Photo: Chris and Elisabeth en moto from Haridwar to Rishikesh
Photo of Rishikesh from the footbridge
Chris, Yveline, Elisabeth and I took a moto from Haridwar to Rishikesh for the day. This would be their only day there; and for me it was my chance to find an ashram for the remainder of my stay.
It was a hot day. Rishikesh is about 30 min drive. When we first arrived I had a moment of pause, because it looked like just another Indian metro scene... noisy, crowded, and poor air quality; but this was the metro side. In reality, the traffic is contained to one side of the river, with the spiritual and tourist centers at Laxman Jhula and Ram Jhula on the other side, accessible only by footbridge or boat. We took the boat over to Ram Jhula... and were relived by the relative quiet... NO cars/horns... only motorcycles (always aggressively moving through the pedestrian traffic). We walked the main street, which is wall to wall with tourist shops with a few retaurants/cafes interspersed. We went to the Tip Top Cafe, which is on a second story overlooking the Ganges. Had cold tea there and enjoyed the whole Ram Jhula scene.
We did walk to several ashrams and eventually I found one at the far end of town where I decided to stay. The rooms were a bit like cells...very austere... but they had private baths. It was very low occupancy - and I did see a few westerners who were staying there, but no Indians. I found out that I didn't need to advance register, so we left thinking I'd check in the next day.
Later that day, Chris and Elisabeth went to a cyber cafe to email. Yveline and I decided to walk to Laxman Jhula, not realizing that it was about a 30 minute walk. We found our way along a footpath to this other center. When we entered this part of the city I realized that it was far more tourist oriented, with fewer ashrams but more shops and restaurants. However, there were a couple of ashrams that looked interesting.
I decided to stay at Sant Seva Ashram... a central location in Laxman Jhula, but with quiet rooms overlooking the Ganges. This was more like a hotel with yoga than a spiritual retreat type of ashram. But it was actually more in line with what I needed at that point, since I wanted to follow my own daily yoga/meditation practice and then work in other yoga/chanting/pranayama/dhyana practice. This left me free to do all of that and also check out the rest of the Rishikesh scene. I knew that I would probably be back when I had more time to stay at an ashram.
When we returned a couple of hours later I found my brother to be very unhappy that we had been gone so long... he left on his own to return to Haridwar... our first/only tension after over a month of living pretty close quarters.
Mindful Moment: Y/E and I got got caught in a MAJOR thunderstorm lon our way to the taxi stand. I stood under a tarp in front of a closed shop... with the rain blowing in on my legs/feet, watching branches whipping around on a tree across the street. It was wild! I just breathed and stayed present.
We stood under the tarp until the rain abated. Then took a taxi to Haridwar and had dinner at Big Ben. We were all pretty subdued... tired from a long day and facing the departure on the following morning.
End of the last day with my companions and ready to begin my solo stay in India.
Photo (by Yveline Gobil) of mystic at Ram Jhula
Chris, Yveline, Elisabeth and I took a moto from Haridwar to Rishikesh for the day. This would be their only day there; and for me it was my chance to find an ashram for the remainder of my stay.It was a hot day. Rishikesh is about 30 min drive. When we first arrived I had a moment of pause, because it looked like just another Indian metro scene... noisy, crowded, and poor air quality; but this was the metro side. In reality, the traffic is contained to one side of the river, with the spiritual and tourist centers at Laxman Jhula and Ram Jhula on the other side, accessible only by footbridge or boat. We took the boat over to Ram Jhula... and were relived by the relative quiet... NO cars/horns... only motorcycles (always aggressively moving through the pedestrian traffic). We walked the main street, which is wall to wall with tourist shops with a few retaurants/cafes interspersed. We went to the Tip Top Cafe, which is on a second story overlooking the Ganges. Had cold tea there and enjoyed the whole Ram Jhula scene.
We did walk to several ashrams and eventually I found one at the far end of town where I decided to stay. The rooms were a bit like cells...very austere... but they had private baths. It was very low occupancy - and I did see a few westerners who were staying there, but no Indians. I found out that I didn't need to advance register, so we left thinking I'd check in the next day.
Later that day, Chris and Elisabeth went to a cyber cafe to email. Yveline and I decided to walk to Laxman Jhula, not realizing that it was about a 30 minute walk. We found our way along a footpath to this other center. When we entered this part of the city I realized that it was far more tourist oriented, with fewer ashrams but more shops and restaurants. However, there were a couple of ashrams that looked interesting.
I decided to stay at Sant Seva Ashram... a central location in Laxman Jhula, but with quiet rooms overlooking the Ganges. This was more like a hotel with yoga than a spiritual retreat type of ashram. But it was actually more in line with what I needed at that point, since I wanted to follow my own daily yoga/meditation practice and then work in other yoga/chanting/pranayama/dhyana practice. This left me free to do all of that and also check out the rest of the Rishikesh scene. I knew that I would probably be back when I had more time to stay at an ashram.
When we returned a couple of hours later I found my brother to be very unhappy that we had been gone so long... he left on his own to return to Haridwar... our first/only tension after over a month of living pretty close quarters.
Mindful Moment: Y/E and I got got caught in a MAJOR thunderstorm lon our way to the taxi stand. I stood under a tarp in front of a closed shop... with the rain blowing in on my legs/feet, watching branches whipping around on a tree across the street. It was wild! I just breathed and stayed present.
We stood under the tarp until the rain abated. Then took a taxi to Haridwar and had dinner at Big Ben. We were all pretty subdued... tired from a long day and facing the departure on the following morning.
End of the last day with my companions and ready to begin my solo stay in India.
Photo (by Yveline Gobil) of mystic at Ram Jhula
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