Hello lovely people . . . . . No. 14

HARIDWAR and RISHIKESH

Hotel, shower, lunch, no beer. Haridwar becomes Horridwar in Andy’s travelogue.  After an early afternoon siesta we set off to explore the town and especially the ghats, the terraces leading to the holy Ganga water where pilgrims come to bathe and offerings are made. Our first surprise is that the ghats are along the canal, not the river itself. But the canal is fed by the river so it is Ganges water. Our second surprise is that the town is much less decorated than we expected for the festival of lights. Buildings in Jaipur were colourfully ablaze. Perhaps more holy, less commercial? Our third surprise is that the town is shabby, poor, dirty – we were anticipating something which appears visibly more loved as befits its holy status but perhaps that is just unknowing westerners projecting our sensibilities. Alison M and I are a bit, well disappointed! The boys are just soaking it up, Horridwar

We walk one side of the canal as dusk falls and cross to the other to experience – witness – the holy puja. It is hard to estimate how many are gathered, chanting, praying, releasing offerings into the water. It must be in the tens of thousands. Our obvious alien presence is unremarked, tolerated. We look and listen for a while and as a gathering are observed: there are armed guards in watchtowers

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After what appears to be the main part of the ceremony people leave the ghats and we amble with them, and walk through an immense bazaar – there are stalls laden with foodstuffs, savoury and sweet, huge amounts. Who will buy and eat them? All types of jewellry and clothing, household goods and hardware. It goes on and on. We are not unduly hassled to buy and would have enjoyed browsing more but for scooters driving through and their incessant hooting . . . It is an aspect of Indian life as so far experienced that none of us have acclimatised to 

We have dinner at a hotel restaurant where we dine alone except for an Englishwoman, from Hammersmith with whom we chat and exchange our brief Haridwar experiences. She is of Indian extraction and has come to Delhi for a few days expressly to make this 24 hour journey to Haridwar at Diwali and has not been disappointed

An early night, we need to recover from THAT bus ride and tomorrow is the main Diwali day, we want to be on form. At breakfast we plan our next two days. Haridwar has a cable car which takes you to the top of an overlooking hill and a temple. We decide to visit, dressed in our Diwali finery. 

Tomorrow we will go to Rishikesh, a yoga and ashram heartland made famous by the Beatles.

Walking through the town to discover that cable car station we discover it is much bigger than we thought or explored yesterday and busy, noisy, smelly, litter strewn as we have come to expect. People are very friendly and “happy Diwali” greetings exchanged frequently as we walk

The cable car station and waiting area are immaculate and there is an orderly queuing system. We board, and it is just like a ski bubble lift but we approach a temple and see monkeys . . . . 

The temple is not what we expected or like any other we have yet visited. It is a series of small  shrines around the hilltop within an enclosed area. Most have images of one of the Hindu gods, burning incense and sometimes a small fire. Pilgrims/devotees make money offerings at a shrine or at shrines of their choice and receive blessings from the resident holy man – these blessings appear mostly being lightly beaten by a stick on the back. We were grateful for the advice given by a charming local student as we arrived looking perplexed about where to leave our shoes and why we were being asked for money to look after them “don’t leave your shoes with him, there is an official place over there and don’t give money at the temples unless you want to make an offering – everyone will ask you but it is not necessary . . . .” 

We walked down the hill enjoying the air and the countryside and had many exchanges of “what country” and requests to be in selfies. It was blissfully traffic free until just above the town and quiet as a consequence. Monkeys kept us entertained

Fireworks are a big part of Diwali as we discovered are fire crackers and enormous explosive bangs. One such occurred at the end of our very delicious lunch in a very local cafe – it was loud enough to startle us and the other diners pout of our seats but was just a fire cracker (we had been more unsettled then we thought by the presence of throes armed guards yesterday)

As dusk fell we again walked along the ghats, taking the opposite bank and opposite direction from where we watched the puja yesterday. There are some tent dwellers, people playing cards, and a good whiff of that other type of ganja . . . We head for a footbridge to discover it is under construction and the canal side path expires. There is a small track through a wooded area, it looks a short step to the road where we can cross the road bridge. We join the track, Roberto up front, Andy in the rear, phone torches lighting our way. Stamp your feet to make sure any snakes move out of the way calls Andy. Then,  guys – i wasn’t joking about the snakes . . . And we turn to watch the last few feet of a fat-arm thick snake slither into the trees. Andy had a good look at it coiled on the edge of the path (we three had walked past, oblivious) and saw it unspool and move, a good eight feet. He later identified it as a rock python. 

We diced with traffic on the road bridge and walked back along the other side of the canal, dodging firecrackers and looking for a dinner venue. The one we chose, down a dark side street where another heart stopping explosion ricocheted round the walls as walked, was Fawlty Towers reincarnated. We were the first people to arrive for dinner. We ordered lime sodas. There was one waiter. The restaurant was on the second floor. It seemed his drinks service was a few floors blow. More people arrived. They sat. We ordered. They ordered. They were served. It transpires most of our order was unavailable. We changed our order. Other people arrived. They ordered. They were served. “Yours comes soon”. We wait. All other people eat and leave. We receive most of our order. We eat and leave! The town looks quite pretty tonight in parts

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All the monkeys have come out in the street on which our hotel is located. They are being fed by one local resident and seem unperturbed by the fire crackers. We see very young children playing with matches and fireworks. This is India. It is Diwali

The next morning a dead horse is in the street a few yards up from our hotel. The consensus is one of the loud explosions saw it out. We leave in a car for Rishikesh, wondering if some poor family’s livelihood had died with the horse, and how long it will be left in the street

Rishikesh feels like a breathe of holiday fresh air! It is about an hour north, the main town straddles the side of a hill. Yoga, Ayurveda and alternative lifestyles abound. We fortify ourselves with delicious juices/smoothies/coffee and very hot hot chocolate and then set off to explore. The delightful cafe owner tells us how to drop down to the Ganges, cross a footbridge, walk to a second footbridge and return. The atmosphere is tranquil and festive. The Ganges looks green and inviting. The footbridge is packed – humans, cows, cavorting monkeys and scooters of course – footbridge pah!!

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The walk through the stalls, shops, ashrams, temples is very enjoyable. Low hassle and a little shopping takes place. We walk to the Ganges edge and paddle.

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More cows, more monkeys, another busy footbridge and then a tuk tuk out of town to a rooftop terrace for lunch – and a beer!

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Back to Horridwar and our hotel, the dead horse has been removed. We pack and head off, another journey, another adventure. But that is for another time

Until then, Namaste

ALISON