(We got off to a false start this morning for the Annapurna trek because the contents of my backpack got drenched - twice! Dam you fake Nepalese camelbak, why did you have to explode! Currently drying out my gear but the good news is we can update the blog!)
After a few tricky days in Pinjore I can't tell you how happy we were to finally walk across the swingy suspension bridge into Rishikesh. The gateway to the Himalayas, laid out along the banks of the River Ganges, Rishikesh offers a spiritual blend of colourful temples, chiming bells, holy men, holy cows, monkeys (2 varieties), chanting, prayers, candles and incense! It's also known as the 'yoga capital of the world'. We were looking forward to exploring for a few days before heading to Phool Chatti Ashram where the programme was going to be a little more intense.
We stayed in a beautifully clean guest house in an area called Swarg Ashram, just south of the main tourist hub - Laxman Jhula. Apart from us we found that Swarg Ashram was mainly home to the homeless 'Sadhu's' or 'Holy Men' who appeared to be getting 'holy' from the local leaf, in combination with their spiritual lifetime quest.
I was desperate to see the Maharishi Mahash Yogi Ashram where The Beatles spent a few months back in the 60's and wrote 48 songs (many of which apparently feature on the White Album). The Ashram was abandoned in 1997 and is now largely overrun by jungle. It's closed off to the public but I'd read it's possible to sneak in and have a wander round.
Upon approach we spotted a few sinister looking monkeys protecting their territory once again, we snook past and got to the main gates but couldn't find a way through or over the walls into the ashram. Feeling a bit disappointed we turned back. The next day, after a bit more research I dragged a reluctant Klas back past monkey kingdom to try and find an 'unofficial guide' who could show us in. After 10 minutes a very sweet Indian guy approached us asking if we needed a guide! Hooray! We trudged through jungle for a short time before popping out into an area with lots of individual meditation huts (looked a bit like beehives). We explored the Beatles Cathedral Gallery - a large hall which has been home to a number of artists over the years and transformed into a gallery dedicated to The Beatles, The Maharishi Yogi and The Dalai Lama. It was fun visiting the various buildings and imagining what it would have been like 50 years ago. Thank goodness we had a guide though, he waited until the end of the 'tour' to tell us that the jungle there is home to jaguars and wild elephants! The huge jungle spiders freaked us out enough ;)
That evening we walked down to the River Ganges for the 'Ganga Aarti' - (Ganges offering ceremony) which takes place every evening at dusk. A huge number of Hindu's, young boys in spiritual training wearing bright orange robes and yoga ashram students gathered around a central fire and engaged in chanting and the lighting of banana leaves carrying colourful flowers and incense, which were then symbolically placed into the river and sent down-stream into the night. A beautiful experience and we both felt quite transfixed by the chanting and potency of incense!
Each day we were in Swarg Ashram we'd been approached by a guy we'd nicknamed 'one rupee man', he had the most incredible smile ever to be seen. On our last day we asked him if we could take his photo and we'd give him some money in return. He agreed and proceeded to scamper off into the bazaar urging us to follow, he pointed up to a fluorescent pink umbrella and put his hands together in prayer position! He needed this for shelter from the rains and thunder storms - how could we say no!
