Ganges River

Varan-ass-i

SONY DSC

After spending the night on a train, we end up in Varanasi and reunite with the Ganges river. As our time in India is running out, we have to book a train to Calcutta on the same day, so we have about 6 hours to spend in this holy city, which I wasn’t happy about at first. I soon realize we don’t need much time there.

SONY DSC

After leaving our luggage in the railway station’s cloak room, we go to the Assi Ghat (steps leading down to the holy river), where we have an awesome breakfast and sundae on a Sunday at Aum Café. There is an eccentric woman sitting there, talking to a girl, who can do nothing but listen, as this woman takes being hippie to the next level. She claims she’s never been to Goa in her seven years of coming to India. She says she only eats boiled vegetables with hummus at night, and that she avoids food during the day. Her body feels stronger when she doesn’t eat – red flag. Yet, while the girl is in the bathroom, the woman takes a bit of the girl’s cake. She claims yoga is bad for you and ruins meditation. Basically, she talks about herself and all her weird beliefs for all to hear, because the restaurant is so small, and we all chuckle a bit to ourselves. Unfortunately, the place is so small and popular (the Lonely Planet recommendation curse), that we are politely pushed out after our meal. My back has been killing me since the night before, and it is only getting worse, making me less willing to walk around just for the sake of walking. I want to stay and have more ice cream!

20140331-162535.jpg

We take an autorickshaw to the main ghat, Dashashwarnedh, which is pretty empty when we get there. We move on to the main cremation ghat, Marnikarnika. From here, we see a few bodies covered in cloth being dipped in the Ganges, while the fire is being prepared. A priest trying to lure us into a building for a better view tells us, that they walk around the fire 5 times for every element; earth, water, fire, wind and soul. It takes about three hours to burn the body, after which they discard the remaining bones in the river. No wonder this is one of the most polluted rivers in the world! It isn’t graphic, or smelly, like I had imagined, but there is a very calm and respectful atmosphere, and I kinda like it, although there is not much to be seen. We head to a rooftop restaurant and share a beer(!!), the first one in ages, while looking out over the Ganges river, where people are bathing, washing clothes, and playing. In seriously dangerously polluted water.

SONY DSCSONY DSC20140331-225227.jpg

We go back to the railway station for our stuff, and on our way there, we see the main ghat again, and it is quite busy and beautiful at this point. I wish we could stay! We take an autorickshaw to our next railway station, and patiently wait for our train at 20.10. 3 hours and 20 minutes later it arrives, with a guy already sleeping on my bed. I wake him up, but he tries to make me get the bed under him, which is for a guy waiting just behind me. How rude! Finally, some locals come to my rescue, and that young guy is pissed off. Whoops. I guess you can’t win no matter what.

We have a decent sleep on the train – no more fear of falling off the top bed – and wake up to being the main attraction at the circus yet again. Yes, people are already up and staring at us. Next stop: Kolkata.

Rishikesh – part II

SONY DSC

When we wake up, it’s cold. Very cold. The sky is cloudy and grey, and it seems that the sun won’t show today. The power is out again. We desperately need a shower, but have to settle for a bucket of ice water. Shark week’s coming (all you ladies should feel sorry for me).

But then I have a cup of masala chai and everything’s alright again. I am insisting on having masala chai everyday until we leave India from now on. I’m going to miss that stuff like I miss clean clothes and watching Saturday Night Live by myself instead of going out. We have breakfast and apple-beetroot-carrot juice to get some vitamins in our system, while a Brazilian guy tells us that we are being paranoid about getting raped, and how bad McDonald’s is for you. Then he starts talking about meditation. What a hippie.

We decide to head out for the day. Our hostel is on one side of the Ganges River, while everything else seems to be on the other side. A long bridge crosses the water, and on this bridge you will find a lot of people… and cows. Seriously, cows are just everywhere in this country and I find it hilarious. When will you ever see a cow just casually walking on a bridge in Denmark? The answer is never.

SONY DSC

So, back in the 60’s, The Beatles visited Rishikesh for a few months and wrote some of The White Album here, so it’s kind of a big deal. We walk all the way out of the city center to the Beatles Ashram, which is hard to find and impossible to get into – at least when we get there. We are even joined by a young Indian couple that is just as lost as we are. The ashram is just an abandoned hotel in the woods, so no big deal, but now we can say we’ve walked in the footsteps of James Bond (in Udaipur) and The Beatles (in Rishikesh).

SONY DSC SONY DSC

I’m kind of liking this place. The nature is very different from what we’ve seen so far in India. It’s my version of Paradise, with silver sand, green grass and little purple flowers growing everywhere. It’s just so lush. The Ganges river is greenish-blue, and looks so warm and clear and calm. It’s not. We head to the beachy riverside and dip our toes in – they nearly freeze off, which makes it all the more impressive when a local man in a thong goes there for a bath. He has a nice ass by the way. The main part of Rishikesh smells like weed and is swarmed with flies, though. None of the buildings really interest me, but I’m loving the nature.

SONY DSC
I just wanna picnic here.

