Where is Susie Q?: RISHIKESH!!!!

Day 8 (Jan 8th)

I wake up to Brenden saying…"did we sleep through the alarm?" I gasp…moment of panic…WHAT!? It was 6am~now we have 30 minutes to get out of the hotel, get a taxi, get to the train staion, buy tickets, AND get on the RIGHT train! Ok…here we go! I felt like I was on the "Amazing Race" or something! I threw on my clothes, with no time to brush my teeth I threw the few things I hadn't packed the night before in my bag and ran for the elevator. We got a taxi super fast and with it being so early in the morning there was not much traffic so we got to the station around 6:20, ran in trying to find the ticket counter as we were stepping over the many people that seemed to live there…sleeping under blankets and on top of all their belongings. So this is where I believe we began to get scammed…A man with a name tag who appeared to be working there, and who we thought was "helping us" told us that the ticket booth does not open until 8am, but you can get tickets at the office down the street. He then proceeded to walk us to a "government" taxi that would take us there very fast so we could catch the 7:20 train…which by the way was not listed on any of the websites we had looked at the day before…What to do? We cant read any of the signs to try an figure out what to do on our own so we take this taxi to the "ticket office" which was really just a travel agent who then proceeds to tell that all the trains out of New Delhi are sold out for 3 days but we could get a car to Rishikesh right now. It's so amazing to me, in retrospect, how you can fall for scams that you have been told about, read about, and prepared yourself NOT to fall for! But when you are in the moment, when you think you will be stuck in a city that is sucking the life out of you for 3 more days~ its like you will do anything to get out, believe anything. Now I never like to speak of people in general, because I try really hard to allow each individual to be who they are instead of clustering them together in a "group", but these people we were dealing with on several occasions in New Delhi seemed to be pros at scamming, they know all the tricks, know what to say, and how to say it to make you trust them. So, most likely needless to say, we took a private car to Rishikesh for the equivalent of $80 including toll roads and gas (250km/155 miles). My India book says this drive will take about 6 hours…we got there in 4 1/2! By the time we got on the road it was 8am and we were in for the ride of a lifetime! I believe that if our driver came to the US and raced in Nascar~he would win. Its hard to explain how people drive here…so lets say you are on a 2 lane road (each one headed in opposite directions), the middle of the road would be like a "3rd" lane and the shoulders of the road would be like the "4th" and "5th" lanes! So everyone is constantly trying to get in front of the next, ALWAYS passing each other and constantly honking their horns. From what I can tell people don't honk their horns to be rude or because they are angry, but rather to let you know they are there. I have even seen a tuk tuk that had painted on the rear "Honk Please"! So for 4 1/2 hours we were constantly weaving in and out of cars, rickshaws, tuk tuk's, motorcycles, scooters, wagons, horse pulled buggies, cows, bulls, dogs, goats, and people on foot! It was such a crazy ride I have no idea how on earth I actually fell asleep for a while! I just kept telling myself that I needed to have faith that this man knew what he was doing and that I would arrive safely. I did chant to myself for some time in the beginning…one on my teachers in Colorado, Santosh, had suggested a Durga mantra. Durga is the Goddess of protection and Dung is her bija (seed) sound. Om Dung Durgaye Namaha. I have found this mantra to be very soothing in times that I feel unsure:) Thank you Santosh!

Everyone has Gods and Goddesses on the dash

First glimpse of the Ganges!

Giant statue on the drive

So about 12:30 we arrived in Rishikesh (Northeast India), a place I have been reading about, looking at pictures of, and dreaming of for probably about 6 months. Would it be all I have hoped for? As we got out of the taxi, stretched our legs and strapped our bags on our backs my heart began to race in anticipation.

We needed to find the foot bridge to cross the Ganges~ our driver said to make a right and then a another right from the parking lot where he had dropped us off. So I took the lead and began walking down this fairly narrow street, on each side of the street there were many little "shops" and stands with people selling all sorts of beautiful things from clothes, jewelry, art, statues, food…the smells were amazing~ a strange mix of spices, and incense, fresh air off the cool water of the Ganges. Ahhh…just what I needed! To finally get out of the city and be at the base of the Himalayan Mountains was truly an amazing feeling! Not too far down the road we found the footbridge as promised. Wow! I was walking across the almighty Mother Ganga! I could hardly believe it. There were many others coming and going, workers pushing there food carts across, bicycles, and even motorcycles! And monkeys…everywhere! As we got to the other side there were some benches off to the side so we took a rest and got some pictures:)

Foot bridge

Now we were on a mission to find Parmarth Niketan Ashram, the place I hope to study at for a month in March. I was hoping to get a chance to stay there for a night or two to be able to check it out and be sure it was what I wanted to invest my time and money in for my continued education in India. The Ashram is right behind a clock tower that is on the ghat (steps) to the Ganges. We found the tower but then was unsure of where to go from there…so I started walking around asking people…finally I found someone that seemed to understand my English but could not speak much English…he sort of ran off but then returned with another gentleman that worked at the Ashram. I asked him if we could stay for a night or two and unfortunately he said "that is not possible". I was bummed but began to inquire about the yoga course I was interested in taking and he have me the email to contact Tara. He also sent us with a young man to take us to "a good clean hotel with heaters in the rooms and hot water". So we followed this young man through the narrow streets of Rishikesh to a place called Hotel Nirvana Palace. The moment we walked into this beautiful place we were treated with kindness. I was able to check out 3 different kinds of rooms to have my choice on amenities and price. All of the rooms were very nice and affordable. We chose a room with a balcony and windows, a nice shower, simple but comfortable. t was 2500 Rupees a night (about $45) offers 2 daily yoga classes, message, and has a very delicious restaurant. The entire staff is so pleasant and helpful and continued to offer tips, advice, or sometimes just good conversation and company! Once we got our stuff up to our room we had some lunch at the hotel~Dal (lentils), Garlic Naan (yummy bread), I forgot what kind of vegetable we got but it was also very good and the Honey Lemon Ginger Tea was amazing! After lunch we set out to explore the town~so much to see! Cows everywhere~just hanging out on the streets…and you know what that means~ you have to watch your step…cow poop! Again, there are monkeys everywhere, and I don't think I would ever tire from watching them…way better than TV! We explored for wail and as the sun began to sink it got cold! Which I don't think I have really mentioned yet…it has been way more cold here than I would have ever imagined! I have been layering almost all the clothes I brought with me:) So we found some gloves at a little shop before we headed to our first Ganga Aarti. A Ganga Aarti is a ceremony of prayer, song, chanting, and many other offerings to Mother Ganga including fire, flowers, and insence. I hope to learn more about the true meaning behind everything that is happening during an Aarti but my basic understanding of it is that it is a holy fire ceremony where all can offer thanks to the life giving waters of the Ganges. It was truly magnificent. Before we entered the ghat (steps) we bought a "candle" which is this beautiful arangment of flowers(w/no stems) in a basket make of big leaves, it has a stick of insence and these little square thins that light on fire. Many many people purchase these from locals, usually little kids selling them on the street, to light at the Aarti. The Aarti begins with mantra chanting(prayer) and a fire ceremony that is said to invite the positive vibration throughout. As I sat there on the ghat in front of this giant statue of Shiva on the Ganges I couldn't help but shed a few tears. Tears of many emotions…it was so surreal that I was actually sitting here, in a place I had only seen pictures of. The magic that surrounded me was so incredible I was overwhelmed and the tears just began to stream down my face, tears of excitement, joy, and I believe most of all, tears of accomplishment. I did. I had set an intention, and there I was, sitting right where I had hoped to be one day. So cool.