Roaming North

The next town we stopped at was Haridwar, also on the Ganges but closer to the source. A fast flowing canal runs past houses and temples built precariously on its banks. A long evening walk took us past pilgrims bathing in their hundreds, small roadside shrines and flower sellers.

Iron bars formed cages alongside the edge of the water to prevent people getting washed away. Some of the young men had other ideas though, leaping off the bridge and being carried a long way downstream before they made it back to land.

The next day we moved on to Rishikesh where the Ganges flows through the Himalayan foothills. Arriving there, we crossed the high suspension bridge over the river. The bridge is used by humans, humans on bikes, cows and monkeys.

The guesthouse we found was run by a friendly man who had a constant smile on his face, which must have been because he came from the valley of flowers, in the high mountains of the North.
The hills in Rishikesh rise around the town, and are the home of wild peacocks which we often heard calling in the morning.

The Ganges here is icy cold, but fearlessly one day we all swam. For about five minutes. Sitting on the bank to dry we were approached by a baba who showed us the correct way to sit in half lotus position and talked about how busy life is in the West, which of course we well know.
Unfortunately, despite searching, we were unable to see the elusive 'snowy mountains' with Mum and Dad, but had a wonderful climb to Tokunjapuri temple where the views were stunning.
There were few sounds up there, apart from the prayer bell, which it is custom to ring while worshipping, and various unknown bird calls.
On our final day we walked to Swarg Ashram, near where the Beatles stayed on their famous trip to India. Suddenly, almost out of nowhere a storm rolled in and engulfed the valley and we took shelter in a flimsy looking cafe. The storm had epic proportions and it is the only time we have seen pink lightning. When we realised that it was not going to let up and that night was falling, Daddy valiently went out to buy umbrellas and the 5 of us set out.
The water rushed down the pavements and was at times ankle deep. We tried not to think about the surrounding trees and water every time the lightning struck. We made it home to find that half of the town had no electricity and for once on the trip, we were longing for warm showers.
We ate our final dinner together, and the next morning were all quiet when we walked to the rickshaw stand to say goodbye.