I was booked on the overnight bus so was killing time. I decided to get something to eat and headed down main bazar to find something. There was a bloke and his son cooking aloo tika that looked OK so I ordered some. He put on sauce that I didnt want so we had a fight about it and I stipidly took it cos he said it would be better with the sauce. The problem was a curd based sauce, I would NEVER have that type of sauce here. I scrapped most of it off and thought I would be OK cos I have had no trouble since Kathmandu. It hit at about 2am at the bus stop on the way to Haridwar. I'll spare you the details but it was not pretty. The bus ride was the most uncomfortable I have ever had. The reclining seat did not recline and the road was rough as. Maybe the train is not so bad after all. When we got to Haridwar we were imediately surrounded by touts. It is 5am and not a good time to be looking for a hotel. The first one wanted 1600Rp which I bartered down to 500 but he said checkout is noon, then rate goes back to 1600 or checkout. Second place was similar til I lay on his step to try to get some sleep and look a bit later. As soon as I lay down he changed his mind and offered me the room for 24 hours but he had his chance and I left. The place I found down the road was the grubbiest place I have had so far but it was cheap at 200rp for 24 hours and I needed to use the toilet again so I took it. Im not game to use the bathroom without shoes and sox on and it is noisy as hell. My kinda place. Everyone says there is nothing to see in Haridwar and they are almost right. One end of town is the railway station and the other end is the happening end. I went to the Mansa Devi temple. You take a cable car up the side of a hill to the top where there is a temple. I didnt bother going inside but took a couple of pics from up there. There is another temple on a hill the other side of the ganges and you can see both with a bus ride between both if you want to. I didnt cos Ive seen a temple or two by now. The other big drawcard here is Har-Ki-Pairi Ghat. There are more sadhu's here than at Varanasi. In places they were six deep and you should have seen them trip over each other trying to get at the old white guy walking down the ghat. I did not see another white person in Hardiwar. The Ganges (gunga) flows so fast through here they have put chains all the way along the ghats for people to hold on to. Kids scour the water for anything that might happen to fall off like jewellery etc. A family had bought what looked to be the father who had been cremated in a big plastic bag. They had a little ceremony and put his ashes in the ganges, straight away the kids checking for gold teeth or jewellery, then chuck the plastic bag in the river as well. May as well get a blessing for the bag as well as dad.