Weekend Adventure 2

Today is Tuesday and we are back from Rishikesh and Haridwar. They were both interesting. In Rishikesh we stayed in the upper region called Lakshman Jhula, in a hotel called Hotel Surya. It was very nice and only 300 Rs for a room. Rishikesh is the place where the Beatles stayed while in India, so now the town is full of other white hippy people. It was kind of nice to see some other white people. That is one thing I forgot to mention about India, there is absolutely no diversity. I think for the first 4 days in India we never say any other people of any other race, it's really odd coming from America where there is so much diversity. 

 Anywho, in Rishikesh to get across the Ganga, you have to cross these tiny suspension foot bridges. The monkeys would sit on the wires above you and if you were holding food, they would come down and take it right out of your arms. I saw it happen to a guy right in front of me, and he didn't fight, he just let the monkey have it. It was really odd. Also cows like to cross the foot bridge, which is awkward because then you have to get around them. Also little motorcycles like to cross over the bridges, which is scary, because it makes the whole bridge shake. We ate our meals at this little restaurant called Devraj Coffee Corner that was very Americanized. They had a pretty good spaghetti for dinner. We also visited the Shri Trayanbakshwar Temple. It is this thirteen story bright orange building. It was oddly like an amusement park. You had to walk around in a circle all the way up the temple and there were steel gates and bars so that you had to go one direction (just like in Great America). Then along the way there would be little rooms. In each little room there were statues of different gods and goddesses. Above the statues were bells. People would go in, pray, than ring the bells. Some rooms had shops in them (one of which I bought Mom a souvenir from). Some rooms also had Brahmins (priests) who would pray for you and give you a bindi dot. It was a rather odd experience because the temple seemed so commercialized. But you cannot bring cameras in, so sorry, no pictures. Oh, and we had to take off our shoes too. Andrew got pretty sick the night in Rishikesh. The night was pretty bad, he was going to the bathroom a lot. Then he rested and didn't go to the temple and rested. He seemed a lot better when I got back from the temple. Then around 1 pm we left for Haridwar. There we stayed at the Hotel Om Deluxe. It was much more expensive 1000 Rs a night! And it didn't have a western toilet! So this was our first time not having a western toilet... which was an experience. The place was booked. Haridwar is a lot different than Rishikesh. There are a lot less foreigners, but since it is a holy city and it is a holy month there are a lot of other Indian tourists. First we went up to a temple (forget the name) that is on the top of the hill. Usually there is a cable car, but of course it was closed (or broken we couldn't figure it out) so we had to take the steps up. Andrew was still not feeling very well. But then a group of Indian tourists saw him and went crazy for a picture with him. They each had to have their picture taken with him. He made them especially happy by taking off his hat so they could all see his red hair. Of course, all of the attention made Andrew a lot happier. For the rest of the walk up he was talking about how he was a star etc... The temple was similar to the temple in Rishikesh, slightly disappointing. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it's just so commercial. It's so much like Disney Land it's crazy. After that we hiked back down the mountain and went to dinner at a place called the Punjabi Restaurant. It was good food, but not very sanitary, so we only had a little bit. We went down to the ghat (the steps that lead into the ganga) at sundown when all the people gather for a puja. There were people everywhere. A puja is a ceremony where you buy a basket woven out of banana leaves that has a bunch of flowers in it and a candle on top. Then you say a prayer led by a Brahmin, then light the candle, then put it in the ganga. 

Then you give an offering to the Brahmin (50 Rs). I prayed for all of you, so you should all have good health! Then the Brahmins do this amazing ceremony of fire, I have pictures of it. It's kind of hard to explain. But it was really cool. Andrew wasn't feeling well by then, so then we left to go back to the hotel. The next day we came back to Mussoorie. Andrew still wasn't feeling well. So we just went to bed. Then I had a craving for Oreos so I went out to the store that's down the street that has a bunch of imported stuff to get some. I don't know if I have mentioned the staff here at Dev Dar Woods but they are really nice. And for some reason they LOVE Andrew. They don't know quite how to pronounce his name; they say it kind of like Androo. It's always "Helloo Androo" every time we walk around the corner. Andrew has all of their names memorized too, so he says hi back. Anyways, so I was walking back with the Oreos and all the kitchen guys asked where Androo was. I said he was sick so he was sleeping. They were devastated. They kept saying he needs to drink black tea. "Androo drink black tea" "Okay, well he's sleeping now, but maybe when he gets up he'll have some" "I bring Androo black tea" "Okay, well he doesn't really like tea, so maybe later" "No, I bring Androo black tea now". I know that Andrew doesn't like black tea, but the guy just wouldn't let up. So finally I said sure. The guy made the tea for Andrew and 5 minutes later knocked on our door and served Andrew black tea in bed. It was so funny. Andrew actually tried it and liked it, but I think he just liked all the attention more. The guys wouldn't let up. They keep asking him how he's feeling. 

Yesterday we still weren't feeling well, so after school we just went straight to bed and didn't wake up until the morning. I felt pretty bad yesterday too, I threw up. But today we are both feeling better. Today I found out that our neighbor loves Americans and has wireless! So now I don't have to walk down to the down. The guy is really nice. He's Indian but knows English and loves Will Farrell movies. He seems like a good resource to have. He invited both Andrew and I over for dinner tomorrow. So that'll be a nice break from the food at Dev Dar Woods (which is getting pretty bad, and we think it's what's making us sick). Hindi learning is going okay. I'll include a picture of some of my homework. It's still really hard. But this week is a four day week, so it'll be nice to have a three day break from school. Andrew and I are both getting better, but we'll be a lot better after the three day weekend break.