Rafting in Rishikesh

Having discovered that water and my cameras don't mix very well, I didn't even bother taking my camera along with me when I went rafting. But the valley was lovely, picturesque and provided a thoroughly enjoyable venue for rafting. There were a couple of grade four rapids (at least the guide told us so; I'm not so sure, as grade 4 rapids would generally be expected to eject people from the raft, particularly a raft full of rather inexperienced people), and they provided a good deal of excitement. And I met a genuinely insane woman. So it was entertaining.

She was from Brazil. I met her when I went to the rafting company's office for the formalities such as signing of waivers and such. There were three people, actually and they all were up in arms about the waiver. It was a fairly standard waiver for people taking part in an activity that could potentially be dangerous. And those things always present it in such a worst-case scenario kind of way that it sounds as though you are about to participate in something so dangerous that you can expect to come away minus at least one limb. And the company accepts no liability should that happen, of course. It is an intimidating sort of thing to read, I will grant. But they were all upset because they thought the company should be accepting some responsibility. And from my reading of it, it didn't sound like they were denying any responsibility for our safety. It was more or less stating that we understood that we were undertaking a dangerous activity and were responsible for that decision. And any sane individual would realize that it isn't in the company's best interests to go about letting their customers get injured without doing anything about it, or even drown. Even in India where, to be honest, rules and laws are at best flexible, a company that offers dangerous activities and doesn't offer adequate protections will very soon find itself with no customers and will close. This would be particularly so in a town such as Rishikesh where it seems like every second shop is offering rafting as an option during one's stay.

However, “I'm from Brazil, and I know how things operate. They don't pay any attention to safety and don't follow the laws. They don't have licences and it's not a problem for them. India's the same.” I would actually think that Brazil is the same as India and those sorts of things, in this day and age with the internet and social networking and all kinds of sites that allow travellers to tell on places like that, such businesses couldn't stay in operation.

But she wouldn't listen. I don't know why I actually got into the argument, but they just all three of them decided to tell me the problem they had. I eventually asked why they weren't talking to the owners about the issue, since I couldn't do anything. And they didn't seem to understand they weren't getting in the boat without signing the waiver. The Brazilian girl still tried to do that though.

In the end, it all worked out, and we headed off and had a great time. And the fully trained guides, who gave us detailed instructions on what to do with various commands and how to stay in the boat and what to do if we did end up out of the boat, made sure nobody drowned. It was fun.

Recovered in Rishikesh

After three days of dealing with varying amounts of tummy trouble, I woke up feeling much better. It truly seemed that I had passed the difficulty and could have a good day. But I still wasn't overly hungry, so I was a bit worried. I know when abdominal upset is really past when I start to feel hungry again. Until then, I usually feel that things may not be really all right. But the rumblings and gurgling had gone and I decided to chance things. I headed out for a day along the river. I went and had some lunch at the German bakery beside the river. Then I walked the only side and direction of the river left that I hadn't sampled yet. I found a nice little beach and sat down to read for a while. I watched a bunch of rafts come down after finishing some white water rafting. It looked like fun. And since I have decided not to go into the national park, rafting will make a good substitute. And feeling better, I will be able to enjoy it with no worries.

After reading for a while, I headed up to find someone to help me with reserving a train ticket to Amritsar. The first place I found tried to get on the website for India Rail, but the site was down. I didn't really mind because the guy seemed quite uninterested in helping me. Okay, I will go give the commission to someone else. (And this is something that annoys me. I would like to be able to do the reservations myself, but all the websites in the country require having a mobile phone number in India. I don't have a mobile phone, so I can't do any of these reservations on my own. A friend did give me his India Rail id and password, but I didn't think of that at the time.)

This I did. I hope it works out as his office was closed when I went back to get the ticket.

