We boarded the dripping hot train for Haridwar 30 minutes before it’s scheduled departure & sat in our assigned seats saturated in sweat as did the other Indian passengers until finally a very small fan kicked in above our heads। I queried as to whether THIS was the AC we’d paid for & to our relief a guy told us that the AC should start once the train got moving. And indeed it did. The journey took around 7-8hrs but with the coolness of the AC it was luxury for us. Arriving in Lucknow however at 8pm was not so great as darkness had fallen & the place was busy, dusty & confusing off the bat. We had a few hotels we wanted to check out from the LPG & rickshawed our way through the haywire streets. We ended up at a horrible “business type” hotel for way over what we’d expect to pay in such a place as Lucknow. We learned later on that we were not totally “had” as Lucknow is not really a tourist hub & there is not much competition between the hotels so they can charge whatever they want.
We were very glad to get out of there ओंस we’d seen the sites such as the Residency & the zoo (for the State Museum). We got the 4265 train to Haridwar which should have taken 7hrs which turned into 15hrs (“This is India” would be the answer people would give us when we’d ask why the train is taking so long to reach it’s destination)
It had been a pretty arduous train experience right from the start actually. This 3 non AC train (fan only) from Lucknow train station turned out to be an elusive train to catch in that it was not only late but it changed platforms without our knowledge. Dave ran around the station asking train personnel & the general public gleaning little information. Finally a very tall, young educated Indian spotted our distress & proceeded to help us find out where our train might be. We boarded it just in time before it chugged slowly out of the sticky station. It was a hot & sweaty journey & we had little mental & physical space for the 15hrs we were trapped in this confined space. I tried to sleep away the time while Dave found a sweet Indian lad to talk too.
Finally on arrival in Haridwar we found another crappy hotel to stay in for the one night we’d be here। We experienced actually the best puja on the Ganges (Mata Ganga) we’d seen as yet so it was worth the horrible night spent in Haridwar.
We fled quickly in the morning on a local bus bound for Rishikesh & had our first lucky break with the hotel pick we’d made from the LPG. We got the last room available in a really cool spot up a the hillside with constant water, fan, balcony, great views, onsite restaurant & internet – all you could wish for, & now we are happy, happy campers.
It is a tiny bit cooler here & just a few minutes ago the skies opened up to a lovely downpour. The electricity will probably cut out pretty soon so am endeavoring to write this pretty speedily as am hooked up to a precarious outlet right now.
We’ve also met some nice people here & yesterday went to check out the Ashram where the Beatles stayed for a while back in their hay day. It was pretty bizarre as it wasn’t blown out at all & it was a cash cow waiting to happen. The site was falling apart & in a really dilapidated state & one couldn’t help but wonder as to why on earth hadn’t anyone seen the tourist potential in this place.
Rishakesh itself is a great place to hang out & recoup, but it is also incredibly annoying in terms of the legion of “lost souls” etc. that gather here to “find themselves”. Apart from this (which was to be expected here of course in this hippy haven) it is a great place & we are actually not looking forward to leaving.
I broke off just now from writing this entry as the “lovely downpour” turned into a raging monsoonic storm which swept through our little room drenching everything in it’s path. So the last few hours have been spent trying to rescue our belongings & now our little abode is littered with a myriad of items laid out to dry. The electricity of course cut out during this time & the sky turned dark. So all in all we could see very little but the relief of the drop in temperature was so huge that we really welcomed it & felt we got away lightly. Had we been out in the town when the storm occurred we would have surely returned to a much worse mess as we’d left all our windows open. I guess this maybe a hint of the monsoons to come, even though a little early.
Posts
