Haridwar is a hive of activity! The city is a popular destination for devout Hindus and right now the pilgrimage season is in full swing. Despite the heat, the narrow streets are full of people eating kulfi ice cream, shopping for various items for the obligatory rituals in the river Ganges and, oddly enough, stocking up on woolen winter clothes. It smells of food, dog poop and exhaust and the hustle and bustle soon becomes too much for me. I find us a shabby hotel room and doze off to Louie’s arrival.
Thanks to a car stop he arrives already the next morning and we decide to add another 30 kilometers on the same day to find a more pleasant accommodation in Rishikesh. The route takes us on a small side road along a canal and through wonderful forest.
Despite occasional bouts of weakness, stomach rumbling and general malaise, we manage to appreciate the beauty of the route. From the dense forest on both sides we hear wild chickens crowing, spot monkeys, peacocks and countless exotic birds and some trees add splendid splashes of color to the dense greenery with their floral splendor. Töff drivers come towards us, but in contrast to Iran we do not seem to attract any attention here. Only occasionally we are greeted (back) or friendly honked at. As soon as the distance to Louie is big enough, some passers-by take the opportunity to address me with greasy, long-drawn-out “Heeeey`s”. Iiik!
The search for a room in Rishikesh turns out to be very difficult. Despite pathetic access roads and dubious cleanliness, they like to charge a hefty 40 Fr. per night. Not really acceptable for our budget. We are also not allowed to camp anywhere and finally we surrender to the facts, rent an exhausted AC dorm and try to cool down our overheated bodies. Everything is exhausting. Even going to the toilet. Louie and I take turns deciding who is worse off at the moment. We feel completely listless and just want to beam ourselves out of our state quickly. No desire for this expensive yoga business focused area we’ve landed in, no desire for the westernized young Indians looking for the big rafting adventure here, no desire for food, but still kind of hungry. The evening passes and a new sticky day dawns. We lie in bed and realize that we don’t feel any better today. An involuntary break day is indicated. Unfortunately, the hostel is already completely booked today and we are forced to go on the arduous search for accommodation again. We change from the party hill down to the pilgrim area of Rishikesh and here we find a pleasant room, which also somewhat meets our price expectations. In the evening we take a walk through the pilgrims’ hustle and bustle, and a little bit we get an idea of the fascination that these scenes could actually cause. For a while we sit on the river bank and watch the people bathing, praying and begging. We are forced to take selfies and it is difficult for us to smile credibly into the cameras. We miss the relaxed, amiable nature of the Iranians and wonder which factors make the people here so hectic and sometimes quarrelsome. We suspect the same factors that are affecting us at the moment: The density of people, the constant noise, the constant sensory input, the chaotic traffic and, of course, the sheer unbearable heat. While we are aware of these influences, the people who are constantly exposed to this stress are certainly subconsciously affected by it.
We eat bananas and rusks, look at the brown Ganges and the wild hills and are grateful that we can soon escape this photogenic mess.
The next morning we force ourselves to get an early start and soon find ourselves on a narrow, busy road. The area is flat, characterized by rice fields and single groups of trees we make reasonably good progress. At 11am the temperature becomes unbearable and it’s time for a ride. While I lie exhausted in the shade of a tree, Louie waves at every bigger vehicle, but nobody stops for us. People standing around stare at us and probably wonder what we are looking for here. We are not spoken to. Finally, after more than an hour, a small truck brakes and lets us load our bikes. The two drivers take us for more than 100 kilometers!
Another long day of cycling and car stops finally brings us to Tanakpur. The wide Mahakali River forms a natural border here and this place also attracts many Hindu pilgrims. On the other side of the river lies Nepal! Here, too, the search for a room turns out to be difficult. Some hostels refuse us because we are foreigners, others are in such an unsavory condition that we don’t even want to ask. Finally, out of sheer exhaustion, we settle in a soso lala hotel. In the muddy wet cell we can at least take a cold shower, avoid direct contact with the walls and floor, spread out our silk sleeping bags and lie down. A fan fans us with air and we try to relax. This succeeds to a certain extent, until dusk brings countless mosquitoes on the scene. Outside a storm is brewing. Lightning flashes across the sky and squalls sweep through the streets. The electricity and thus the ceiling fan fail and the temperature and the discomfort in our chamber rise markedly. Suddenly a generator is started directly under our window and with the giant noise a limit is now really crossed. It is already nine o’clock in the evening and outside it is raining cats and dogs when we decide to pack up our stuff and get a better room. One with AC and acceptable cleanliness. Louie heads off into the wet world, encounters a huge bull in the gloomy basement, and goes in search of it. I pack up our belongings in the meantime.
We are incredibly fed up with this hotel room search. It costs us so much time and nerves and money. Very urgently we want to camp again and be outside!
Unsuccessfully we try to inform the hotel owner about our departure. We knock on his door, call against the barking dog, spy his feet through the barred window – but he doesn’t let us wake him up. Slightly worried, we leave the hotel anyway.
We don’t like to get up early and cross the border the next day. We decide again to take a break. Tanakpur is an exciting place, wonderfully situated in this far corner of India. After convincing ourselves that the hotel man from the night before did not suffer a heart attack, we stroll through the small town, eat our bananas and gradually regain some strength. We are ready for Nepal!
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)