Rishikesh/Haridwar

After Shimla we went by bus (it was a long day inside it) to Haridwar which is on the Ganges river, where it changes from the Himalaya to the flat land. Because of that, this place is holy and every 12 years part of the Kumbh Mela, the biggest pilgrimage on earth with millions of people (there are 4 holy places where they celebrate this event). It took place this year in March\April and when we were there, they had another celebration and the town was full of people. On Sunday night they had a firework and other things and the river banks were crowded.


Haridwar on the Ganges surrounded by a few hills where some temples stand. People go inside the holy river for a bath (however it is already quite dirty and this just after leaving the Himalaya...) and curiously they also dig in the dry river beds of channels to look for sth... but what? maybe a hidden treasure. Well, except litter we couldn't see anything.


Some other things from incredible India; cows in the middle of the street in the center of Haridwar, nice, nice, sometimes they can provoke a chaos for the traffic.
The shadow of a Gecko behind a curtain, a good friend, as he eats the things we really don't like: Mosquitos!!
Along the road in Rishikesh they put a lot of signs like this one here. Luckily we haven't had or seen any accident, but the manner how they drive here is really crazy!!


Well, Rishikesh, the other place where we stayed 2 days. Compared with Haridwar it's full of western tourists, clean and quiet, so a nice place to stay for a couple of days. The village or town is famous as "the Yoga capital of the world" and already the Beatles were here to learn it. So, the place is full of meditation centers and Hindu temples. The Ganges flows also through Rishikesh before continuing to Haridwar and the mountains are a bit higher.


Poor Fredi went swimming in the holy river.... Well, actually he always wanted to do it, but when he saw this ugly colour of the river he wasn't sure anymore. Luckily he survived it, he saw some big fishes, so there's still life inside it, but afterwards he had to relax on the river banks. We will see if he wanna go again bathing in Varanasi, when we'll meet the Ganges next time.


Some photos of the holy river in Rishikesh, there are many modern temples and ghats along it. People go swimming and for celebrations they also put puppets inside.


The only old temple we saw there, unfortunately it was closed at the time...