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Jeff Robson's Travels
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Location Date Pakistan 1707091200 South Korea 1531004400 India 
1530918000 Thailand 1529967600 United Arab Emirates 1503097200 -
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Location Date Wed, 30 August 2017 1504103462 Thu, 24 August 2017
1503568023
- Woke up early again, packed the final things into my case & backpack then checked out & went to the airport.
- Big lines at the airport counter. They called my flight so I went straight to the counter & checked in.
- Made it to the plane & off we went
- Landed in Dehradun about 45min later & got a taxi to my hotel in Haridwar.
- 45min taxi ride to Haridwar. Pretty rural area & not a lot of particularly scenic things along the way.
- Looks like quite a poor area with lots of very basic, run-down houses & shops.
- Haridwar streets are very chaotic: tuk-tuks, bicycles, cows, dogs, pedestrians, cars, trucks & bicycle rickshaws
- Couldn't check-in the the hotel as it was too early so went & had breakfast
- Posted in the WhatsApp group to see if anyone else had arrived early & Angitha replied that she was already there & was planning a trip to see some of the temples there as there's not much else to see. I said sure, I'd like to join her so off we went.
- She told me a lot of the different Hindu gods. The main ones are:
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- Bhrama: creator. His wife is Saraswathy: goddess of knowledge
- Vishnu: maintainer (the blue guy). Wife is Lakshmi: goddess of wealth
- Shiva: destroyer who also smokes a lot of weed. Wife is Paravathy: goddess of strength
- There are about 33m different Hindu gods (not sure who counted them all) which basically means they worship just about everything, including animals & trees.
- But "worship" generally just means they respect all life.
- Temples we visited:
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- Daksh Mahadev: lots of smaller rooms & gurus who want to bless you (in exchange for a donation of course). Took my life in my hands & ordered a nice fruit juice from a street side stand. The guy washed out the glass by swishing it in water using his hands, then squeezed some fruit juice into it. Oh well, take some chances.
- Manasa Devi: cable car to the top of a hill (cool guru with sunglasses)
- Chandi Devi: another cable car (other side of the valley) after walking though a shop, down some stairs, then along a path next to the railway line!
- Really hot & humid day - even more so inside the temples but the Indians hardly even sweat!
- Lunch at Indian/Chinese restaurant (seems to be a lot of Indian restaurants that have both). Nice air con. Then off to the last temple.
- Over lunch, we discussed a range of things including Indian arranged marriages (she was previously in a relationship with a guy for 7 years but had to break it off as his family didn't approve of her).
- Apparently about 80% of marriages are arranged in India & when you marry someone, you also marry their family!
- We also discussed some of the discrimination she's experienced as a single girl. It's better in the south of India but the north is a bit more conservative & traditional. One hotel she tried to check into in her own wouldn't even let her check-in because she wasn't accompanied by a husband! She said that's unusual but it illustrates the attitudes.
- We went back to the hotel to rest & freshen up for a while then she picked me up again at about 5.45pm.
- We went to Ganga Arathi at Hari Ki Pauri. Our driver took us most of the way then we took a bicycle rickshaw for the rest for 50 Rupees ie $1). They ushered Angitha & I down to the very front though we're not sure why - possibly because I was one of about 3 white people there. Anyway, glad we had such a prime position to view everything.
- A guy put some flowers in my hand, made me recite some words after him, got me to throw the flowers into the river, then asked for 500 Rupees ($10). I gave him 100 instead - probably still too much!
- Angitha put an offering of flowers with a candle in it into the river after repeating some prayers. It's a very pretty ceremony.
- There were people bathing in the river, throwing dye in, flowers, & even drinking from it!! How these guys are still alive is beyond me!
- Lots of chanting, raising hands, clapping, & burning things ... no real idea what was going on however it was a fantastic experience & I felt very privileged to be there. Such a great time & so unexpected. I'm so glad I met Angitha!
- I was standing with one foot in the river while taking photos & a very persistent fish kept nibbling my foot! Bit freaky at first.
- Such an amazing party atmosphere - just like the royal show! People selling fairy floss, spinning glowing things, glow horns & lots of stalls selling flower offerings, jewellery, toys, shoes, food ...
- They do it every night of the year! I'd seen a few photos of this ceremony on the internet but didn't realise it was on every night. Apparently once in every 12 years, they do an even bigger party!
- Went back to the hotel after taking some more photos, then had dinner with another couple: Manisha & Ahmeh who were staying at the same hotel as me.
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