There are large river systems which come from the Himalayas and the river beds are very broad. In the winter, there is less water running and we have noticed large areas of sand and rocks, large and small. These are commonly used for drying washing which is laid out on the rocks, playing cricket, tents to sleep in, drying cow dung and collecting rocks and stones.

Travelling from Rishikesh to Dharamshala by road is more than 500km. Travel is slow as the traffic and roads don’t allow for fast travel. We needed ro allow two full days of travel and so we stopped overnight in Nalagarrh Fort which is an old palace. As forts are, we found ourselves on top of a hill with views over Nalagarrh.

We were upgraded to a suite with a separate loungeroom. This shows the entrance to our suite. Very lucky.

No, we haven’t been taken by tigers or leopards, the Internet has been down in Rishikesh.
We arrived in Rishikesh 2 days ago in the afternoon. It isn’t very far from Haridwar and only took us about 1 hour by car. The Mother Ganga flows through Rishikesh on the way to Haridwar and is very fast flowing and a pretty green, probably because the river bed is stones and boulders.

It was good weather when we arrived but the following day it became cold and windy. The wind howling a lot during the night. Looking out the hotel window to the roofs of the houses below, you can see bricks and branches stacked on the top of the sheets of corrugated iron, probably to keep the sheets in place for such conditions.

Ceremonial aartis occur along the banks and we attended another ceremony with the leader of the ashram leading the prayers. In Haridwar, we visited an ashram which was for Indian people to learn more about the Hindu religion … lectures, ceremonies, music classes, incense making and other activities were part of the ashram. We visited more ashrams in Rishikesh but the aarti we went to was at an ashram where there was advertising for a conference with a focus on taking care of the Ganga.

The local post office in Rishikesh.

In June 2013, the Mother Ganga flooded severely and thousands of people died. Townships were washed away and our guide told us he was about to enter his hotel when he turned around to see it being washed away in a landslide. There are many stories about the floods and rocks and sand from the flooding can still be seen.

We visited the Beatles ashram but it is no longer operating and we were only able to see it from the street.

We were taken to a farming community with houses made from mud bricks using cow dung and then clay mud like a render which was then painted. The roofs were hatched and using branches of trees, all held up with large tree trunks. It was all made with hardwood with clay floors. The people had solar panels to provide some electricity. Mostly these farmers were farming buffaloes for milk. There were a few cows. We were told that mostly in India, cow milk is consumed by children and pregnant women. Buffalo milk has less fat and it (along with some goat milk) is consumed by most of the people. All the men, women and children all seemed very pleased and happy to see us.

We were taken to Rajaji National Park. Parts of the Park have had road closures due to the floods. We didn’t see any leopards, tigers or elephants and we were told to come back in the summer when the animals come in to the waterholes. We saw deer,antelopes,boars and many birds including peacocks, vultures and woodpeckers. Our guide pointed out a tiger paw mark in the mud on the track so maybe the tiger was watching us from a distance!

Off to Nalagarh tomorrow, on our way to Dharamshala.

We were leaving for Rishikesh but managed to fit in some more places to visit in Haridwar. Our guide suggested we visit the Hindu temple called the Mansa Devi temple perched on the top of the hill. There is a chair lift to get there but it wasn’t working on the way to the temple so we tramped up the winding road to the top. When we were leaving the chair lift was in action again. We were grateful that the power styed on for the trip down the hill.

There are always baskets filled with marigolds, roses, incense, oil which can be lit and sometimes whole coconuts or pieces of coconut. These are given by people as blessings.

The large statue of Shiva is on the way out of the town and you can see the temple we climbed to in the background.

Paul was keen to bathe is feet in the Ganga.