At the source of the Ganges

Plane, train, horse, bike, metro, tram, escalator, elevator, water slide, wooden slide, camel, car, elephant...we have enjoyed many forms of transport on this trip. Today we added pick-up truck (in the back) and river raft to the list. We spent the morning on the Ganges River, splashing and crashing in the white water, swimming where the river was slower and even stopped at some rocks to do a few high dives into the water. (It's OK, we are high in the mountains near the source of the river, not down on the plains where it's polluted)

We have hired a car and driver for 30 days and set a route to explore the northern provinces. The traffic is crazy. We average 25k an hour on the highway, going from 80km to full stop every few minutes. Three wheelers, huge transport trucks, cars, motor bikes, pedal bikes, camel drawn carts, horse drawn carts, people drawn carts, pedestrians and cows all share the pavement. We've seen Jaipur and Agra (yes, the Taj Mahal) and some of the most important sites along the Ganges. We will go on to Shimla and Daremsala (where the Dali Lama lives) and Amritsar (Golden Temple). Then off to Kashmir to stay on a houseboat and look at the mountains.

We are in Rishakesh now, the place where the Beatles came to chill out in the 60s. It's billed as the "Yoga Capital of the World" and we have seen more Europeans and North Americans that we have for a while, including a few who look like they arrived in about 1965 and never left. The majority of the travellers are Indian, though. It's holdiay season here and everyone is coming north to escape the heat.

There are as many temples, tombs and touts as we found in Egypt, along with lots of other sites that are keeping our eyes open and our brains working. "Was that a NAKED man walking along the road?...What kind of fruit is that?...What's a paneer korma?...Why do you think those guys paint themselves orange?...There were six people on that motor scooter!...Should we give something to the old lady who is tapping on the car window?... Wow, I've never been outside in 42 degree heat before...What power do you think the god with the blue face represents...Is it OK for us to go into that part of the temple?.. Did you notice that the formal mogul gardens look like the Alambra in Granada?..." etc. etc. The women wear clothing in all the colours of Italian gelatto. Children follow us along the street saying "Hello Money" and monkeys show up in the most unexpected places. We have even seen a snake charmer and guess what? It was a COBRA in the basket.

I have no photos for you because I'm on a public computer. There are not many wireless connections around. I will make up for it next time, but there are no pictures of the river rafting. It was a wet and wild morning, so the camera stayed at the hotel.