Rishikesh: a hole

18 April 2019

The centre of yoga and mediation in the world; and a place of tranquility, beauty, peace, and serenity, describes Rishikesh in absolutely no way whatsoever!

What I can imagine once being a little hamlet, with ashrams and homestays dotted around the countryside, all overlooking the imposing, grand Ganga (Ganges) river, has today become an overpopulated, dirty, touristy obnoxious town selling a bastardised, commercial product to the thousands of western and local tourists that come to visit.

Aggressive much Ryan?  Perhaps it worth taking a step back, and providing some context on how I came to such strong feelings that Rishikesh has become to yoga and meditation, to what I imagine Sodom and Gemora was for after-school care.  

It is also perhaps a case of naivety on my behalf.  Why would a place, so popular on the backpacker trail for so long, be anything but.  I think my anger comes from what it pretends to be, and what it actually is.  Ko San Road in Bangkok is no picnic, but it doesn't pretend to be a nunnery, and therefore you know what you are getting yourself into.  If you get felt up by a lady boy, you cant be unhappy, because that is what you signed up for boy (or girl, or in the middle).

My pick up point for my bus
(not a bus station)

I arrived in Rishikesh at 6am, after an 7 hour overnight bus from Delhi.  Tired and hazy, I tried to find my hostel - whose address is posted as 'near the bunjy jump place' (I am paraphrasing).  However, I found no backpackers near said stretchy chord facility, only a run down building, a hippie / homeless (who can tell these days) couple, and a stray dog who bit a hole in my pants.  The hippies did not know where the backpackers were, the dog wasn't being much help, and nothing else was really open, so without any more sense of direction I began wondering around.  Eventually I happened across the establishment by chance, and went inside.  

#customerservice

Inside, the reception desk was unattended, but there was a man sleeping on the couch beside it.  It was 7am (an hour after being dropped off), so one could excuse his liberal interpretation of a "24/7 helpdesk".  I understandingly proceeded to gently wake him up.  However, Mr Man was in no mood to wake up and brushed aside my polite prods and turned over.  More vigorous shaking awoke the man, yet his scoff and contemptuous dismissal showed me that he was in no mood to earn the 5-star rating I was intending on providing this fine place.

Unwilling to beg to be assisted, I found an open room, put down my things and proceeded to wait... passively-aggressively.  When 7am become 9am, and Mr Man was still sleeping, I decided to get some breakfast.  The town, and Rishikesh's true personality, had now awoken.  The symbol left in my mind of Rishikesh is not a yogi standing on one leg on a rocky outcrop, or of floating shamen, but rather etched into my memory is the piercing sound of car, motorcycle, and scooter horns all battling for supremacy in the worst concerto any person can be forced to listen to. Nama-stay.

Hooting is not uncommon in India, even excessively so, but really this is not what one would expect in a town where one is trying to align ones chakras.  However, its narrow streets are not designed for cars, or to be shared with motorcycles and pedestrians, let alone what is a two-lane highway, and the incessant noise is only amplified by the gross amount of traffic and these vehicles' total disregard and impatience for those walking.  Very peaceful.

Add to this that you are constantly being sold some river rafting trip.  There are signs everywhere, each professing to offer the of the most authentic yoga course, and the town is sprawling with vendors, construction, and dilapidated buildings.  I simply cannot understand how it can pretend to be offer anything aligned to virtues of yoga, medication, peace or tranquility.  I am at one with the world.

Actual poster on the wall of the hostel
#inspired

After breakfast, I went back to the hostel, where Mr Man was still sleeping.  I was eventually checked-in, when he decided to wake up at 11 am - though I was ready to check out immediately.  At least, I thought, I only booked two nights.