Day 6 – We are in Rishikesh, the holy and spiritual city, the world capital of yoga, situated on the banks of the Ganges River. These days, Rishikesh was hosting the International Yoga Festival, so there were many interesting, “enlightened” people around. However, this was also the most touristy place we visited in India, with the highest number of foreigners. Bargaining, which is essential throughout India, doesn’t work at all in Rishikesh. Foreigners come to ashrams for several months, and these ashrams vary widely—some are luxurious and trendy. Overall, it’s a great place for yoga enthusiasts and those seeking self-discovery, but there’s very little of the authentic India here. The Ganges is very clean here, just coming down from the mountains, and the beautiful temples (there are many!) make this place special. And, of course, the Himalayas are stunningly beautiful!
Day 7 – we had a car with a driver who didn’t speak a word of English and no guide, but that didn’t stop us from exploring the surroundings of Rishikesh and enjoying the beauty of the mountains and the Ganges. Some highlights: Visiting Vashishta Gufa Cave helped us understand the difference between a real ashram and a very commercial one. Neelkanth Mahadev Temple, just over 30 km from Rishikesh and 1330 meters above sea level, is a very important place for Hindus, and there were hardly any foreigners there. Patna Waterfall was a pleasant 15-minute hike up to see a magically beautiful spot! By evening, we returned to the city and went to Triveni Ghat to witness the sacred ganga aarti ceremony—a daily ritual of worship to the Goddess Ganga, usually performed at dawn or dusk on the banks of the sacred river—magical and very interesting.
Day 8. When I was still at home researching India, I got the contact of someone from Estonia who has been living in India with his family for many years. By a happy coincidence, he was not too far away, and we decided to travel 80 km higher into the Himalayas to meet him and see the enchanting Devaprayag, 830 meters above sea level. The 80 km trip took us 5 hours due to road construction (this construction must be seen to be believed!!), but we were rewarded with stunning views of the mountains, with the Ganges flowing deep below. Devaprayag is where two rivers, Alaknanda and Bhagirathi, merge to form the larger and holier Ganges. This is one of the most important places for Hindus. We dipped our feet in the Ganges (didn’t dare to swim even there, though the water looked clean :)), fed the sacred fish, saw a real sadhu (a religious ascetic, a holy man who has renounced worldly life), visited the 2000-year-old Ram Mandir Temple, and heard many fascinating stories about local life, customs, and religion in Russian, from someone who understands our realities, which was simply invaluable.
Day 9 – suddenly remembered that I was on vacation and spent the day in a relaxed mode—massage and shopping. The other half of the day was spent transferring to the tiny, crowded airport, waiting there, and taking the last domestic flight Dehradun – Delhi.
Day 10 – the last day was spent in Delhi, trying to “cram the uncrammable” and see everything that was left to see, on our own, without a guide and a car. Spoiler—it didn’t work out, we need to return 😉 But we still managed to visit many places: Jama Masjid (the largest mosque in India), Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Sikh Temple (the largest in Delhi and the second largest in India—we met an amazingly intelligent and interesting person there who guided us through the temple and the basics of Sikhism with deep knowledge and pleasure, in excellent English), Akshardham Temple (this place is arguably even more impressive than the Taj Mahal, if you can compare them at all), Hauz Khas Village / Deer Park (located in the heart of a wealthy neighborhood in South Delhi—completely different people on the streets!), and Lodhi Garden (magnificent monuments surrounded by a luxurious garden with many singing birds and parrots flying very close). And finally, we put an exclamation point on this crazy trip by going to the spice market with my mom.