Day 158, Haridwar, Rishikesh [Thursday 8th May 2008]
Previous day: Day 157, Haridwar [Wednesday 7th May 2009]
Next day: Day 159, Rishikesh [Friday 9th May 2008]
We get 'bed tea' delivered to our room at 6.30am, and after that we head down for a yoga session in the Mohyal Ashram's meditation hall. Our teacher is Anand, a youthful looking bloke who has, as Kate points out, "very good skin."
I find I like the session, enjoying the stretching and aching, as well as the seeming impossibility of some of the positions he tries to bend us into. We get through quite a lot in a couple of hours, including some frankly hilarious 'panting dog' moves that have me silently questioning this guy's professional qualifications. At the end he talks us through an incredibly effective relaxation technique, his song-song voice reverberating around the room before softly segueing into soothing flute music.
After breakfast we get a shared autorickshaw to Rishikesh, where we check into the Parmath Niketan Ashram, in the Swarg Ashram area (where the Beatles stayed with the Maharishi and wrote much of the White Album).
It's simple and clean, and huge — the place has 1200 rooms! It's full of Indian families. The housing blocks are set around a central, lush garden which is full of dioramas of Hindu legends: Krishna revealing the entire universe in his mouth; Radha falling in love with Krishna. Right out side the front gate is the rushing River Ganges. In the evening there is a loud, musical aarti ceremony here. The gathered crowd clap and sing along, led by a group of yellow-clad boys who are Sanskrit scholars from the ashram's school.
'Silence' states a poster on the wall of the canteen. And so we sit on the floor and quietly eat our rice, dal and sabzi (vegetables) from metal dishes at our low tables.
Next day: Day 159, Rishikesh [Friday 9th May 2008]
Previous day: Day 157, Haridwar [Wednesday 7th May 2009]