Rishikesh Valley

... without any luck. It was dark and there were a pack of dogs ahead which were fighting amongst themselves. I crossed the road but one of the dogs decided to follow me and the rest decided to follow him... The one following me seemed quite friendly but the others were pretty unruly and intimidating. I seeked some shelter at a small roadside stall and the worker saw my pridicament and ran out with a big stick to chase them ...

... a feeling of being stretched and aligned - with a hint of ache was felt.

The next day we made a journey to our first Ghudwara (Sikh temple). It was set in Rishikesh surrounded by outstanding scenery, with mountains as a backdrop. It was difficult to communicate, as our hindi/punjabi is minimal and tended to cause laughter. The Ghudwara was a special experience, and the greeting of satsrikalji always brought smiles in return. That night we also visited ...

... I ultimately decided that I would bring my bag in the taxi to deliver the tickets and expect to feel well enough to get on the train and then just get up to Rishikesh and give myself a day or two to get better away from the busy parts of India.

I wasn't feeling great, but the pills I had taken were enough to allow me to get on the train, and I easily found the two other volunteers when I got to the New Delhi railway station. We had booked the train ...

... in the late 60's for a bit of relaxation and meditation and as a result this is where many westerners head in pursuit of the multitude of ashrams and yoga masters to aid in some serious soul searching!
its a pity we didn't here of this earlier as we definately would have liked to stay here, even for a night or two. maybe next time.

I was awake around 8 AM or so. The power went out at 8:30 and so I just sat in bed listening to my iPOD. Sandy texted me about breakfast and about meeting up for a dip in the Ganga river. She had run into some people she had met in Kajuraho and said that they would be meeting for breakfast soon. Her hotel was near the other bridge though and I didn't know if I felt like walking all the way over there to meet her. I decided to have breakfast at the Ganga Beach Cafe and ...

... it out with Barbara and it was great! Shame that's its so run down now, it's in some sort of dispute or something. It really was nice though. They had these meditation caves that were nice and cool inside, heaps of trees and flowers... I found this one room that just had stacks of papers everywhere, some as old as 1979.

We decided to go dip our feet in the Ganga (Ganges river), nearby, it's very clean up here, don't worry.

Later, I headed back to town where I bumped into ...

... We had food all over, but our two favourite places were Flavors and TipTop. We had many meals at both and specifically loved the western sandwiches, pastas and fruit smoothies that Tiptop offered. Justin, Natalie and I spent a day hiking up to one of the highest peaks nearby, to a Durga temple that overlooked the hills, the Ganga and the plains. It was an intense 14km hike up steep gravely paths, and definitely took a toll on us, as once we reached the ...

... much more tangible after this experience. So Rishikesh is definitely a breath of fresh air. Nothing like some great yoga and a (very oily) ayurvedic massage to sooth the travel weary. We got hooked up with a great room and great info from some folks who saw us knocking on a hotel door on our 10:30 pm arrival and began easying in the next day and searching for an ashram. Our first choice totally dissed us, and I tapped in to the ...

... It's HUGE...with amazing locker rooms and so many different treatment rooms. We met the spa manager (Mark) who was extremely nice to both of us and helped us rearrange our schedules even more. After lunch we had our first personalized yoga session with Sushil. Sushil is a great teacher and despite the fact that Tanya is way, way advanced at yoga...and I am way, way not...he still managed to find time to work with both of us and all of our classes with ...

... of this sacred river and able to experience others in their worship here...people of any religion in the act of unfettered and deep worship is so special. As the sun set the sounds of prayer, the smell of incense and the little ritual fires and floating flower and candle cradles were beautiful and peaceful. Here in our courtyard we also met a very friendly man, Rabindra, a wealthy man from Delhi here with his wife to pray and to pick ...