So, its been a couple of weeks since I got to write more, and theres a lot to fill in, so will happen over a couple of days. At Mcleod Ganj I went and had another look at the Dalai Lama's Temple; looking around at the mountains that surround it, its such a beautiful place, no wonder he chose it for his home. I have really enjoyed the Tibetan people, but the food is so bland that I'm looking forward to having spicy food again. Went to the Doctor for some treatment for a sinus problem - I see and hear a lot of westerners with it - the pollution in Delhi and the bigger cities creates it I think.
I got up at 5am to get up to the bus terminal for my bus to Shimla. It was beautiful, still dark and the sky was very clear with the almost full moon up. Felt sad leaving my lovely little room, and not looking forward to the long walk up the steep hill with my bags. Feeling a bit exhausted when a taxi came up and the driver asked if I wanted a ride - I said no thankyou, just going up to the bus stand, and he said get in I will give you a lift. Lovely Man! I arrived a few minutes earlier than planned and oh joy, there was a chai-wallah, making delicious tea, in the dark, so I threw my bags on the bus, didn't think the monk sitting there would steal them, and got down the steep steps for my lovely tea and a couple of rusks, a kind of twice baked sweet bread. Got to Dharamsala after one hour, the bus has to go the long way down the mountain around the other side of it, because the short road is too narrow. The scenery is beautiful that way, and had a nice view of the sun coming up behind the mountains. Went past some very large army grounds spread in the hills. Had to wait at the grotty large bus station there, had greasy omelette, bread and chai for 15 rupees, about 50cents. then got on the very old beaten up bus and left for the 8 hour trip to Shimla.
The bus trip to Shimla took about 8 and a half hours including 2 refreshment stops, and I really enjoyed it. The houses are the same slate roofed type I saw when we moved out of the Punjab up into the hills of a different state. Normally the housing all around India is square with flat roofs that have all kinds of things drying on them - pumpkins etc - and a lot of the time round pats of cow-dung drying to be used as fuel later. In the towns I have seen them slapped onto the sides of the buildings, masses of them. Its such a good use. On this trip it was really interesting to see the day unfold for the people - from 8.30 on, feeding stock, out on the farm, planting in the market gardens, sitting at chai shops, cooking meals, or just sitting. The buffalo, oxen,cows and goats all doing their bit. In the heat of the day I saw a dog cuddled up to a cow in the shade, looking like best mates. We passed the typical sights that I have seen on all my train trips so far, for this time of the year - huge haystacks, barren fields, orchards, all the while on the continuously twisting and turning road - up and down mountain ridges (not the scary kind!), through river beds, back up the mountains looking back at where we had driven over maybe a half hour ago, now on the other side. I wondered how did they find this road through? maybe by linking villages - we passed through so many. And all the Tata trucks - most looking very old, yet they can't all be, some broken down and being fixed at one of the many mechanic shops that need to be there for them. There must have been over 1000 that I saw on that trip alone, I gave up counting. The refreshment stops were very welcome - the people eat what we would have for dinner - Thali, which is a big plate with compartments for rice, dhal, 1 or 2 veg dishes, some pickle and maybe 4 chappati, plus some chai. I usually have just a samosa, which are normally very delicious, and depending on the different herbs and spices used, not at all like the ones we have in Aus.
Shimla, in days past was an old English Hill Station, even higher up in the mountains (2,200) than Mcleod Ganj(1,200). I was very glad to get to my hotel after a very steep and long walk up to my hotel. I had been given the wrong directions, and ended up walking for 45mins, instead of 5 with my heavy bag and small backpack, so was pretty exhausted by the time I got there. The bus arrived at 5pm, and as the sun was still on that side of the mountain and heading towards sunset, it was quite warm, but soon became very cold as soon as it set. I had to go up the hill again to find somewhere to eat, a 15 minute walk with not a lot of street light, but plenty of people around. Saw the only westerners eating at the restaurant, that I was to see for the next 3 days basically, apart from the odd ones promenading top of the Ridge the next day.
In the morning I woke and found I had a lovely view over the valley from my dirty window, (the night before had to ask hotel to clean the bathroom mirror) indulged in some "Bed Tea" served on a tray, very English, went for a walk through the Lower and Middle Bazaar, which to access were the steepest, longest steps, going down at various points from the Mall, a long road just below the top of The Ridge (which is not the highest point by any means). There was an absolute maze of shops and side alleys all very steep with a narrow non-traffic (hurray!) road going through and absolutely jammed with the local population doing all their shopping - no malls here thank goodness! So many people buying fabrics, shoes, clothes,underwear, kitchen utensils, jewellery, dried fruit, fresh nuts and many food stalls ( the best food too!) On the Ridge it flattens out to a big area where you can have a pony ride, enjoy the extensive views, or just sit and have a "snowy", softserve icecream.
I had decided to take the long way to Rishikesh, going by Toy Train, a narrow gauge old train, 6 hours winding slowly down the mountains to Kalka, then train to Ambala which included a 9 hour wait from 6pm till 2.30am,for the train to Rishikesh, pretty much a total of 24hours. Had to queue for nearly an hour to get my ticket - its all a time consuming process -, but the train travel is cheap for me, being a senior I have 30% discount. The 6 hour Toy Train cost me 17 rupees (about 50cents) the next train (Himalayan Queen- my goodness why do they give such an old dilapidated train such a great name! well it was great once I guess) 19 rupees. The train to Rishikesh, a sleeper, which for the class I was travelling through the night meant you could have the whole seat to stretch out on - plus people above you either 1 tier or 2 tier - only cost 196 rupees, just over $6. I had been told at the station that the train left for Kalka at 8am, but the travel booking place and my hotel both said,no, its 8.25. Lucky for me I got there before 8, just in case, because we did leave at 8.05. Wouldn't I have been upset!
