On my third trip to India, in 2006, we are getting older and Asif has a wife and son and his brother Arif is in college. I decided it was time to visit Haridwar and Rishikesh. Haridwar is city in the foothills with sacred Ghats on the river Ganges and is a bit off the trail for most Western tourists. For Hindu Indians however Haridwar hosts a major Hindu festival, the annual Kanwar Mel.
Rishikesh is the city where the Beatles learned yoga and meditation. There are temples and ashrams and the city is traffic and alcohol free and is a vegetarian location. It is also on the Ganges, fresh out of the Himalayan mountains. We then visited the city of Dehradun and visited the Tibetan Buddhist monastery to watch the monks meditating. Afterwards we went to the college where Arif was studying for his hospitality degree.
Next day we went to Mussoorie, a hill station village perched onto the side of a mountain, 1880 meters above Dehradun in elevation with snow fields all around. Great to get out of the smoke and heat of the plains.
To finish my trip of 2006 Asif took me to Amritsar, the city of the famous Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh Temples (Gurdwara). It has a bathing lake within its walls. I thoroughly enjoyed that trip and some wonderful hospitality of the Sikhs in the Gurdwara. Apparently, they provide meals for thousands of people every day. I was one.
The following day we travelled to the Wagha border. Wagha is a small town that was divided in 1947 by the division of Pakistan and India. Every day before sundown they have a “Border Crossing Ceremony” which looked to me to be a scene from a Monty Python (1970) TV series, from the Ministry of Silly Walks – now celebrated over many places in Europe.
The next day we caught a train to Delhi and then my flight home. The train was comfortable and felt safe.
I have maintained my connection with Asif and his family and look forward to another tour one day. Over the years Asif has developed many contacts with hotels and locations around India. He is a resource in himself.
