Hotel Ganga Kinare Rishikesh

Rishikesh is a holy site.

Being one of the first large cities along the Ganges as it flows from the Shivalik Mountains, it has for centuries been a place for devotees to brush up on their blessings, vedic studies, yoga, meditation, and of course crystal therapies. Thousands of people make the pilgrimage every year for this reason. So many so, that many 60's legends descended upon the place to practice Transcendental Meditation in 1968 in the now sixties fairytale ...

... the uphill drive, but we somehow made it without much problem. Lakshman Jhula is actually across the Ganges River from where the bus stand is and the only way across is a pedestrian bridge, but with the heavy rain, the rickshaw could not take as too close so we decided to save it for tomorrow and ran into the first guesthouse we saw to stay for the night.

When I woke up on Friday morning, it was still raining outside, but I was able to see many of the ...

... took small baskets of flowers, lit the candles at their center, and released them into the fast flowing water as an offering to the mother river. We released our own offerings and watched as they floated off downstream, only to be scooped from the water meters away by excited parents who then gave them to their children. Ah well, we had a train to catch and were more concerned with the prospect of battling our way through the crowds than rescuing our flowers. XXX

... by odpoczac przy masala tea w jednej z restauracyjek - polecam TOP TIP na pietrze, zaraz przy ashramie, na ktorego ghatach odbywa sie codzienna puja wraz z aarti o ok 18.30

Aarti w Rishikesh sa na schodach PARMARTH NIKETAN ASHRAM przy Ram Jhula moscie. Jest to duzo bardziej teatralna ceremonia niz w Haridwar czy Varanassi, gdzie odczuwam prawdziwosc i oddanie pielgrzymow. W Rishikesh jest ...

... une petite ville dans l'Uttarakhand dans le Nord de l'Inde, 'self-proclaimed world capital of yoga', endroit suintant la spiritualite de partout. Habitee en bonne partie par des etrangers occidentaux ou Japonais ou Coreens en mission spirituelle, qui pour la plupart ont l'esprit qui vibre assez haut, elle deborde d'ashrams et de studios de yoga. Elle est magnifique, des 2 cotes du Ganges, comme Varanasi, a la seule difference qu'ici c'est beaucoup plus pres de la ...

... are the only white people anywhere. The ride was short but we suddenly found ourselves in a windy little market full of sari shops and such. I realllllly wanted a sari but what I didn't know was that you need at least a day for them to custom make you a choli (the little top that goes under the sash part). Unfortunately, I didn't have a day since the wedding was that evening but I decided to see if any of the shops could make me one on the spot. We weaved through ...

... to bring us to a nice hotel, and wow he did. We stayed at Blessed Cottages, a bit of a walk from the action of the yoga ashrams and shopping in the main part of the city, but the place was really great. It was really cool to be surrounded by the Himalayan foothills every morning. We did a lot of walking around, last minute shopping, and eating tastey things. One day, we ventured three ...

... long and the Jet lag had really got to us so we had to make a sharp exit and get a Rickshaw home. And this brings me to my final story of this entry... the story of Rickshaw that broke down! Ha! Out of all the Rickshaws in Delhi we picked one which broke down a little way from home. We managed to finally find our way through the back streets of Delhi to get to our hostel - trouble over, however not the best experience on your first night!

... a bed of cabbage, carrots, green beans, and tomatoes. Absolutely delicious! I shared space and a very nice conversation with a small group of young Russian women who were just finishing up their stay here learning yoga on an ashram and heading back to Moscow the next day. Tomorrow back to Haridwar for a day tour then an overnight train to what I'm hoping will be the highlight of my trip, one of the oldest and holiest cities in India - Varanasi.

... must be half decent aye? Thousands of pilgrims dressed in orange, often wearing little more than rags and the majority of whom wearing no shoes travel hundreds of miles from destinations all over india to reach Rishikesh, which is centred around the river ganges, these pilgrims come here simply to bathe in the river itself, where it is said you cleanse yourself of all the impurities and bad thoughts et al, till you have ...