The Mary Ann and Rhonda Himalaya Adventure

Making the express train from the New Delhi railway station to Haridwar (lies at the foothills of the Himalayas, the point where the Ganga reaches the plains), Mary Ann and Rhonda met their guide and rode an auto rickshaw to the Alakananda Hotel. And can you believe it ? They ate lunch. More India food, no burgers for them. After lunch they walked along the Ganga River (AKA Ganges) and through the bazaar, shopping all the way.

They caught a gondola (hanging not floating) up to the Maa Mansa Devi Mandir (wish-fulfilling goddess temple), a mouthful if ever there was one. At the temple they gave darshan (presented themselves) to the goddess Mansa Devi and had tikka applied to their forehead (the goddesses blessing.) And then they ate again, this time prasaad, blessed food, in the form of miniature sugar and rice balls.

Mary Ann tied a string around a tree to help facilitate her prayers, and had a kala dhaga (black string) tied around her wrist at the Bhaironath temple. Bhaironath is a ferocious god born from Shiv's anger who's generally ill tempered and prone to smack tourists upside the head. A quick gift to the monkey-god and perfect servant to lord Rama, and it was off on a bicycle rickshaw to see the tall stature of Shiv, the main god in the local area, aka the god of destruction, regeneration.and urban renewal. It gets pretty complicated, especially since Shiv(a) has 1008 names. For a detailed explanation go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva   or here  http://www.gurjari.net/ico/Mystica/html/shiva.htm

Off to the river to watch people washing their sins away by bathing in the sacred Ganga, drinking her water, and generally grossing out Westerners. At sunset, they watched the nightly arti ritual performed, which is a fire-offering to the gods, in this case to the goddess Ganga Maa. They floated diyas, oil burning vessels made of leaves and flowers, down the river as a way of praising the mother goddess Ganga and to ask for a wish (that they don't drown in the river on the raft trip) to come true.

Next day, they rode to Rishikesh (Rishikesh, literally: "Hair (kesh) of the sage" (rishi), is a Hindu holy city located in the foothills of the Himalaya in northern India. Legend states that Lord Rama did penance here for killing Rava,, the demon king of Lanka)

Finally! They river rafted with "Red Chilli Adventures" after riding up into the Himalayas (pics in a previous post). They rafted down to a bend in the river just short of Lakshman Jhulla, a suspension bridge named after the god Lakshman, brother of god Rama.  Their wish to the Goddess Ganga Maa being answered, they made it back to the Ganga Hotel, where Rhonda finally got her well deserved massage. And then – they ate again, this time spinach and cheese crepes from the Vasundhara Palace.

The day's adventures were topped of by another ride on the Dehra dun Shatabdi express train to Delhi.