Wednesday 13th May 2015
This morning all I wanted to do was upload some photos and
get a blog post sorted but as usual the internet let me down I eventually got
it down after about four hours and I was ready to pitch a fit.
We headed back to the guesthouse to drop off the laptop and
get some shoes to go adventuring to a waterfall but along the way the sky
clouded over and by the time we got back it was pouring with rain and the
thunder and lightning was echoing all around.
We ended up spending most of the afternoon reading, drawing
and napping before heading out to dinner (as soon as we left the rain started
again!) we sat in a restaurant all evening eating all the food and waiting for
the rain to stop.
Thursday 14th May 2015
After eating so much last night I wasn’t interested in
breakfast so I stayed at the guesthouse and tidied up our stuff somewhat.
When Mark came back we went off on a mission to find the
waterfall there were two to choose from and we decided on the one less visited
and that was free. We walked for about 30minutes up the hill behind the
guesthouse asking people as we went if we were going the right way we got to a
small temple where two young guys were sitting and asked them if we were going
the right way and they were adamant there was no waterfall the way we were
going.
As they were locals we decided to trust their judgment and
go the waterfall we had to pay to see we figured it would be easier to find. We
sat by the temple having a rest and I got stung by a tiny wasp which wasn’t
very happy making.
We walked all the way back down and started off towards the
other waterfall unfortunately the walk was along the road which was extremely
busy with cars buses and trucks constantly hurtling past. The noise combined
with the fierce heat of the sun soon made us turnaround. We weren’t even sure
if we were going the right way so we decide to just go to the beach instead.
We went back past the guesthouse so I could change back into
jandals and then headed for some lunch before hitting the beach. We went to eat
at an apparently famous restaurant called Chotiwala outside of which sits a fat
man painted pink with his hair sticking straight up from his head in a single
braid. The food was ok but nothing to write home about.
Crazy Chotiwala man
We headed to the each and found a big rock to sit on not
long after we arrived a big dog came and sat by us he seemed friendly enough so
we let him be. We were just about to leave when three young guys came up
wanting a photo with us I said no but the guy kept asking and wouldn’t leave
which was when the dog lost his shit growling and barking at the guys. They
kept asking me to call off my dog but I couldn’t get him to calm down and in
the end he chased the three guys right off the beach.
There was an old dog feeding biscuits to some female dogs
who was convinced that the dog had protected us from some bad boys it was
certainly one way to get out of having our picture taken!
The dog then came back to us and walked with us for a while
until he wondered into some other dogs patch and they chased him back the way
we came.
On the way back to the guesthouse we stopped for a coffee
then went back for showers and then thalis for dinner.
Friday 15th May 2015
We went to breakfast across the bridge this morning, they
forgot our order and so the meal went on for an age. Of course after eating we
had to get coffee so that slowed down the process as well.
After food we went to the beach between the two bridges
there was a couple of tourists dressed only in tiny swimsuits doing yoga on the
beach and were being circled by a large amount of young Indian guys much to our
amusement. As for them they seemed completely oblivious to the spectacle they
were causing which made it even funnier.
We spent a while at the beach Mark had his shirt wrapped on
his head like a turban as he got sunburnt yesterday which was amusing.
At 3pm we went to meet Verity for a late lunch we didn’t
actually know where she meant so it was lucky we had WhatsApp as we were on the
wrong side of the river. We crossed over and soon found the place she meant.
We ate and caught up on life then took a walk along the
river we passed a burning ghat which had several funeral pyres in full swing
but no one around which was rather eerie.
We walked all the way down past people swimming and bathing
(not something I would do down river to a burning corpse but who am I to
question it) we headed for Deyanandas Ashram where we had a poke around in the
bookshop before heading back the way we came.
Along the way we picked up a lively dog who didn’t want to
leave us and only did when she was chased off by a pack of dogs.
We said our goodbyes along the road and continued on back up
the hill to our guesthouse where we chilled out for a bit and had showers
before heading to a café for a chilled evening.
Today the dogs seemed to be in a very weird mood there was
the one that followed us by the river then when we went to the guesthouse there
was a pack of them howling and running about, when we went for dinner three
dogs went speeding down the road past us and we came across another pack of
dogs in a fight with a cow, then on the way home they were all tearing about in
groups howling and chasing each other and barking at cars and people it was all
very strange.
Saturday 16th May 2015
This morning was much the same as most mornings we slept
late and then did some laundry before getting on with the day. Although we
didn’t do much with it. We were too late for breakfast so had lunch and then
headed to a café so Mark could abuse the Wi-Fi by skyping everyone he knew.
We spent a long time in there drinking tea and eventually
getting pancakes after watching other people enjoying them. That was about all
we did we went back to the guesthouse and only left again to eat again after
which we headed home again where I started feeling ill and it all went
downhill.
Sunday 17th May 2015
After being up most of the night ill I woke up not really
wanting to do a lot we were supposed to leave tomorrow but we decided to push
it back a day rather than risk being stuck on a bus for 10 hours with no
bathroom.
I spent the morning in bed while Mark went and had breakfast
and by around midday I was starting to feel a bit better we went out to meet Verity for lunch trying out a place a few people had told us about which was
loungy and chilled out.
We decided it would be nice to go and hang out by the river
and cool down so we took verity to the beach we frequent its normally lovely
and quiet and relaxed down there but today there was a group of horrible drunk
young Indian guys.
We swam (fully clothed) and then chilled out talking while
they sat and stared at us and we ignored them after some time one guy
approached and started talking to Mark his English was terrible and he was
annoying and rude so we asked him to leave but he persisted and it soon became
clear that he was trying to buy us from Mark, the final straw being when he
asked Mark to leave so they could have us.
