Hello Rishikesh

The next morning we were up early and in true Indian style, I showered...cross legged, jug and bucket. If im honest it was probably the best shower iv had out here and reminded me very much of my younger days of staying at my nanis which was regular practice.

Hitting the alley way, we saw this guju guy making fresh papri ghatia and dhokla and immediately bought two portions. You could see why the guy was doing so well, the hot ghatia, melting in your mouth... were to die for! Whilst eating, this begger came up and my instant response was to shu him along, but there was something about this guy..and I immediately felt sorry for him. I guess I realised that it was freezing cold, and the poor guy was frozen himself so I called him over and handed over my portion. Further, I saw dad buying another begger some, so I guess he felt similar.

We soon made our way to the official taxi rank. We thought after the ordeal of the bus and hostel, we'd deserved to travel to Rishikesh comfortably...and although we paid way above the odds,it was worth every penny. Our driver was called Raju, clearly another Lewis Hamilton and although he had no audio, he knew exactly where we wanted to go and got us there safely.

Approaching Rishikesh, it soon dawned on me that dad was only gonna be with me for the night and that he'd need to set off first thing back to mumbai. He had literally just come to make sure id be ok and settle me in, a usual caring practice for dad.

Arriving at the Ashram, we left our bags with the trusty guard whilst we made our way to reception. There, we were met by a guy called Narendra, a short smiley chap that had this amazing American accent. I thought he was cool (atleast at the time), as he gave us an amazing room...facing the ganga...just for the night. Thereafter he advised id have to move to a "regular" room.

At this stage, I didnt have much to say. I think I was taken back by the scenery but also felt like a kid being dropped off at boarding school and I knew this place was going to be home for the next few weeks - on my own.

Quickly unpacking, we hit the banks of the ganga knowing that dads time was limited. At one stage we just sat on the some stairs, taking in the sheer beauty,until dad was approached by a cow. The cow kept putting his head between us and after stroking him, dad tried to coax him away, but he wasnt having any of it. A gentle push later, the cow was upset and aggressively went for dad with his nose. Meantime, I was in hysterics watching dad tryna get away.

Further along the ganga, is a bridge called Ram Joula. An impressive structure, even by western standards, except you run the risk of a motorbike running you over each way. So faf, I think iv been lucky...with only 2 clips...only.

5'oclock was aarti time and this is what we had come to see, as televised on sky, it was an unreal feeling to be here. Soon, we were surrounded by rishikumars (the ashrams students) all dressed in yellow dhotis. The aarti itself was amazing, even dad had fallen in love with the set up, and its probably where I made my most useful contact...a rishikumar. Dad gave him 100 rupees as darshan, and from this day this guy has been my savior. For example, he makes sure I always get an aarti..if I want to do Havan I can...and sit wherever I want too...an excellent return on investment!