Ram Jhula

Cathy had some Mehendi - henna tattoos - done at Rishikesh.



Aaaah, it is so good to be back by the Ganga at Rishikesh; aaagh it is SO hot! Although not as hot as Varanasi, the mercury is hovering around 40 degrees every day. Curiously the river here is much wider and deeper and very much faster flowing that downstream at Varanasi. The first time I ever encountered this river was nearly 30 years ago - I arrived late in the day hot and exhausted, took a hotel near the river at Hardwar and headed down to the nearby steps leading to the water. I sat on the steps with my feet in the freezing water when two things happened unexpectedly. Firstly it was like being in the presence of a real saint - it was like having been meditating for months - a profoundly deep peace that was unshakable just enveloped me. The second thing was that a cow or bull went berserk and decided to gore anyone within reach; people screamed, jumped out of their sandals and ran as fast as they could. Well, everyone but me. I sat like a witness to the play when the animal turned toward me and started walking slowly with head (and horns) down. The Peace didn't alter, the animal turned a few feet from me and chased the others watching from the bridge. I had met Ganga, the goddess of the River and knew that this was not like other rivers.
Rishikesh here is 24kms upstream, and where we are at Ram Jhula (formerly known as Muni-ki-Reti) is 5kms up from the town and is the world center for yoga. Develpment has gone on apace over the years but the river is always the same. Cathy and I take a swim each afternoon for only a few minutes as the water is frozen snow and very fast moving so it doesn't have a chance to warm up. Our hotel overlooks a mango grove away from the noise of the bazaar, and backs on to forest. I lived in that forest years ago (there were no hotels then), and when we went up there yesterday we could hear the wild peacocks that are still there. Rishikesh is the "yoga capital" of the world and that's a fair claim to make. There are dozens of yoga classes or courses somewhere. In fact our hotel has a yoga room and classes there for a couple of hours each morning.
This place also has the best chai in India at a grubby little shop you wouldn't look at twice, and they also make the unspeakably delicious deep fried spiced apple samosas. Well, we are doing some yoga now to make up for it, although I think the samosas are winning.