Looking for a break from the madness that is India, we decided to catch a flight north to the foothills of the Himalayan mountains for some peace and quiet. Well, that’s all relative here in India. Rishikesh is definitely a bit smaller and it’s easier to find some quiet, but it is still India. Horns, cow crap and crowds. Our room was very new and clean with a nice western bathroom and we were exhausted from the crazy week we just endured so we spent two days just sleeping, working in our room and eating. We walked from our hotel to the Ganges River several times to just sit and people watch. Finally on day 3 we were ready to head out but we still weren’t looking to hit the tourists spots so we found a water fall and went hiking. Turned out to be more like climbing a mountain that had a waterfall cascading all the way down with pools scattered along the way that you could take a dip in. Each pool had tents near by with locals selling food and drinks. We had the second pool to ourselves when a small group of locals came along and started setting up a cake in the middle of the pool. Before we knew it we were invited to join them as they sang happy birthday and hand fed us cake inches from the splashing waterfall. We ended up climbing as high up as we could and swam in the top pool before calling it a day and walking back to town for another dinner overlooking the Ganges River.
The next morning we got an early start and headed to the Ram Jhula. It is the bigger of two iron suspension bridges in Rishikesh that crosses the Ganges. Jhula means bridge in Hindi. The Laxman Jhula was closer to our hotel but under construction. The bridges aren’t impressive in any way but somehow they are one of the main tourist attractions in the town. After walking across to the other side we walked along the river stopping at several gahts to watch the locals doing their spiritual bathing. Our goal was to reach the Beatles Ashram as soon as it opened to avoid the crowds. Neither one of us realized how big this place was. The ashram has been abandoned for many years and is mostly in ruins however there is plenty to see still. The ashram gained it fame in the 60’s when the Beatles came here to study under the famous Yogi Maharshi Mahesh. The Beatles presence attracted other stars like the Stones, Donovan, Stevie Wonder, ect. This of course attracted their fans, yogis and hippies from all over the world making Rishikesh what it is today. We spent several hours wandering through all the buildings admiring all the art and lyrics on the walls. This is where the Beatles wrote the White Album and is definitely worth the stop. It was by far the most peaceful and quiet place we have found in all of India including the Gandhi memorial site. While searching for lunch we were walking around an area full of old Hindi men in their traditional clothing where no other tourist were and we were invited to smoke some weed from deep in the Himalayan mountains by one of them. Being the connoisseur that I am I had heard of this stuff before and was eager to join them. It definitely lived up to its reputation as the strongest strain in the world. A few tokes and we were feeling nice. So nice I even ordered a vegan burger, something I never do. I told him to make it medium well which got quite a laugh. God I’m so tired of vegan crap. The next stop was a temple, however trying to find a fair taxi ride failed several times and we were frustrated with India and needed a break so we retreated to our room, threw on our bathing suites and headed down to the river for a dip and more hippy watching. Strange creatures they are.
It was our last night in Rishikesh and we wanted experience a Hindi Devotion Ceremony on the river so we got ourselves mentally prepared for the crowds and ventured across town. We arrived early and had great seats for the show. It began with people giving offerings and receiving blessings then a quick ceremony. We thought it was over when before we knew what was happening we were swept up by the locals into a mash pit like dance celebration. We just kept the camera rolling and joined in the silly madness. Dancing to tradition music, singing, celebrating with people of all ages and of course posing for selfies. So glad we got to experience the ritual but even happier that we were able to wrap up our stay in Rishikesh on a high note. On the way home we were looking for dinner, asking the door people if they served chicken or just veg. Veg after veg after veg. Each time we would say no thank you and walk away. Then one guy heard his waiter say sorry as we were leaving and he came running out saying he would make us chicken, so in we went ordering multiple dishes. Just as the food was about to come out the staff approached our table and asked if we would mind sitting upstairs away from the main dinning room so no one would know he was serving us meat. As shady as it felt we were more than happy to comply. We felt like crack heads getting our fix in a back alley but hey we have done worse. LOL.
Neither one of us was too thrilled with Rishikesh nor found the peace, quiet and nature we had hoped to find here. Next time we will try Kashmir instead. We did love the Beatles Ashram, and the Hindi Devotion Ceremony though, just not enough to come back.
