda Ashram we stayed at in Rishikesh wasnot found, the street sounds being replaced by chanting and bells, much more pleasant I'll gant you.
Chanting at 5:45am followed by tea, yoga at 6:30 breakfast at 7 then out to see the holy city of Rishikesh.
Located on the Ganga river, this city is a pilgrimage site for many Hindu Indians, and a yoga mecca for westerners. The Ganga is said to flow through Lord Shiva's head, and the Beatles stayed in one of the Ashrams here in the sixties. The place is doted with Ashrams, temples, and yoga classes. Across the river from our Ashram was a peaceful place to walk and shop and not be run over by cars or rickshaws (no cars allowed on that side of the river) too many westerners ment big prices said our driver...so we ate and shopped on the other side...All in all Rishikesh was nice, beautiful colors, mountains, and trees. Flowers everywhere floating down the river as prayer offerings. People praying by the river in the early morning, mist clinging to the river and the sound of chanting from dozens of Ashrams floating through the air...
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| The Ganges |
Next to Agra and the Taj Mahal. Arga was our drivers home and he insisted that we see it (his home and the Taj) before leaving India. The dive was even worse...we have sworn to never drive again in India...trains for us! And the Taj Mahal was expensive but very beautiful and one of the seven wonders of the world we are told. Our driver had us stay in his house with his family, his brother's family, and their parents...good food and nice people. His daughter was particularly fond of Ben and made endless fun of his long hair.
We had already decided that we wanted out of India so we booked the next flight to Kathmandu and early Wednesday morning we got our wish and said good bye (and maybe good ridance) to India
Here we are in Kathmandu...the air is clearer, there are mountains on the horizon, the hotel is beautiful and we were only swindled once so far! Nepal feels like a breath of fresh air!