We were meeting up with Verity’s boyfriend anyway so decided
to just leave them to the beach only they also left and followed us down the
road we kept stopping so they could walk on ahead but then they would stop and
try to talk to us, obviously determined to buy us. As was inevitable it had to
pretty much come to blows before they disappeared. Bizarrely they chickened out
and left after Mark pushed one of them despite the fact that there was one of
Mark and five of them.
We got back into town and met up with Vimal we were still
full from lunch so we headed to a café and got a drink and hung out for a while
until Mark decided he was starving and we headed off to get some food. Mark
ended up eating most of mine since I wasn’t really hungry at all.
We all walked back up to the main road together where Verity
and Vimal got an auto back down to Ram Jhula and Mark and I headed further up
the hill to our guesthouse and bed. Despite only being about 9.30pm I was
shattered after my lack of sleep last night and went straight to bed.
Monday 18th May 2015
Today was a bit more productive than normal we started off
with an idly at a dharba before heading across Lakshman Jhula to enquire about
having an astrology horoscope done. We made an appointment and then stopped off
at Marks favourite café so he could drink all the coffee.
Feeling energised we walked back to the guesthouse so Mark
could put shoes on since his jandals were hurting his little tosies. We then
struggled to get a shared auto down to Rishikesh town everyone wanted to rip us
off or claimed that we couldn’t go to the market because of the traffic.
After negotiating
with three separate drivers agreeing on a price and then being told they can’t
take us eventually we were on the mover in a rickshaw so overstuffed that I had
to sit on the floor, it was so hot that the metal was burning me through my
pants and on several occasions I feared I was going to fall out of the open
door.
In the end we got where we needed to be and got out of the
rickshaw right by a store called “phone zone” which was exactly what we wanted
since we were in town to buy me a phone (not that I’m going to use it until I
return to normal life but since phones in India are incredibly cheap and Mark
is a geek who loves geeky things like finding me an awesome Indian phone it
seemed like a great idea.)
After shopping about a bit we walked out of the shop with me
the proud owner of a phone that’s going to sit in the bottom of my bag for the
next few months. We were feeling a bit hungry so went to a local restaurant that
had been recommended to us, the place was rammed and rightly so since the food
was incredible we walked out feeling stuffed and got an auto back up to Ram
Jhula this time no haggling was required as the man started off with the fair
price for once.
We got out of the rickshaw and crossed over the bridge which
took an age since it was full of waddling fat old pilgrims constantly stopping
to take endless selfies. We grabbed some water and then headed to the beach for
a final paddle and a sit by the water people watching.
When it came time we headed back towards Lakshman Jhula t
the Astrology centre. We were a bit early but went in anyway here had been a
bit of a muddle with our appointment and the Dr was in the middle of teaching
some students so we were kind of interrupting but it was probably beneficial
for them as they got to listen in our readings.
The future seems pretty positive and the reading has made a
few things clearer but as usual I found it hard to ask any questions when there
were so many people listening in, thankfully he gave us his card and told us to
email him with any questions we might have. The world is a technological place!
We had about an hour before we were meeting Verity for
dinner so we chilled out in a café overlooking the water where as soon as it
got dark I was attacked by mosquitos. We had a cup of tea and Mark set up my
new phone before Verity arrived and we headed to a cheap dharba for food.
After such an amazing lunch I wasn’t feeling too hungry so
we shared a dosa and sat and chatted for a long while. Just after 9pm we had to
head off to make sure Verity got back to the Ashram before the gate was locked
at 10pm. We said our goodbyes and headed home to pack up our things in
preparation of leaving tomorrow.
Tuesday 19th May 2015
We decided to head to Shimla today we had no idea what time
the bus was only that it would take us about ten hours from Dehra Dun which is
about an hour from Rishikesh. We had a slow morning packing up and having
breakfast and then got a rickshaw down to the Rishikesh bus stand it took us an
age as the drivers refused to give us a fair price in the end we managed to get
something a bit cheaper at 150 rupees but still clearly unfair as was evident
when the driver picked up an Indian tourist at Ram Jhula (about 5mins from
where we stated out) and took him for a mere 30 rupees.
Mark trying to straighten the poles from my pack after they got bent falling off a cliff in the bike accident.
At the bus station we got on the first bus to Dehra Dun that
appeared but it was a bit of a fail as it went around about way and didn’t go
to the bus station we needed to be at we had to get a rickshaw there and when
we arrived it was in the middle of nowhere. We went to the info counter and
asked what time the bus was it turned out that there was one at 6pm that
arrived at about 3am or one at midnight that arrived at 8am. We decided to take
the midnight one which left us waiting at a bus station in the middle of
nowhere for ten hours.
Luckily there was a restaurant that didn’t seem to mind us
sitting there for the entire day we killed time by reading, colouring in and
eventually watching some TV on the laptop. We had lunch and later on dinner
sitting there only moving when the restaurant closed.
Deformed water bottle
Colouring in like a boss
We moved to the platform and sat amongst our bags drawing
all sorts of attention the most disturbing being a man that appeared in front
of me between two buses wanking. At first glance I thought he was having a wee
but no he was full on wanking. Mark had gone off to ask something about the bus
but as soon as I saw him walking back I yelled out to him that there was a man
wanking and pointed at him as soon as I did he ran off and no one bothered to
chase him although after that security came out in force.
The bus arrived late and when it did come it was a scramble
for everyone to get on. We pushed our way on and shoved our bags onto a seat
and sat next to them looking forward to ten hours on a shitty local bus with no
leg space and hard straight back chairs.
I put my headphones in and blacked out the world.
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