Pondy to Gangees

Trip Start Sep 07, 2004

Trip End Aug 15, 2005

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Flag of India Pondycherry and Rishikesh (Uttaranchal), India
Saturday, October 30, 2004

Hello everyone! We are now in the holy town of Rishikesh which is where the boys from Liverpool in the late 60's came to meet the Guru Maraheshi Mahesh Yogi to do a bit of meditation and spiritual stuff by the sacred Gangees. Before I talk about that I'll tell you about our last few days in Pondy. Fortunately Rich and I made it to Pondy at just the right time because there was a festival for tools in which everyone takes the day as holiday and worships there tools for the days, all the rickshaw drivers decorate their rickshaws, and every other type of tool is worshipped for the day. The traditional fireworks are lit all night and everybody seems to be out on the streets, and also because it was Pondy's 50th year of independence from the froggies and were having a music festival to celebrate (3 months later than it should of been due to bureaucracy just for a change). So Saturday night we put our glad rags on and walked 50 meters up the road to a posh hotel which was the host of a night of an eclectic mix of classical Indian, fusion and tribal beats. We walked into a large room at the top of the hotel which had sofas and cushions all along the perimeter with everyone sat crossed legged listening to the 1st act - a classical(ish) band playing the tablas, an instrument that looked and sounded like the sitar, and a classical guitar. The atmosphere was all very Indian and laid back. Later on a classical band from Bengal came on, which was pretty good but we were now looking forward to the 'Disco tech' as the Indians call it (repetitive beats to you and me).

Bathing in the Gangees

Sat next to us was a guy with an enormously long beard and a very deep and humorous laugh who looked like a typical guru. We got chatting to him and he introduced his name as Punjabi Baba or Ranjit for short and as we were talking we mentioned that we were on our way to the north and going to Rishikesh. Straight away he opened his wallet and asked us to give 100 rupees to a friend of his in Laxman Jhula called Bengali Baba. After the concert he invited us back to his place for coffee. His apartment was beautiful, all white washed inside with stunning Indian and European art and at the open window the most comfy rope swing chair.. He was an architect and lived on a road full of Doctors and accountants - posh row! Opposite Ranjit's flat was a small temple which had been banging drums and playing that high pitched Indian wind instrument from 4.30am to 6am and every evening for the last month which Ranjit was totally fed up with! Apparently its because at this time of year one of the Hindu goddesses who is a snake is on a mission to destroy all the folks who have been sinning, so to keep her away they play this 'music'!!!
We checked out of our hotel and stayed with Ranjit the following night on his request and for free. He took us to a gorgeous beach in the afternoon and for dinner we all drank wine and ate bread and cheese. We whiled away the hours talking about Hinduism and spirituality. Ranjit is setting his house up as an Ashram and will use his Guru name of Punjabi Baba, and seen as though I once had this crazy idea when I was 16 of living in an ashram for the rest of life meditating and seeking enlightenment I thought I'd at least spend one night conversing with a guru about the meaning of life!
Obviously we slept in the room facing the temple and were awoken at 5am with drums, but I donned my precious ear plugs and slept soundly again.

Bengali Baba in his hut

Ranjit took us to the bus stand the following afternoon to get our 4 hour bus to Chennai and from there a train to Delhi. Chennai was once again a horrid experience and the smog and smell was gross. We got into a rickshaw from the bus station to take us to the train station and for 10 minutes the driver kept stopping the vehicle to look for oil or gas or the thing kept conking out, finally we said we'd just get another one as we hadn't got time as we had a train to catch. So we flagged down another rickshaw and climbed in with our rucksacks. Even though we'd only gone an 8th of the way to our destination and had agreed to pay 60 rupees the previous rickshaw driver demanded we pay 50 rupees!!! we offered him 20 rupees and asked our current driver to go. He refused until we gave the other guy his 50 rupees!. We argued our case but to no avail and at this point there were kids listening and laughing (as I was effing and blinding) and we needed to be at the train station pronto and hadn't got the time to argue. So we gave him the money and drove on with me still writhing in the back, cursing rickshaw drivers and India in general! At the train station it didn't get better as Rich and I were sat outside having a fag we were told to go away as you're not allowed to smoke in public places, fuck me!! The place is one dirty, smelly, dusty, smoggy, infested place where women shit on bathroom floors and I can't have a fag outside a train station!! I was still cursing India and was ready to leave and go to Hong Kong.