Then I headed down to see a ceremony at one of the ashram/temples down the river a ways. It is some kind of fire ceremony, and it seems to be in honour of Krishna, one of the incarnations of Vishnu. It was a bunch of chanting and singing and sitting about a fire, feeding it. And I must be in a particularly unspiritual frame of mind because all I could really think of during the ceremony was how they do this everyday. And about how much of waste of time it seemed to be. And how I doubted that any god would require that kind of time commitment (or want it) from his/her devotees. It was an interesting ceremony anyway.

Then I came up to the hotel and booked myself onto a rafting trip. It should be fun!

Finally Laid Low

After getting myself settled in a nice little hotel and getting a good night's sleep, I woke up with a sinking realization. There were gurgles and rumbles in my tummy. Uh oh! It shortly became clear that I was having some kind of intestinal event. I had had a cold of some sort for a couple of days, so I was initially unsure if the tummy trouble was just a part of that or not. But it became clear through the day, that I wasn't going to be able to go too far from the hotel.

I took my laundry out for cleaning, then returned to look after my tummy.

After a while, I thought to take a bit of a walk about again. I made it 15 or so minutes away, where I was able to take a nice look up the valley.

And then I found I needed to return once again to the hotel and tend to my tummy. I pretty much gave up hope of doing much useful that day. I did feel better towards the end of the day and got a bit of a snack to quell the hunger that had replaced the gurgles. I took that as a welcome sign. A return of hunger suggests to me that my body has passed the trouble. I was hopeful that it had indeed been just a part of the cold or whatever it was that I had had.

The next morning dawned quite well and I felt almost like I was better. There were minor rumblings in my abdomen, but the need to be near a bathroom seemed to have passed. So I decided to take a good long walk.

Michelle, at the front desk told me about a waterfall nearby that wasn't a particularly strenuous walk up the mountainside. That seemed to present the perfect opportunity for a little jaunt. I headed out and walked to the entrance. By the time I got there, having gotten water and a little snack, I didn't have enough small money for the entrance fee. I had to resort to a 500 rupee note. The guy at the window complained. He had no change. I had 17 rupees in small change, but the entrance fee was 30. He said that wouldn't do. The only other choices were to find change for the 500 rupee note or to leave. I wasn't planning on leaving. He grudgingly took the 500 rupee note and told me I could come back and collect change when I came down. But he made no move to provide with any kind of note saying that I was owed the change. Uh uh, buddy. I asked for one. Then he pulled out his wallet and showed that he was pretty much a liar. There was plenty of smaller notes in his wallet and he gave me 450 rupees. Then he wrote a note saying I was owed 20 more.

I do sympathise with the problem of making change for large notes. I think it must be a drag, and I don't think it's exactly fair. But it's not my problem. I am the customer. If there is a problem with this sort of thing, they should be complaining to banks. But on the other hand, so many people in this country are happy enough to take the money from foreign visitors, but then they complain when they have to do some work to get it. Either you want our money or you don't. I don't really care. Well I do, but I don't really care for the attitude of how much trouble it seems to you to get it. Suck it up, people!

I headed up the trail. It's reasonably well-marked and the scenery was quite nice. There were a couple of points where I was unsure where to go, and as usual I took the wrong way. But it kept me occupied.

The waterfalls were also beautiful. I imagine they must be quite spectacular during the rainy season. They must get quite large and active.

I got myself back down from the waterfalls and got some food, as I was getting quite hungry after not eating much of anything the previous day. I went back to the hotel and hoped that my abdominal episode was past. And I began to feel the rumblings and gurglings that said, no, I wasn't done. Crap!!

I was able to get a bit of sleep, but before long I was awake and dealing with more tummy troubles. It seemed to pass reasonably well and I got some more sleep that lasted well into the morning.

After I got up, I was able to take a long walk down the riverside. On the other side of the river, in the actual township area of Rishikesh, is the local national park. I walked along it a ways, but after a second day of not eating too much, I was really lacking in energy, so I spent a lot of time just sitting and watching the water. I did notice that the river level rose significantly while I was there. I suspect it's snow-melt coming off the mountains during the day, which would be greater in the heat of the day, but I don't really know for sure. All I know is that the Ganges here rose by several inches while I watched.

