As a town, I can best describe Rishikesh as a spiritual tourist trap. Its visitors come exclusively seeking meditation, yoga, and/or 'spiritual enlightenment'...
If the characters walking around the place don't show this, then the recurring theme in the
many book shops scattered around, will give the game away...
Forget Lonely Planet - the only 'guide' books you'll pick up here are not for the physical journey.
In the windows, book titles such as 'Life's Path', 'Soul Survivor', 'Know thy Self', are all to be seen. Here I was, hoping to pick up a cheap fiction book of some sort, but instead I left wondering if I was.... 'Truely Me'?
The tens, to hundreds of Sadhu's
(spiritual Indian men who have given up material objects and ideals to wander the country freely, seeking spiritual liberation) walking around, a plentitude of temples, and people bathing down by the Holy River Ganges, all make for an interesting scene.
Top Left: Sadhu's line up for their breakfast, not far from our hotel.Top Right: Some locals playing checkers by the Ganges, whilst another tends to his cowdung drying out in the afternoon sun.Middle Left: View of Laxman Jhula from the suspension bridge. If you look closelyyou will see me waving from a rooftop in the distance.Middle Right: View of suspension bridge from rooftop restaurant in Laxman Jhula.Bottom Left: Some people bathing by the Ganges. Two cows are looking to get in on the act.I thought bathing in the Ganges seemed like a nice touch, until one day, as I sat by the river on a rooftop restaurant, I saw a dead cow floating downstream - a gaping wound across its neck.
Top Left: Dead cow floating down the Ganges, whilst bathers happily wash only meters away.Top Right: Behind me is a spot where people gather at sunset to pray. It looks good at night when it is lit up.Bottom Left: Entertaining some local kids. Of course playing music isn't entirely good enough; I'm soon harrassed to give money too.Bottom Right: Sunset by the Ganges. Not a bad setting huh?As is the norm' in India, stalls selling all kinds of fresh fruit & veg, are all around. As are the Chai (masala tea) stalls.
It was all so interesting to see, but it felt like another world to me. Perhaps if I'd spent more time there, I would've adapted better, but, truth be told, I was quite looking forward to moving on. The cold being as big a factor as anything else.
The town of Laxman Jhula, Rishikesh is amazing in terms of its location. Scenic mountain scapes, and of course, the River Ganges running through it, all makes for a magical atmosphere, particularly at sunset.
After a few days Claire and I decided to spread our wings a little, and see what was going on
out of town...
[7th Jan 2007]; We took a day trip in a hired car, with driver, out of Rishikesh to some more northern towns in Uttaranchal. Our driver's name was Merinda, who spoke no English whatsoever, but seemed nice enough. We set off from Rishikesh at 8:30am and almost immediately the road began to wind and climb through the mountains.
Before we knew it we were looking down on Rishikesh and beyond, across a very flat and vast landscape, all the way out to the horizon. We drove this way for 45mins before arriving at our first stop - a famous North Indian temple called Surkhanda Devi Temple. It sits on the peak of a mountain at 3050m, and as you can imagine, offers some amazing views.
We didn't stay for too long however. Just long enough time to take in the views, take some photographs, and give an 'offering' to the temple. We were greeted at the temple by two old ladies; miserable looking old bats they were, in truth. They quickly ushered us into the temple, neither of them once smiling, or hardly even looking us in the eye. Claire and I both received our Bindi's (
Hindu spot), a handful of rice puffs (as is the usual procedure), unsweetened and stale (as is
not the usual procedure), then were presented with a donation plate for yet a
further donation. We'd already bought an offering at a small stall situated at the entrance so I felt a little harrassed by this and simply offered an extra 10Rps. This was greeted with an expression of disgust. "Is that all?", her face said.
"yes that's all", I said silently.
So it wasn't such a great experience, although the views were worth it, even if the hospitality sucked.
Top Left & Right: Just leaving the mountain-top temple, Surkhanda Devi. Those are the old bats I mentioned above. Great photo, lol!Middle Left & Right: These photos were also taken in the grounds of the Surkhanda Devi Temple. Although difficult to make out, in the background is Rishikesh (look for the River Ganges).Bottom Left & Right: Making our long way down and out, back to the car.We made for our next destination - Tehri Dam; the 5th largest dam in the world. Hardly what I would called an attraction, but the scale of it
was impressive. The surrounding hills and lakes were pretty scenic too. But, as with most dams, it was also surrounded by much controversy...