Bengali Baba's hut by the Gangees

We then had a 33 hour journey to the capital and treated ourselves to a 2 tier air con compartment which we shared with another Indian couple. Unfortunately they had the bottom bunks and we had the top two, which meant that we had to sit, read and sleep up there for the whole duration, missing the outside world from the windows below. The couple - who were very nice and gave us some Indian sweets - below us were in there 60's and slept and snored the majority of the time so we had no opportunity to sit down below with them. So a couple of books and many sneaky, toilet fag breaks later we arrived in the oh so gorgeous Delhi. And 6 hours later we got on a 4 hour train to Haridwar. From there we got a cab 30 kilometers to Rishekesh. So in total from Pondy to here it took us 54 hours and boy were we looking forward to relaxing by the Gangees at the foot of the mountains the following day. We're staying in Laxman Jhula just on the edge of Rishikesh which is the most beautiful place that Rich and I have seen in India. Not only is it the most beautiful but the cleanest and the one with a perfect climate about 28C in the day and drops to about 12 at night. Laxman Jhula is a little town set on both sides of the Ganges, with a walkway suspension bridge of about 60 meters connecting both sides. The view from the center of the bridge is stunning as you look up the valley of the twinkling Ganges to the Himalaya's with temples on either side with pilgrims ringing bells galore as they walk up the many stages of the temples.

Holy Gangees - Laxman Jhula

Our hotel is in a little place on the North side of Laxman Jhula called High Bank with views over the Ganges. We have to do a lot of walking up a steep hill to get up there which is fine by us as it's nice to get some exercise and maybe loose a few pounds from all the curries we've been eating. Our room is great with a balcony where many games of peanuckle have already been played and it doubles up as a place where we eat our breakfast while looking at the mountains, ahhhh! and all for 250 rupees a night. The restaurant is superb with all sorts of food available: Indian, Tibetan, Italian, Israeli etc . we're trying the lot and it's all been fantastic.
On our first day in Laxman Jhula we walked about the beautiful town, and strolled down to the side of the Gangees where there is a little beach and we had our first bathe in the holy water, it was the freshest and coldest water we experienced for a while and there is certainly something very special about it. We stayed by the river for a few hours in total bliss before we climbed the many steps to the top of one of the temples ringing the many bells on the way up. As we crossed the suspension bridge on our way home we went to try and find Bengali Baba to give him his gift and Punjabi Baba's regards. It was not as difficult as we first thought as the first person we asked and showed a photo which Ranjit had given us he just pointed 20 yards down the road and there he was sitting on the side of the street with a Sadhu. So we introduced ourselves and gave him his 100 rupees from Ranjit and said we'd pop by the next day for some chai.

Temple - Laxman Jhula

That night it was a full moon and we saw a flyer for a full moon party. Considering I don't smoke hashish and you can't drink alcohol in Rishikesh as its a holy town I was intrigued as to what the party would be like for me. As it turned out, after we walked up a very steep hill to the venue there was nothing going off at all, it was completely dead! so we went back to our hotel and drank yogi tea and played cards instead!
The next day we caught up with Bengali Baba and he invited us to his hut half a K further down from the town by the river. Oh my god! what a stunning place this guy lives! I can't wait till we can upload the pictures for you but in the mean time I'll tell you. It is a tiny wooden hut right by the Gangees with undisturbed views all around of the mountains and nearby a beachy part of the river. Bengali Baba is a guy of 50 who has lived in Laxman Jhula for the past 20 years, the last 6 in his hut and for the previous 14 in 2 caves. He has long dark hair, twinkly eyes and a shiny baby-like face that glows with health and good heartedness, a lovely voice and a playful sense of humor - a lovely chappy indeed. After many years of yoga and meditation he has undoubtedly added years on his life took years off looks. We sat with him and his friends and they smoked a joint, while we talked about Hindu/Gangees legend and the nature of life. He invited us to go round to his at 9 the next morning for some yoga lessons but we didn't quite make it out of bed in time today!! I think we'll pop round later on and enjoy the rest of the afternoon in bliss.