I GOT IN!!!

One of the things I really wanted to do in India was to get into the holy river Ganges. I am not a Hindu but I think their beliefs and rituals with mother Ganga are beautiful. When I was in Varanasi, it was pretty easy to change my mind about getting in, as it's basically a giant Petri dish! However, up here in Rishikesh, very near the origin of the river in the Himalayas, the water is much more clean (and extremely cold!) I had an opportunity to attend an Aarti in Rishikesh at the river's edge, and thought maybe now is my chance. There were tons of people, like everywhere in India, and the crowd was so big that at one point the only way to get out was to go into the river. It wasn't as if I went for a big swim, there was a cement platform that was submerged about 6" and so I was really only ankle deep, but I GOT IN!!!