Risikesh
Trip Start
Sep 08, 2008
1
10
13
Trip End
Oct 01, 2008
Rishikesh,
Uttarakhand,
India
Thursday, September 25, 2008
I made my way to the trainstation, passing the usual groups of women with virtually anything you can think of balanced on their head, the hindu priests walking with all their self important wavey hair and the odd purveyor of all things plastic in this world. Goats and goat herders walking along the tracks, their backs filled with soil as some more construction works goes on India style. Carridges packed at the seems with people, chucking their rubbish out to the delight of the many, many rats scuttling along the tracks.
I found my train and got on, hit by the stench of the onboard toilets as I went, the trains are actually very big, along the ceiling are many fans and 2 rows of 3 seats each side. The chairs however are just slightly too small, so that each person gets to snuggle next to their compatriot, which is lovely if your compatriot is a middle aged, fairly large man. Here I met Igor, a tall dark man from Chilie, who i'm now travelling with.
The train filled quickly close to departure, mostly with fat middleaged men, all wearing shirts with a pen and notebook in the front pocket, and 70% of whom had dyed their hair. The man sat next to me, across the asile, had a particularly striking ginger colour to his vastly receeding locks, a gaunt man who was playing games on his phone. Theres no chance of you going hungry on Indian trains, the many food sellers make sure of that, walkiung up and down the train shouting their own mantra of food, some are quite interesting to decipher. "Tarraa marrta zoooop" one says, going up at the the end, this is tomato soup man. My particular favourite was one with a rather high pitched voice shouting "chiiiiiiiips, crisppppies", I enjoyed that.
The train hurtled across India, which I could see passing from the open doors, and then night decended and the train ran through the blackness of night, only emphasising the speed at which we were going, and my fears that Indias rail infrastructure could not possibly cope with such speeds.
But it could, and I arrived safely in Harawad (sp) and quickly found a tuk-tuk to Rissikesh, then quickly found a nice hostel.
The views from my romo the next day were of the Ganges, or Ganga, with forested hills rising each side. It's quite massive, and quite lovely. This place exudes relaxation, the perfect place to come after the hectic schedule i'd been keeping. It's a very spiritual place, home to yoga and meditation courses galore. In the evening I sat on the garden infront of the hostel, and watched the sunset over the Ganges. The priests with their vibrant clothes washed, prayed and meditated on the beaches across the river, the evening light catching their robes as they dried their robes in the sun. Down the valley I could see the first suspension bridge of Rishikesh, Ralam Julah (sp) and saw the siluhettes of the many people, carts, cows etc walking across, and beyond that the dome of a temple vanishing into the distance.
All in all, I 'm happy to've upped sticks and come here for my last few days in India, this is a different side one that may change my outlook (on India).
looks like i'm off rafting on the Ganges! Tara!
