Day II :: 25th Sept 05 :: Rishikesh

5:00AM - We are still in the train. Ii might take another 1 hr to reach Haridwar. From there Rishikesh is another 20km. Well it is still raining, does not look like there would be any letup anytime soon.

9:30AM - After reaching Haridwar we booked a cab at a pre-paid taxi counter which is just outside the railway station. It cost us Rs 400/-. The driver charged us another Rs 60/- to take us up the hill to the hotel. Shikhar had booked us the rooms at "The Great Ganga" hotel. Name sounds bit shady the it turned out to be a very good hotel. Since it is at an elevated piece of land once could see the river Ganga and the Swargashram from here. Our check in time is at 12 in the noon so the rooms are not yet available but we were given one for getting fresh. By the time we finish our breakfast the rooms should be available.

11:00AM - At last some really good food:-) We did get our rooms after breakfast. But for some reason Anil insisted that the beds be separated!!! Does he not have enough control over himself or what? So we had to change our room. Rooms are very spacious, they have got balconies overlooking the Ganges. Just saw a news report about the Ganges flowing above the danger level. One could literally see that.

12:00PM - Had a gala time in the bathroom, read it as taking hot water bath you twisted minds. This did get my juice flowing again. When I was sitting in the balcony happen to see a naked sadhu below. Hmmm...how would it look if I wear my hat, sunglasses, trekking shoes minus the clothes? and having the Ganges as the backdrop under pouring rain. That would make a nice 3-in-1 TV commercial "Where ever you go, you need them". It is raining cats and dogs, dropping raincoat has fired back.


Ram Jhula or Shivanand Jhula

7:00PM - We are back at the hotel after totally getting drenched in the rain. I had to buy 10 rupee raincoats to cover myself. We crossed the river using Ram Jhula (Shivanand Jhula - new name) to reach the Swargashram. Lunch at chotiwala was pretty good. Soon after that Anil did a disappearing act not to be seen till late evening. Since the time I landed here had a feeling that somehow I am closely connected to this place. This was confirmed when we saw 'Mohan Laundry Club' on the way to Lakshman Jhula. Laundry is fine but a club! There are other places worth a visit in Rishikesh. 'Baba Massage Center' (Since 1961) is one such place they have been massaging people for quite some time now, so they know what they are doing! Another one is 'Tantra Mantra Meditation Center' which is crowded with hippies. Your trip to Rishikesh is incomplete without visiting these places. We pretty much covered whole of Swargashram and Tapovan area (not to be confused with Himalayan Tapovan) by foot. Tomorrow our plan is to leave as early as possible to Uttarkashi. Looks like the weather is clearing up right in time for our trek. Finally saw some blue patch in the sky:-)

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