Once again one of the highlights of Rishikesh was food related. With the heavily deep fried food and distinct lack of fresh fruit and vegetables throughout India it’s not an exaggeration to say we were aching for some fresh produce! Rishikesh was our answer to this…in the form of the most amazing (and massive) fruit salad with yogurt and muesli we have ever experienced!! It was not only the only thing that got me through the morning session of yoga but also ended up being the daily meeting place for the resident travelers. A little like Varanasi, the streets in Rishikesh were filled with touring Indian pilgrims but unlike Varanasi the Ganges here was clean enough for us to be tempted into its waters. Though it was absolutely freezing, after 2 months of being in the heat and not being able to swim it was sweet relief to finally be able to jump in! Even if in my case it was in full length leggings, top and with a sarong draped over my shoulders.
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The Ganges really was that cold |
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Proof...? |
We did also, of course, visit the ashram where The Beatles
stayed and as you can see from the picture, went inside the room that John
Lennon himself slept in! It was a huge complex, a shame that it’s now
completely derelict, with the many dilapidated and deserted buildings overgrown
with wildlife. Apparently according to our local guide it closed because the
lease ended and the government claimed the land back but have just let nature
take its course since.
We couldn't believe it but our 5 weeks in India were almost up and the final stop before flying out of Delhi was The Corbett Tiger Reserve. We stayed in a place with a real safari feel to it, sleeping in a massive tent under a canopy of mango trees. Here we met a young English couple who we ended up doing our safari the next morning with. We had intended to do an elephant safari but unfortunately all elephants were on loan to the government, taking part in a mission to round up a tiger that had strayed into one of the villages! We settled for a jeep safari and got up early, only to wait for over an hour for our jeep to arrive. One of the disadvantages of booking the day before - our guide had to content with the park queues before picking us up!
Although we saw a Jackal, and lots of deer we felt a little
bit cheated because the tour wasn’t as long as it should have been and we
weren’t completely satisfied. Plus even though we had known we probably
wouldn’t I think we were all a bit disappointed that our chance to see a tiger
was over. So… we booked another safari
for the afternoon!
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Green bee-eater |
This time it was completely different – we had a very charismatic driver and guide who made it much more fun. We saw an owl and a monitor lizard, as well as lots of deer… but the real highlight came as we were heading back to the park gates before the very stringent closing time. Just as our guide was saying we had had a good time even though we hadn’t seen a tiger, a jeep with cheering Indians came speeding past…we were off! Obviously some special guide sign language had taken place and we went racing through the jungle at top speed to a clearing where we screeched to a halt. There, rolling around on his back was a huge male tiger!! We couldn’t believe it!! We watched him for about 10 minutes and it sounds ridiculous but he was so cat like it was amazing! Then he just stood up and slinked off into the jungle seemingly without a care in the world. It was time for us to race back to the gates before they closed at 7pm. The perfect end to India!
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