It was a beautiful trip, winding slowly down through the mountains, seeing all the terraced farms and orchards with the folk doing their usual planting and sitting - little villages spilling down all the way, with many little pretty blue and white painted stations. There are plans to Heritage list this line and so it should be. We stopped a few times for refreshments and chai, samosas etc, sometimes for 10-15 mins to let other trains pass on the way up. And the best thing about the Toy Train is that it rocks - yes really! Everytime someone gets on or off, the carriages rock sideways, its lovely even if the seats are pretty hard and narrow. The train moves so slowly that a lot of people just sit in the doorways, hanging out until we go through one of the 102 tunnels on the way down.
Arrived at Kalka - not much of a town, but looked clean, as was the station, waited 2 hours then got next train to Ambala,to wait the long wait at its very busy noisy station for the next 9 hours. The big problem when travelling alone is you have to stay with your bags all the time, but I read, did my diary and had a leisurely dinner at the cafeteria - a thali for 22 rupees, tried to avoid the disgusting toilets in the Resting Rooms. There were hundreds of people waiting for trains, literally, sleeping on the platforms under their blankets, no seats here, or just sitting on the ground patiently. The train arrived on time almost, only 20 mins late, and off to Rishikesh! To be continued..I have just spent the last half hour adding to this, and the computer crashed, so will try again tomorrow - dammit
Dec 1st.
Well I am going to redo what I did before I lost it all, but it wont be so comprehensive, will have to add to it at a later date.
The train left at 2.50am, and after not too bad a nights sleep in the sleeper - I was woken early by the chai-wallahs "chai Chai", the breakfast people, then at 6.30am by some Sikhs who had just got on and were having a loud conversation. So arrived at Rishikesh at just after 8.30 and got autorickshaw to where I could walk across the first of the 2 bridges, Ram Jhula, to Swarashram to my hotel. Checked in to an average but cheap room, had shower and nap - nice to be in a bed after 24hours travelling. Went exploring, walked along the beautiful Ganga River the 2km up to the other "lively" part of Rishikesh, Laxshman Jhula, and lively it is, congregated by the bridge are lots of shops and stalls with music blaring, delicious food smells, fruit and veg barrows, clothes, cafes, monkeys, touts selling all kinds of things from trips to postcards, you name it. Crossed the bridge which is lined with beggars, and more monkeys to the German Bakery cafe, which apart from having delicious cakes has a great view looking over the Ganga.
The river is quite beautiful and I walked alongside it a lot, trying to find what I came here for, a nice ashram to do yoga and meditation, but couldn't find what I wanted, the only one I liked was booked, and the others had Israelis and big groups. I went for a walk with a German guy I met, and we found the perfect ashram, in a lovely bush setting, the only problem was, it was in a state of decay, as it had been closed down nearly ten years ago. It was the one the Beatles came to in the late 60's and spent some time, also writing one of their albums. George Harrison came here a few times, and I could see why - it would have been such a beautiful place, with lovely apartment style buildings and in the surrounding bush with garden views or Ganga views, little beehive shaped meditation huts. They had one round room that you walked into, then down some steps another with a bathroom of it, and a terrace to sit and admire the setting. As we walked around for the next hour or so, we couldn't believe that the place had been so damaged, the bathrooms all smashed up and doors missing, windows missing, bricks smashed - such a waste. Didn't really want to leave, the place was still so peaceful and you could see the beauty in it.
After I decided to give up on the ashram thing, I really enjoyed getting into the rhythm of Rishikesh, and did many walks along the river path, sometimes sitting on a part of the beach meditating, or watching the sadhus (holy men) bathe and comb their long hair out, then sit and have discussions, or meditate: sometimes I would just sit in the sun and read, or walk and have chai at one of the many little stands along the way up to Laxshman Jhula to the bookshop or just take photos of this lovely spiritual place. At sunset, I went down to the steps of the Ghat at Parmarth where the Aarti (prayers and chanting) was held every night, with a candle ceremony, till about 6.30 - it was just beautiful. Had a few dinners with Marcus at either place, although we got caught in the only Thunder storm since I arrived in India, and had to move inside and fill the time in playing chess, which to my surprise, I won! Booked my ticket to Amritsar, then Goa, it wasn't easy, the trains at Christmas were full, so had to do a couple of flight bookings. I had found a yoga class and a Tai Chi/Chi Gog/ Meditation class, so for the last few days was pleased to be doing something useful. Was quite sad to be leaving Rishikesh (apparently hundreds of years ago the holy men were called Rishis), with the mountains of lower Himalayas rising from the calm river as it flows towards Varanasi - and the lovely cows - the cows and dogs (which are very cute) really do have a nice peaceful life here, There are many of them either wandering through the streets, sitting in the road, or looking in the shops, and I found on an early morning walk where they go at night (well a lot of them, anyway). There is a small piece of farmland between my hotel and the Beatles Ashram, and huge barns full of hay and straw, where it seems they also get milked, and the whole area has such a lovely fresh country/farm smell. They also get fed the leftovers from the vege carts, but I have never seen them trying to steal of them as they walk amongst them - well mannered! So off to Varanasi!
