That flighty temptress, adventure

On Saturday morning, we rose in the wee hours of the morning to commence our trek through the hills of the greater Rishikesh area. We were met by the owner and several other men by the main office at 6 a.m., and we were handed a bag with packed breakfast and told that we would be driven to the drop-off location and our guide would meet us there on a motorbike. We were all a little groggy but mostly excited to be breathing fresh mountain air, preparing to do something wholesome and active and fun. After some brief waiting on the side of the road while we thought our guide had gotten lost (promising start!), we turned around and headed in the correct direction.

The drive to the temple was stunning in and of itself — the road wound through the hills, steadily climbing and providing spectacular views of Rishikesh and the Ganga below. The hills were huge and beautiful and reminded me why I love living in mountainous areas. They were sharp, lush, and green, and I think we all realized how lucky we were to be out of Delhi for the weekend in this environment. The road had a series of funny safety signs lining its length (for good reason) that said things like, "Speed is the knife that cuts life," and, "Driving is risky when drinking whiskey," and, "License to drive, not fly." We saw cows being herded and a Christian school and people going about their daily lives, as well as a newly dead cow in the road that we all found slightly upsetting. We saw a lot of terraced farms, which I was really excited about because I remembered seeing pictures from Eliza's trip to Rishikesh. Honestly, that's all I could remember from her pictures from Rishikesh and largely what I based my desire to go there around, so I'm glad I got to see the terraced farms and I had such a wonderful experience in Rishikesh.

Upon our arrival at the temple atop an "almost perfectly conical hill," as my guide book described it, we tumbled out of the car and admired the mountains and small settlements in all directions. A few people felt carsick by that point (especially those facing backwards), but thankfully I've remained remarkably uncarsickable my whole life. India is really not the place for you if you are easily prone to motion sickness. Anyway, the views were spectacular and I had a cup of chai on the mountaintop while our guide had a pre-hike cigarette. We were a little skeptical of said guide because he was wearing a funny orange scarf and we thought he had already gotten lost once just getting to the start of the hike, but he actually turned out to be quite good.

We climbed approximately seven million (or maybe 300) steps up to the temple area itself, which afforded us 360-degree views of the Himalayan foothills. Apparently you can see the Himalayas themselves (DREAM COME TRUE) on a clear day, but there was a bit of haze so we were unable to see the snow-capped peaks. We entered the small temple and received some kind of blessing (the kind involving the red paint on the forehead with rice stuck in it) from the priest and headed outside. It was some of the best time I've spent in India so far because the air was fresh, the scenery was beautiful, and I felt really at peace where I was. We took pictures and our guide cracked a coconut as part of the religious offering, and we all ate a little bit. After descending from the temple (side note: shout out to Julia for doing this hike on Yom Kippur when she was fasting), my legs were shaking a little bit already, but it was early and we all knew we just needed to get warmed up after being so physically inactive for such a long time.

We learned that our hike would be 12 km down, which is approximately 7.5 miles, a fact we hadn't realized when we decided to trek down the mountains. Luckily (or maybe unluckily, depending if you prefer tired knees or being out of breath) it was entirely downhill. We passed through little villages, if you can even call them that, farms, and schools, and eventually we were paralleling a stream. At this point we stopped to eat our parathas that had been packed for breakfast, and then we continued on our way to a waterfall that Kendra, Sarah Kate, and Berit immediately jumped right under. Being the worry wart that I am, I knew I would be uncomfortable in wet pants on the way down, so I just flipped my head over under the water and got my hair wet. It was still lovely and refreshing, and after a few more minutes of frolicking, we were on our way back down. The hike was wonderful overall, and a fantastic change from the chaos and pollution of Delhi. We ended right at our hotel, where we immediately showered and took naps in the sun.

I will finish blogging about Rishikesh tomorrow, but everyone hope that Rachael feels better because she's not feeling well!