I thought to share some practical bits which i found/would have found useful for the trip-preparation.
Keeping in mind that I am only here for a month (October) and I will spend most of my time in the ashram, it will be very specific info – but you know, if only one person finds it useful.......
Money matters – I would not worry about exchanging money before flying in, get cash out at the first ATM, right at the airport and save the commission fee. There are indeed quite a few ATMs available around here in town too, only challenge is, that they many times are out of money. I was going to come to Rishikesh by taxi straight away and knew that it costs 2600 INR, so 3500 kept me going for quite a while. The first breakfast cost me 55 INR, which is about 1 EUR, in general a meal starts (in touristy Rishikesh) at about a 100 INR (curry, naan and drink). A t-shirt or a pair of easy trousers for yoga practice or running around are about 100-150 INR each, if i was to come again i wouldnt bring any of these with me; what you get here is the same you get in a shopping mall at home, its just the price that is missing a 0 from the end...
Weather – October at the bottom of the Himalayas is the best month weather-wise, they say. When I arrived to Delhi, it was midnight, humid (though not as bad as KL for instance) and 28C. The morning was pretty much the same, maybe a little cooler, around 24-25C. In Rishikesh the humidity is a little less, days are – towards the middle of the month still – hot, around 30C with rather strong sunshine (every day I wish I was in another country for an hour and could put my bikini on), the evenings are perfect temperature, around 22C lets say, but the mornings are getting a bit cooler. At the beginning of the month it was like the eve, but now, 2 weeks later, i have 2 longsleeves on when i get up in the morning – keep in mind thats 5am though! In the ashram they have airconditioning and ventillators too everywhere – how convenient; but you should not forget that the electricity is sometimes off for half a day when some light clothes come really handy. During the past 2 weeks it rained once for about half an hour, but that was it. I have heard that in the mountains it already goes below 0 – I tell you more when I am back from the track next week (HA!) :)
Clothes - considering the weather and the prices, apart from underware and a pair of flipflops, I wouldnt bring anything else with me. I am already sorry that I cant stuff my bag with all the beautiful clothes they are selling here. On the other hand I am glad I bought winter clothes for the hike and the going back to ice-land, I dont think I would be happy having to look for a rainproof jacket or a good pair of hikingboots here.
Cosmetics and co – well, i appreciate my own toothbrush and floss but the rest was really not necessary to be carried all the way. Shampoo, conditioner, a few tiny bags of washing powder and soap, toothpaste cost about 50 INR – so, I felt like an idiot carrying that all across from home.
Mosquitos – yes there are some but nothing more than in the city in Budapest for instance. Malaria is not a problem around here, people I talked to, who’d lived here for many years said they never had or heard of any issues so far. Mosquito repellent – buy it here, cheaper and works wonders with the local mozzies.
Food – something everyone seems to be so concerned about, but to be honest I still dont understand why. The rule everyone should keep in mind: eat simple food, and not too much of anything thats new, and you will be okay! Now, of course I was the first one breaking this and stuffed my face the first time I was downtown with a whole plate of some verysalty and yuck looking curry, buttermilk, and a curdy dessert – I would never go for either of these at home! – and of course I spent the next few days drawing circles around my loo in misery. Forget the palinka dear Hungarian friends, at least dont bring it for the sake of better digestion. Just be smart! Fruits and veggies you find everywhere, even restaurants/cafes serve fresh fruit salads with papaya, pineapple, banana, apple, grains and the optional curd of course. You can easily live on that and naan/rice for a few weeks, trust me on that. In the ashram there is one thing missing very much from the meals, the variety of fresh fruits and veggies. The fresh part of the story is a banana in the morning (no, not red...) salad of cucumber, radish and a slice of tomato for lunch, and in the evening its an apple. The curry – I just figured, almost always tastes the same; when I saw a few days ago that lunch was cucumber curry – I was horrified – but after tasting it, it really wasnt any different from the meal we had the day before. :D and yes I had to admit, when I saw boiled potatoes 2 days ago, I waited an hour until everyone finished and used all the tricks it took to get some.
Accommodation – not much experience there as I am staying in the ashram (which is honestly paradise on its own), but, if you want to come to this part of India to do yoga or spend a few days wondering around; there are hundreds of ashrams here, all categories and prices, and it takes about 2 seconds to find accommodation around Ramjhula and Laxmanjhula, the nicer parts of the area (I wouldnt recommend the Rishikesh market area, it doesnt seem to be anything appealing to me – for accomodation, that is).
Internet and phones – there is internet cafes around, and though the connection is not the fastest at most places, it doesnt take much to find a place where you can write an email or two. At smaller shops the challenge is, that the computers are so old that for instance skype doesnt run on them, or it takes an hour to boot, but hey, dont expect the best service ever. The other challenge is when the power is out, it happens daily that it goes, sometimes there is no electricity for hours. Practice patience, thats what i can say. Nevertheless, my vodafone mobile works perfectly, one thing I cant do is start calls (thankfully). On the other hand there are long distance phone boots (STD, hahahahha) on every 3 meters, so phone-issues can be solved pretty easily too.
Transportation – I seriously would recommend to stay in Delhi overnight if you arrive late; the roads are so bad that it is a suicide to drive a long flight anyway. You can also take the train, which they say is perfectly fine provided you buy a 2nd or 1st class ticket, no experience there so, cant say yes or no. Local way of going is by riksas, if you share with others (once I did with 12 other passengers + driver + me!!!! J ), and it cost me 10 INR which if i had the riksa on my own would have cost 100. Makes sense, no?
And at last, locals and safety – honestly, I have no idea. Everyone tells me never to go out of the ashram at night – which I wouldnt do anyway; and I have heard of some missing female tourists etc, but, thank god, no bad experience with this. Amazing is the mix of foreigners you find in Ramjhula/Laxmanjhula; the one time when I was downtown, in a little cafe called Office (VERY highly recommended!!!! The guys working there are friendly and smiling, the atmosphere is great and the fruit salads are something to die for, plus they have the best chai in the region too...), there were Americans, Germans, Israelis, me, a Korean girl, Brits, French, an Italian guy, a Japanese, and 3 Russian ladies - go figure. I guess you could spend a lifetime sitting in the same spot talking to the weirdest people you have ever seen. The locals are usually veryfriendly, the only thing I just hate is when young guys, driving riksas are adjusting the rearview mirror and watch you instead of the road, all the way, up the hill, down the hill, around the cow, into the puddle. Aaaaaa! And of course there are the million cows, and begging old fellas (yogis? Not sure in most cases...), I think there must be dozens of them on every squaremeter.
And, AND my friends, the Ganges, is not a running shitflow! It doesnt smell nor look like it, not at this part of India though, at the bottom of the mountains.
So, come to India! It definitely worth the experience – and I havent even seen any of it yet.
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