Insanity Part 2

*Disclaimer* I'm too tired to edit this so please excuse any misspellings or poor grammar. Day 12 (written Day 13) and Day 13 We woke up around 5am so that we could leave the hotel at 5:30am for our 6:30am yoga session in town at Sanskriti Yoga, Spa and Café. Of course we couldn’t get out on time and checkout took forever at the hotel so we ended up in the car at 6am getting to the studio at 6:45am all really bummed about missing yoga but we figured we would get a massage instead then. We get there to find that we are the only people there for yoga for the day so we ended up getting a lesson for the 3 of us at this really nice place overlooking the Ganges for about $4/each. After an amazing 2hrs of yoga and chatting with our yogi, Akshay, we told him we planned on going on a hike and he offered to take us to his ashram, and on a hike to a waterfall not far from it. We agreed to go with him but we wanted massages first so, we had some amazing tea with him and then he hung out reading the newspaper while we got our massages. These massages were crazy!, but overall, an awesome massage- very relaxing and left our skin and hair nice and soft. After the massages Sadie, our new friend and I waited for Kelly. Once he was done we headed out. He had his motorcycle with him so we got in an atuo-ricky which dropped us off a little ways up the hill and then walked about 1km from there to his ashram. We had to walk down a path, past a couple of hotels, past a cow and trash and there we were there. We sat on the front porch looking at some great scenery. He has almost any kind of fruit you could want growing, along with corn and other veggies, sitting at the base of the mountains. We got to meet his mother too, a very nice somewhat older woman. We had some lemon tea and talked more, and then went inside because Kelly wanted to send an email so we hung out looking at some of our friend’s pictures on his computer. We ended up talking about the Ganges and he had a movie about it and what the Hindu people think about it that we watched- it was pretty interesting. Kind of cool to now know what some of the things that people do there mean and what not. After pictures, chatting, movie time and email we headed out to the waterfall. The debate was to walk along the river or the road. We opted for the road because lately a tiger has been coming around at night and has already eaten to calves…darn I really wanted to see a tiger. As we were leaving his house, we had to walk along this very narrow cement canalish thing and of course what is sitting in our way, a monkey. I hate monkeys! He was like hmm what do we do, so we grabbed sticks and shooed it away…we carried our monkey sticks the 2km to the waterfall just incase we needed to fend of monkey or tigers. As we strolled along we all chatted and checked out the awesome views of the city (Rishikesh) below. Once we got to the waterfall entrance we paid the entrance fee and started our walk up the hill. Talk about out of shape, it is only a 2km hike up and I had to stop twice- granted I was going on only a few hours of sleep, no real food and it was super hot out so that could have had something to do with it. Once at the top we hung out, wishing we could get in. There were people swimming in the pool that it created but we just hung out- with my luck I would be the one person to get in and get some weird skin infection. The top top of the fall was another 5km hike UP but we opted out of it because the “top” where everyone else stops was good enough lol After hiking back down we stopped at one of the roadside shops to get more water and snacks. I was starving and got a bag of chips, a Limca (my new favorite soda) and a bottle of water and we all got this really crazy watermelon/strawberry bubble gum to try…pretty awesome stuff! When we got back to Akshay’s house, our buddy’s Mom had made us dinner! We were kind of floored- totally not expecting anything like that! She made a standard Indian dinner- soup, veggies, bread and rice…so delish! After an awesome dinner and chatting we did the dishes and then to the porch for more lemon tea and convos. He took us around his garden a little more, showing us more of the fruit he has growing on his property…we picked a pomegranate and ate it while strolling. Then we went scorpion hunting in a rock pile…sadly we found none. We were really hoping to see some crazy wildlife this weekend and all we saw were monkeys- that’s cool though right? We went on the roof of the house (the roofs here rock because they’re all flat so you can walk around them) the view was awesome! While on the roof for some reason we started a game of toss the lemon (lemons here are about the size of a ping pong ball)…this lasted until both lemons got tossed off the roof - oops!lol At this point it was about time for our taxi to be there so we hung out a little more waiting for our car. Before we left we took a picture with Akshay and his mom. When we were leaving she picked roses off the bush for us as a symbol of wishing us a good/safe journey. These people were so incredibly nice it is unbelievable. They took us in and asked nothing of us- we were wondering if it would be one of those here I’ll show you this, now give me money, but it wasn’t they were simply just that kind. The hospitality in the country is kind of amazing, for as crazy as it is here people are always (ok in general) very helpful and hospitable. Our day that started off on the wrong foot ended up to be one of our best days here so far! The drive to Haridwar was your standard Indian driving experience- I fell asleep for about 10min and woke up as we got to the train station. OMG this place was insane! People on the ground EVERYWHERE sleeping or waiting. It was sooo dirty and well lines really don’t exist here AT ALL!!! Funny thing is we were wait listed #s 8-10 for this train and so we figured out that we got bumped up or well down to #4-6 which was good news buuut time was going by and we still weren’t confirmed. After being bounced to several different windows we were told to get a “simple ticket,” so for Rs 219 we got a ticket for the 3 of us. Basically I guess it’s like buy this general ticket (after you already bought tickets) and beg them to let you on. The people here are like DMV workers- all of the life sucked right out of them- they despise everyone and don’t try to hide it. So right before the train got there (about 30min late) we found out we are no longer on the wait list which means we have bunks then right?...hahahaha this is where it gets REALLY fun! (Mom, Nanny & Papa, you may continue reading this ONLY if you don’t forbid me from traveling again) So they have the wait list in hand but only #6-20…soooo what happens to #1-5 do we not exist anymore? Umm apparently not! All we kept being told was no room on train and so we were like what do you mean no room were not on the waitlist anymore which should mean we’re on the train. Soooo we get on the train anyway and find 3 empty beds in the car we should be on because we resolved that we were getting home one way or another! All was good until the guy who’s bed Kelly apparently swiped by accident came, right at the same time as the ticket (or whatever they do people) were walking through- the same people that told us there was no room for us…oops! Thankfully by this point the train was moving but we were all caught. We had to come to the end of the car and sit…like kids in detention…they told us that at the next stop we had to get off because there was no room and we weren’t on the list. We told them no way we are not getting off at God knows where in the middle of the night (it was around midnight at this point). The train stopped, they told us to get off, and we told them no, we have a ticket we will not get off (we didn’t really have paper tickets, just our internet print out saying we were waitlisted…and somehow in the whole process of being put on time-out we lost our “simple ticket”). The guy was mad and walked off to find the real guy in charge and the train started again…at least we were one stop closer about to be two stops closer to home! They came again and we argued more saying that we belonged on the train, and wanted proof that we were not on the train (which they really couldn’t give us since the waitlist they had was #6-20- makes no sense we know) So stop number three they were like ok, come with us, they’re adding another sleeper car (a class below the one we booked) and there is space, stand here. We thought it might be a creative way to get us off the train, but what else were we going to do? So we follow the guy, and wait…mosquitoes EVERYWHERE- thank God we had a million % DEET on. About 20min later they did actually add another car and we got on…to another train guy telling us no room. Basically they pawned us off on new people? This nice Indian man translated for us and so we badgered this guy too saying that we belonged on the train and wouldn’t get off…we found an empty bottom bunk and sat…with allll of our bags. The train conductor man, went down the rows after the train started again and indeed there was room, he found us 3 beds all in the same cabin thing (it’s like China sleepers in that it is like compartments 3 bunks each side of the compartment). He took our print out, wrote down our names on his paper list and we got to go to sleep. By this point it was 2am, but we finally had a bed, we not stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night and were not in Indian jail. We decided early on that we would not get off the train unless they physically removed us and that we would rather pay a fine than be stuck who knows where. 7am came and we arrived at the Ghaziabad station…we made it home! After essentially being kicked off of the train three times, we made it home…and we didn’t have to stay in 3rd class which is quite literally like a cattle car- people are beyond crammed in standing/sitting anywhere they can- hanging off of the rails of the stairs even…keep in mind this was a 7hr overnight train- over 7hrs if you were going into Delhi. Once in Ghaziabad we were able to find an auto ricky since cabs are hard to get here unless you call them- and well good luck finding one that services anywhere but Delhi! This auto ricky was one of the few big ones that exists- it actually had 2 benches! I sat facing the back while Kelly and Sadie sat facing the front. It was the 3 of us, all of our luggage, the driver and two people crammed in front giving him directions lol He took us to the mall right across the street from work- we debated going into work as we were- one look at us and they would have told us to go home. We were FILTHY and smelled TERRIBLE- let’s just say Kelly decided to stop wearing deodorant because well if the Indians don’t then why do I have to?...ummm because we have to smell you Kelly!!! So yeah, going hiking and training and all of that without showering- it was a lovely picture lol. Once we got to Shipra, we got another auto ricky to take us to the new house about 30min away…this was a small one…it was pretty crowded but we made it home and showered…I know I say this frequently but that shower was the best shower ever! We got to the house around 8:30am and left for work around 10am…soon we will be heading home from work to have dinner and talk with the lady of the house about the logistics of our stay. We feel bad because we really haven’t been around so far to chat or anything and they are being so gracious letting us stay with them! Oh and clarification on how we got the house- so the Drs we are living know Kelly like this: his aunt’s friend from HS married an Indian man who is a brother to the man of the house- that’s how we know them lol…gotta love connections! So yeah, in a nutshell that was our weekend…a long weekend with a long day at work and little sleep- pretty awesome!:) Get pumped for next weekend- we are somehow making our way to the Taj! Oh and on our way back to the office from lunch, I was sitting on the back of the bike ricky and this car drove by, honked, rolled down the window and the guy blew me a kiss…funniest thing ever- I couldn’t help but crack up!