I wanted to visit the national park and see more wildlife, but when I have enquired at a couple of places, because I am alone, the prices have been quite high. It's also low season as far as wildlife is concerned as well, and I was told it's really only birds and probably some elephants that would be seen. And I find birds to be somewhat boring. Given the price, I will probably give it a pass.

But this is the yoga capital of the world, so I might give a class or two a try. I have always wanted to have a go. This would be the perfect time. Assuming that my insides sort themselves out.

I don't know if this has been a result of being sick or whether, after 9 and a half months travelling, I have finally run afoul of some bad water or food. But I think it's been a good run. Now, let it be the last time this happens.

Rishikesh

I left the Hotel Shiv Ganga, walked down to the road, turned left and started into an area where I hoped I would find a cheap place to stay. I was a bit worried that I was in the midst of high-priced hotels. I had walked about 100 meters when I was stopped by a guy in front of a hotel. He invited me in and I found a place, in moments after leaving the guy who almost proudly admitted to treating a guest like crap, that was within my price range. Score!!!

For some reason they had an American working their reception/registration area. She has been teaching in India as a volunteer, but with school out for the time being, she needed something to do and came to Rishikesh. And they hired her on at this hotel. So I also got a source of information that may be more reliable out of the deal as well. Double score!!!

Then I went for a walk. Michelle, the girl at the desk, gave me a route I could follow. I did my best, but I still didn't quite find all that she told me about. I did find the first bridge though.

And the town is a typical sort of mountain town that I might find in the Rockies. Except of course for the holy river flowing through town. The Ganga spills out of the Himilaya range and then begins its course first to the west and then turning to the east to flow eventually through Kolkata and to the Bay of Bengal.

Even here the Ganga is a holy river. What exactly made the Rishikesh area suitable, we may never know, but the yogis ended up here en masse and set up ashrams and yoga schools all over the place. Now it's the yoga capital of the world. All forms of yoga are represented here and one can find any way to practice this ancient art desirable. I have even read that, as yogic philosophy preaches not to harm any living thing, the entire town is meat-free. I don't know how such a philosophy can preach no harm to any living thing and then allow the eating of vegetables. Aren't they alive? Maybe it's living things with faces.

Along with the yoga schools, that attract many foreigners who want to learn yoga, there are lots of souvenir shops and such, that are attracted by many foreigners who want to learn yoga. Lined up along each side of the river leading out of Rishikesh are ashrams, yoga schools and souvenirs. Occasionally there are coffee shops and restaurants.

My walk through town took me past the usual sorts of sights I have been finding in India, shrines and other spots of worship, to Shiva and others.

But really it was about the scenery of this town set in the foothills of the Himilaya.

As the sun set on the day that had begun with a bit of strife and annoyance at the greed that seems to dominate so often in this part of India, I found that Rishikesh will be a good place to spend a few days. It's a nice mountain town that, on the whole, is quiet and friendly.

The Unassailable Logic of the Dense and Short-sighted

I got up and packed my stuff. I wasn't about to stay in a room that was expensive and without amenities like hot water. I was going to find a new place to stay. So I headed down to the front desk to take care of formalities. They asked if I was leaving. I said, uh, yes. It's expensive and I don't want to pay that much. So then they asked me how much I wanted to be paying. I humoured them and said that I wanted to pay 300 to 400 rupees. Then they told me they had another room that I could have for 400 rupees, if I wanted to see it. I said fine. So they got a key and took me up to the third floor. I was shown a room that was exactly like one of the rooms they showed me the night before. It was just on the third floor instead of the second floor. It had a view. And they gave me access to the roof, which had a view out over the river. Um...