We go to the bazar and pick up a few things. The sellers aren’t really into bargaining here, which is too bad, ’cause I see the maxi-skirt of my dreams in three different shops, all charging about 300 rupees, even though all the skirts had a hole somewhere. We go to Little Buddha for lunch, which has a nice (touristy) atmosphere, but the food and service isn’t all that. I can’t complain about my Oreo milkshake with ice cream though!

SONY DSC
A cow just wanting to enter the store and buy his mom a birthday present.

SONY DSC BLIIIIING!

IMG_9850

Since we’re leaving tomorrow to go to Agra, we go to the hostel’s travel agent to book a bus, but he claims there aren’t any busses going for the next month. We hurry over to the closest travel agent for a second opinion and wooptie!, 2 tickets for a double sleeper to Agra tomorrow evening. We have a lot of hours to spend between check-out and the bus, so we book an appointment at a massage clinic next to the hostel. I don’t remember telling this, but in Jaipur we had a full body oil massage, which I found out isn’t really for me, so this time, I just book a mani, pedi and henna instead.

IMG_9869IMG_9875
I am amazed by how many erotic novels Sara has on her Kindle at the moment.

To be honest with you for a second, I have never felt so unattractive in my life, and I’d like to remember that, so I’m actually writing this down. My hair is greasy and tangled, although completely blonde again, my skin is breaking out, my clothes are dirty and there are still traces of Holi in my ears, nose and under my nails. Like Pete would have said, my face looks like shit. I just want to curl up and hide from the public until I’ve had a decent shower and look like myself again. People just keep staring at me because I’m different, and I can’t stand it when I feel this uncomfortable in my own skin. We’re starting to lose weight, and I’ve gotten a tan, so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.

Also, happy birthday, grandpa. Don’t worry too much about me!

Rishikesh – part I

I wake up at 5 in the morning, sandwiched between Bruno and Sara in our lousy bed. After quietly packing up, we leave a sleeping Bruno and go to the train station, where the confusing system almost makes us panic. We eventually find the right train and have to kick a few people out of our seats, which doesn’t make us popular. Then again, tourists don’t seem to be popular in general. I feel like I haven’t seen other tourists around for ages – last time was in Jaisalmer, and then at the Retreat Ceremony at the border, where a soldier exclaimed “go this way, you’re VIP’s in India” (just needed to include that, because it made me happy).

The train ride is uneventful. We take short, uncomfortable naps, read on Sara’s Kindle, tell beggars to F off, and we squat over a hole that is supposed to be a toilet and pee. Someone actually took a dump and missed the hole, so we’re basically marinating a turd in pee. I want to puke just thinking about it, and I thought you guys would like to know what gross things I get to see everyday. You’re welcome.

7 hours later, the train is at its last stop, and it’s not Rishikesh like we asked our travel agent when he booked our ticket. We are Hadiwar, which I have never heard of, and therefore I can’t find it on a map either. Did we even take the right train? The information desk isn’t helpful at all, but luckily we meet a man who helps us in exchange for a picture of us with his family. He finds us a shared vikram, which I’d say fits 6 people, but somehow there’s always around 8 squeezed together. The driver asks for a 100 rupees to get to our hostel, but as an older couple board the vikram, he asks for another 50 to buy a seat for our backpacks. As we are in the middle of nowhere at this point, we agree. 10 minutes later, another guy gets on the vikram, and now the driver wants us to put out backpacks on the roof. The old Indian couple take our side, I assume, arguing with him in Hindi. I bet they are telling him that he can’t charge us for a seat if we aren’t allowed to use it. He gives in and continues driving, while Sara and I shyly smile at the couple. It’s kind of humilliating being treated like this, and it’s amazing that someone sees how unfair it is and helps out.

It takes like an hour just to reach Rishikesh, and we just sit in silence, completely squished by all the people sitting in the vikram. I see a few road signs with the words “Elephant crossing”, which makes me laugh. As a Northern, I can’t ever imagine an elephant just casually crossing the road. Ever.

In Rishikesh. our driver is being a pain in the asshole again. He wants to drop us off just at the main road, not the hostel. It will cost a 100 rupees extra if we want to be dropped off at the place we actually agreed on. We try to explain to him that it is an unacceptable way of conducting a business, all while we are squeezing a poor guy between us. We also take advantage of a young student who speaks great English, so we’re sure the driver understands us. We have no idea where the hostel is from the main road, but we’ve read that it’s quite the walk, and we’re not about to embark on a long hike in this heat with this luggage. We are dropped off at the hostel and I hand him 200 rupees because I don’t have a 50, but now he wants 200 more – a total of 400 rupees. No fucking way. I curse at him loudly and start walking up the hill to our hostel – that’s right, he still didn’t drop us off at the exact place we agreed on. He gives me my money back in anger and leaves, then suddenly comes back and asks for them again. While I am blowing up in front of a group of young locals, I give him the 200 and ask him to leave immediately.

By then it is 4 in the afternoon, so our day is pretty much over. We decide to postpone the sightseeing and just chill at the hostel restaurant, where a banana split means deep-fried banana with nutella. Then the power goes out, and we read 50 Shades of Gay on Sara’s Kindle. The end.