rishikesh

on sunday night i took the overnight bus from delhi to rishikesh. it was a grueling affair. the bus was 2 hours late to pick us up and when it did arrive, it was a terrible ride. the seats were bouncing all over the place; it seemed they were barely attached to the base of the bus. it was also freezing and the windows wouldn't close. that is, they would close, but then as the bus bounced along they would slide open again blasting you with cold air. luckily, while waiting for the bus, i made friends with a guy from argentina, nico. the only other foreigners were a couple from russia who really stuck to themselves. they were very unhappy about the state of the bus!

all in all it was fine. at least we made it anyway. we arrived into rishikesh around 7am and nico and i had a chai while we tried to recover from our ride. then we walked along the ganga, it was astounding!!! the air was so fresh and the wind was really howling. although the sun was up, we couldn't see it yet as it was hidden behind the himalayan mountains. I was so happy, despite the exhaustion.

i got a beautiful room overlooking the river in a hotel up in the mountains. i love my room. i love this place. yesterday i went for a small hike up to these waterfalls with nico, marnie (a girl from oz), and john (a bloke from england). we all went swimming in the waterfall's pool. then we had a lovely dinner last night.

today nico and i did a longer hike to this temple. the temple was nothing special, but the hike was amazing. so many monkeys. so many breath taking views. i am exhausted now. i am catching a night bus back to delhi tonight (oh the joy!!) so i have already checked out. thankfully, marnie has lent me her room key so i can go have a much needed nap.

tomorrow i'll be flying to srinagar. i kind of wish i had more time here. it is paradise. incidentally, some cops were killed in srinagar on monday. i have been assured by abdulla that's it's perfectly safe. i hope he's right!! i'll keep you posted.