Rishikesh

June 28th, 2008 by Alyson Hard

Since our last entry we have seen the Taj Mahal, been back to Delhi for a night, traveled north to Rishikesh for 2 days, and are now back in Delhi. The Taj Mahal was incredible, to say the least. We had a tour guide for this outing, so we got to learn a little bit about the history behind the Taj Mahal, as well as the architecture. The Taj Mahal is a monument of perfect architecture… the marble is stunning, and the inlays of semiprecious stone are beautiful. We feel very lucky to have glimpsed one of the seven wonders of the world.

After ending our first tour, we booked another 2-day tour to Rishikesh, which is up north. Rishikesh is considered a very holy place, as it has tons of ashrams (places where people come to stay and practice yoga and meditation). Rishikesh is also considered to be the yoga capital of the world. Our hotel was beautiful, and overlooked the Ganga River, which eventually flows into the Ganges (the holiest river in India). We took a day tour of the city, where we stopped and saw many Hindu temples. The people of Rishikesh were very calm and peaceful, which was a nice contrast to the hectic cities of Delhi, Japiur, and Agra. Outside one temple, two Indian boys asked to take a picture with us. The next thing we knew, we were standing in a line of about 10 people (their family) takig pictures with them! Rishikesh, being a very spiritual place, is also totally vegetarian. We had a very nice meal of vegetarian curries, and then took a private yoga class at our hotel, which was very relaxing (TJ has a slightly different opinion than me).

We are now back in Delhi, running errads, and tomorrow will fly to Kathmandu, Nepal. We will miss the food in India–it is amazing! We have eaten curries (to die for), naan, and rice everyday. For breakfast, we usually have had stuffed parantha, which is an India bread stuffed with mashed potatoes and sometimes vegetables. We will also miss the people of India. The people that we have met have been hospitable, kind, and warm to us. One thing that I forgot to mention in the last entry was the insane amount of animals that live in the cities here. Cows are sacred, and wander the city just as any normal person might. In fact, they stop traffic! It is not uncommon to see a cow in the middle of an intersection, with cars simply going around it. We have seen many dogs, monkeys, some camels and a few elephants as well. We can’t get over the monkeys–they are so fun to look at. Camels and elephants are mainly seen outside the major cities, however.

We can safely say that India has been the most interesting place that we have ever seen. However, for all the things that are different or slightly frustrating about it, there are more aspects of it that we value and will remember fondly.

Namaste,
Aly & TJ