Top Left: Posing for a scenic shot on the way to Tehri Dam. This backdrop could easily be mistaken for Scotland I thought .Top Right: Tehri Dam. Doesn't look so big, but then we're a long way up. (Notice the size of the person walking across it).Bottom Left: Leaving Tehri - about to embark for Chamba, then on to Dhanolti.Ever since it's initial plans were presented in the late 70's, it was never a popular decision. The main dam, standing 855ft tall, has sparked equally huge protests from Environmental Groups because of its location, and, well...because it's a dam. It is situated in a major geological fault zone; In October 1991, only 50Km away, an earthquake of 6.8 magnitude occurred. Not to mention the hundreds of villagers displaced as a result of the dam, it also dramatically cuts the supply of the Bhagirathi River, parent river to the River Ganges (
The Holy river). By doing so, the Bhagirathi has less influence on the River Ganges, and this has caused much resentment amongst many Hindu's.
Back on the road again, we doubled-back on ourselves, down the road we came. This time turning right a few km from the dam, and through a small town called Chamba. I'd already caught a small glimpse of the snow-capped Himalaya 's in the distance on our way to Tehri, and now we got to see it from the hill-tops where Chamba sat.
Above Left: That's Chamba, the hill town in the distance.Above Right: Having just driven up and through Chamba, the roads become quite frightening. Note the lack of roadside barriers. On the other side lies an unimaginably steep drop.As we exited Chamba, the road kept climbing, and the farther we drove, the more the roads narrowed and began to wind. Occasionally the Himalaya's would appear to the north, then disappear again as the road bent in the opposite direction. I began to get a sore neck, straining myself to follow the view in the rear window.
Top Left: Note the white car on the road ahead, just coming round the mountain on the left of the photo. This is actually a fairly tame drop compared to what we'd just seen.Top Right: Aghh s!%t, now what? On a road barely wide enough for one car nevermind two, we now must pass on the 'outside'. Im sitting on the left hand side in the back here. I can barely watch as we manoeuvre past.Bottom Left: As we approach Dhanolti and the roads climb higher still, we are greeted by views such as this one. Those are the snowcapped peaks of the Himalayan Range. Awesome!We were on the Dhanolti road, bound for the town of Mussourie. Dhanolti being itself a very small town, or better yet - a 'Hill Station', as it's properly called. With no commercialism there at all, just tall pine trees and the odd scenic spot to sit and look out to the Himalaya's in the distance, it was a great place to take a short break from the driving. The view from up there took my breath away. I stood there in awe - just staring - trying to take in what we were seeing. If I stared long and hard enough, I thought, I might not forget how amazing it feels to be here seeing it.
To harness the moment if you like. Of course it doesn't work that way, but you hope it does. It blew me away. I took some pictures as you'd expect, but it doesn't truely capture the moment.
Had it not been so cold, and kept our driver waiting, I would've stayed longer. But, we had to move on.
Top Left: Just outside Dhanolti, we took a rest to afford ourselves some unmissable shots.Top Right: Some locals sit, roadside - The Himalaya in the distance. It's hard to believe people actually live here.Bottom Left: More great views. This photo was actually taken a few kilometres back from here.Bottom Right: Me and our driver, Merinda.
My day was already a good one, now we'd seen Dhanolti, but we stopped off in Mussourie all the same. Sitting at 2000m amongst the mountains of Uttaranchal, Mussoorie is beautiful in its own rite. However, It is a larger town, and quite obviously a tourist town. We stopped and enjoyed some lunch and a beer before heading back down the road, through Dera Dun to Rishikesh.
Claire and I arrived back at our hotel at 7pm, half an hour before the ManU-A.Villa FA Cup game was due to start. 'Great!', I thought....until all the power went out in Rishikesh!
[13th Jan 2007]; Following our long day sightseeing in Agra, Claire & I flew into Goa on the south west coast of India for a hotter climate and some relaxation.
