I had planned to be in Delhi for a few days. I originally was going to go to Pakistan after India, and then into central Asia. That plan went out the window with a problem developing over my house in Canada, as well as the fact that it's December now and it's darned cold in central Asia. I will go there another time.
So I checked out tickets and such and decided to go to Egypt instead. The ticket was cheap and I don't need a visa in advance. I can get it there. Fantastic. So after a couple of days in Delhi, I figured I could see more when I come back for my flight out. With my final couple of weeks in India, I wanted to go north. I would love to get to Kashmir, but I don't think that will be possible this time. Another spot to put on the list for when I return.
I have lots about Rishikesh. It's the yoga capital of India, possibly the world. The Ganges River crashes out of the Himalaya nearby and begins its journey through India. It's supposed to be quite touristic, but still quite nice and without too many hassles.
It would be nice to take the train, but as before when I started looking at train tickets with only a day or so before leaving, there were only wait lists to be had. So I talked to the travel guy at the hotel about where the bus station was located. This was my first mistake. He suggested the train and told me he could get me a seat. We looked up trains and found one that had a small enough waiting list that I could get a ticket easily. (His commission was 200 an the ticket was 137. I don't know about this sort of thing. I should have balked. I didn't.) I paid him and got things all set.
The problem was that the train was at 3:15 and due to arrive at an intermediate location at 7:30. I would then have to take a bus the rest of the way. It would only be a 40 minute ride, but it was still an extra step that would take time and wouldn't get me to Rishikesh until around 9. If all went well. And I had no idea where I would stay. It would be late and I wouldn't have lots of time to figure things out as a result. None of this really impressed itself on my mind at the time I was making the booking. If I had really given it thought, I would have stuck with my original plan of going to the bus station and hopping a bus for a possibly lengthy bus ride to Rishikesh, but being assured of arriving in plenty of time to figure things out.
I spent my morning the next day trying to visit a botanical garden in Delhi. The subway system has a stop called Botanical Garden, and there is actually a botanical garden there, but it didn't seem to be open to the public. That seemed odd to me.
I got back to the hotel and hopped on to the internet and happened to see Gordeon, a friend that I had met in Varanasi, online. He was in Rishikesh and gave me the name of a place to stay. That was helpful. So I was hopeful it would all turn out well. As it happened, this was another mistake.
I rode the train to Haridwar and got off. But because I had told Gordon that I would be coming, I worked at getting on a bus to Rishikesh. It was deep dark at night and I had no idea of the lay of the land. Not the best way to begin a journey like that.
What made it worse was that the guys in the bus station were dinks. They wouldn't even try to listen to what I needed. At the enquiry office they ignored me and helped other people who barged into line. This wasn't actually unusual as Indians have as much consideration for lines as others in Asia, but it was still getting irksome. Then another office wouldn't even listen to me. They just waved me off with the word “Enquiry office” and then turned away from me. And that's where I lost it. I threw my stuff on the floor and called them names and stormed off.
I like India. I have really enjoyed India in my time here, but these past couple of weeks, in the tourist hub of the country have just put me on edge. It just feels like everyone is out to get something out of me. There are cons and rip-offs and people who won't take no for an answer. I have been getting quite rude to so many people myself, but it has to be done to protect myself from them. And it all bubbled over at that moment, in a bus station in the early part of a dark night, when all I wanted to do was find out where I could catch a bus to Rishikesh.
And then one of the other people in the bus station looked angrily at me and asked what my problem was. I was tempted to lose it all over him, too, as it was none of his business, but I just picked up my stuff and walked out. I asked bus drivers where I could find the bus I wanted and they were far more helpful. I did eventually find the spot and did get on a bus to Rishikesh, at 8:30.
That put me into Rishikesh at shortly after 9, when much was closing or closed and I had very little option. So the bus was yet another mistake. I should have just found a place to stay in Haridwar and dealt with Rishikesh in the morning.
I was met with people wanting to take me places when I got off the bus, naturally. I was exhausted from my ordeal so far, and I relented. I gave the name of the place Gordon had suggested. The rickshaw guy was dubious, but took me. It turned out that there must be two places with the same name, although the rickshaw guy was adamant that in the area where I really wanted to be taken there was no such place. That may or may not have been because it was 150 rupees a night and he wouldn't get anything out of it.
After finding the place where he took me to be unavailable due to no booking and due to it being a non-English speaking place, I submitted to my driver. I let him take me where he wanted. I should have said I wanted to get back to the area around the bus station. Yet another error in judgment. He took me out to where there seem to be lots of places to stay, and he even asked me what my budget was. Then he proceeded to ignore that and took me to a place that is twice as expensive as anything I have stayed in recently. And it billed itself as a deluxe accommodation. I was a bit upset about that, but both the rickshaw driver and the hotel guy told me things were closed and I wouldn't find anything cheaper.
Now, I don't believe that. I don't believe them. I have flown into a non-touristy country at 1 in the morning, and had a taxi driver take me around to accommodations and find a reasonable place to stay, knocking on doors until we found a place. I don't believe them. But I was tired and annoyed and drained. It was too much for me, making all those errors in judgement. Plus I was a bit sick with some bug. So I just gave in and took the expensive room. And it is not a deluxe accommodation. If they are going to claim that for what they offer, then the place I was in the day before, which was quiet, which offered a towel to guests, and soap, which had hot water, could be charging three or four times what it does. This place is crap and expensive. Very expensive. But it's only money and another lesson in what not to do when travelling that I will hopefully remember for a while.
Don't end up in an unfamiliar place at night when you don't really know the lay of the land. It can work out (like in the Solomon Islands), but it can easily be a rather trying experience.
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