Day 159, Rishikesh [Friday 9th May 2008]
Previous day: Day 158, Haridwar, Rishikesh [Thursday 8th May 2008]
Next day: Day 160, Mussoorie [Saturday 10th May 2008]
We go to our yoga lesson, which is in a separate building at the east end of the ashram. A cool breeze blows through the room's open windows, and the birds tweet loudly outside. We do lots of tedious breathing exercises.
Breakfast is rice porridge, which we enjoy in silence as the poster directs. Afterwards we walk north along the banks of the wide, peaceful Ganga. The river is wide here, pale and milky blue, with dry brown hills sloping upwards on either side.
We make several attempts to book a train ticket from Dehra Dun to Delhi, which proves harder than we imagined. Everyone says they can book the tickets, but it turns out none of them can. At least not without taking our cash and sending someone to the station to buy the tickets manually. After asking one shop owner if he could really book the tickets for us or if he was lying, he tells Kate to 'fuck off.' I am ashamed to say that something inside me clicks, and I loom over him and scream into his face that I'm going to fucking kill him. He flinches backwards, then steps forward and pushes me out of the shop, where I continue screaming at him for a while, drawing a small crowd.
We go and sit on the sandy riverbank for a while, watching the water flow and the occasional whitewater raft drift past. The scenery here really is very pretty. It's a peaceful place.
For dinner we have some remarkably good pizza and pasta in the Little Italy restaurant.
Next day: Day 160, Mussoorie [Saturday 10th May 2008]
Previous day: Day 158, Haridwar, Rishikesh [Thursday 8th May 2008]