It is a little hard to get internet access, so the posts may be a little messed up -however, we are having a fantastic time at the River camps, we have stayed mainly at Camp Panther, but also visited Leopard beach for lunch.
Every meal we have here is amazingly prepared and served, I think we are going to be the only visitors that leave from India putting on weight.But there has been plenty of rafting, kayaking and climbing to keep us going. Jack and Tom are loving being on the river, their kayaking skills have really improved, and they are in awe of some of the Nepali guys who work here as guides, they are so strong, you can see why they heave people up everest!
Baggage arrives tomorrow, so all the camp are busy polishing and fussing for his arrival, Shirly and a whole bunch of their Delhi friends arrive for the week end of Friday
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I ha d a shopping morning in Rishikesh this morning while the boys were on the river. It is a really interesting little town, a bit more laid back than many other Indian towns we have seen, though still the same total anarchy.
There are lot of ashrams and yoga centres, lots of foreign tourists that seem to be looking to " find themselves" in fact many wont even look you in the eye when you are wandering round with a back pack on, it's as it they think they have found the end of the earth - yet there is Littlehales playing tourist.
I asked some of the camp people what they thought of westerners wandering round Riskikesh in tie dye and cotton, and they laughed and said they though they needed a good wash and a walk in the mountains!.
There was a lot of very funky looking Sadhu's wandering around looking very mystic and the usual assortment of street vendors trying to sell me plastic cameras and peacock feathers -but we found some great pashmina's, and nepali hats which the boys practised their haggling skills on. They got their funky hats down from $3.00 to $2.00, and the salesman still went off smiling as if he had made a killing, but all were satisfied with the deal. Where we can we are trying to buy stuff from the handicraft emporiums, which have a fair trade agreement with the villages who make the handicrafts.
The friends all arrived after lunch on Friday and we moved to Baggage's newest camp at the Himalayan bear steam, similar style to Camp Panther, but more secluded. The people were lovely, all friends of Shirly and Baggages from their housing complex, they were very welcoming to us, and we had a great weekend. We had a huge camp fire each night, which looked like tribal council at Survivor. They all sang beautiful hindi and nepali folk songs, which left us looking a little think on the ground with Waltzing Matilda.
Jack and Tom were both a little ill while we were there, the Might Ganga totally purified them, inside and out! on the mend again after 24 hours and raring for action.
We went for a fantastic hike, about 5 hours into the mountains. What was awesome for me, was a tiny little school we came across about 2 hours uphill. When we set off, in full hiking gear, there was another man leaving at the same time, but while we were their in boots and back packs, he was in business shoes and brief case, when we got to the school we realised he was the teacher!
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