Rishikesh October 2nd to 7th

Initial plan was to head to the trekking towns of Manali, Shimla etc but due to this year’s monsoon period being longer than usual, which led to mudslides blocking roads in and out, it was not to happen. Fellow travelers mentioned that some people were stuck in towns without electricity for several days! Ouch! My friend Samba from Bangalore had booked a motorcycle trip to go to Ledakh and that was cancelled a few days before. It was clear that I would not be heading anywhere close to that region so decided to move on to the next town that was on route, Rishikesh.

For all those who know about yoga, that excludes me, Rishikesh is the yoga capital. The number of yoga centres, ashrams, schools etc is enormous. There is even an ashram that the Beatles stayed at! Despite this abundance of places to practice yoga I ended up doing… none. Instead I did some rafting, off-roading with a scooter and a class of bollywood dance!

Rishikesh is also a great place to chill out. Ended up extending my stay just because of it’s comfort. The diversity of food was also very welcome. I needed a little break from eating constantly Indian food.

Streets

Laxman Jhula bridge.

I felt that this bridge encapsulates some of the aspects of India!

Trayambakeshwar

View from the common room of the hostel. Not bad eh?

Scooter Ride

The helmet I got from the rental company is beyond a joke. It was cracked in half and despite pointing the lack of protection this would entail the guy did not give me another…