When I got back down, I was a bit flabbergasted. I started with, “Um, so how was that room different from what I was shown and what I stayed in last night?” The guy hemmed and hawed about it, trying to tell me that it was going to be vacated later and they could offer it to me. That not being what I asked, I pressed him further, telling him that it seemed that the only thing that was different was that it was daytime and I was going to leave and go to another guest house, rather than it being 10 o'clock at night having been brought to the guest house by an auto-rickshaw driver and having not much other easy choice. He fought the characterization for a while, but eventually conceded that, yes, because I had no choice, I was at his mercy. And that because he had to pay a commission to the auto-rickshaw driver, that also made the price higher. So they were offering me a better room with more to it at about half the price because now it was day, I had lots of other choices and there was no rickshaw driver expecting a commission. He even had the temerity to suggest that if we had discussed more than one day the night before, the rickshaw driver would have expected commission for four days. I was amazed that he would concede all this to the customer who was feeling ripped off and angry and taken advantage of. And I did tell him that because of all of that I did feel taken advantage of and mistreated. I told him it was not good to treat the customer that way. I actually had less problem with raising the price because I had less choice at 10 at night with few places open than I had in the light of day with lots of places to go and check. I still found it reprehensible, but I could understand it better. What I couldn't understand was that it was likely that, having arrived at 10 at night, in a town that is known for foreign tourists who stay awhile, they would choose to do something like raise the price when I had no choice, and to pass on the commission they paid to the driver to me, the customer, when I would have a choice the very next morning. I asked him how he could choose to and justify passing on the commission to the customer, in effect having me pay the driver twice. He just fell back on the most twisted logic I have ever heard. He pointed to the rate table above the front desk and told me that the tariff for the rooms were actually 1000 rupees and that they could reduce it as they please, but they couldn't go higher than that. So since I had paid 700 for the room, everything was fine. But, I asked, the rate table was for high season, which it wasn't at the moment, and now they were offering me the room for 400, which is what anyone would pay for the room if they bowled on up on their own, so how did it make sense to say that the rate for the room at the moment was 400. He pointed to the table and said that was the rate. For when, I asked. For the high season. But it's not the high season. So they can offer discounts on the room rates. But nobody who comes in the low season pays the high season rate, which you are referring to as the high season rate, so it's not really the current rate of the room. Yes, it is, and I can offer you any discount on the rate. I did that. But when you offered that discount it was to build in the commission that you paid the driver and thus you made me pay the driver twice. Well, yes, but there are people out there who cheat people. YES, AND YOU'RE ONE OF THEM BUDDY!!! I don't see how he couldn't understand that he was passing on a business expense, because these hotel owners choose to pay these drivers a commission, to their customers. And he didn't see anything wrong with it. And he admitted to it. And then he thought it was fine, so now I was going to be okay with renting a room from him for longer at a much reduced rate. And I would just rent from him. I just shook my head and told him the system was screwed up and I walked out.

I wasn't sure if I would find a cheaper place to stay or whether I would end up paying more for a room than he was offering me, but I was adamant that he was not going to get any more out of me than had been basically extorted out of me the night before because I had chosen to go with the auto-rickshaw driver and he had taken me there.

And I really, really can't understand why these hotel owners (and I am not naïve enough to think that what happened at the one hotel wouldn't have happened at any other hotel in the town, that I would have found a hotel owner somewhere that would choose the goodwill of the customer and not take advantage of them) would choose to alienate the customer to retain the goodwill of the auto-rickshaw drivers. The pool of customers who can spread whatever reputation the owner builds with their treatment of guests seems so much larger to me than the pool of auto-rickshaw drivers who, in the end, will take the customers wherever they are told to take them (or face the consequences). And in the low season, that hotel owner chose to have an empty room and a pissed off client rather than treat him fairly and make three to four times as much as he made on the one night and having me leave the next day. But that is the unassailable logic of the short-sighted who can only see the goal of as making as money as possible at the time rather than building a reputation that will make far more later.

I would love to find someone who will help me write that in Hindi to present to him before I leave.

And, incidentally, the name of the hotel you should never frequent in Rishikesh, if you ever come here, is Hotel Shiv Ganga

Getting to Rishikesh Without Thinking

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.