miscommunication.

It all began with our ride to Haridwar. Our plan was to go from Woodstock to Haridwar, then take the overnight train to Jaipur, where we would spend a very full, very touristy filled weekend and then return on yet another overnight train, arriving back to school with one hour left to spare before the start of parent teacher conferences. We should have known this was a bad idea right from the start, but that would be admitting defeat. We were able to score a free ride from Arjun- a parent of one of Lauren’s students who offered the use of his car and driver and even packed us snacks for our journey. We painlessly arrived in the city and were dropped at the train station with plenty of time to make our train...
Prime example of why it is of utmost importance that I learn more Hindi. After pushing our way through crowds of Indians and talking with someone at the ticket booth, we learned we were to go to platform 9 for our train. We sat and sat, made friends with locals who were camping out there for the night, oblivious to the fact that well, there was only one train in the entire station and it was at platform 6. 8:00, the scheduled time of departure, came and went, and the train at platform 6 left but ours still wasn’t there- what was the deal? As the train pulled away a man came up and spoke adamantly in Hindi, which we don’t speak, then finally he gave up and left. We joked that he probably told us we needed to run if we wanted to not miss our train; turns out yup, he was.

Haridwar was very interesting because it is one of Hinduism’s holiest cities. The Mother Ganges flows through and pilgrims arrive in droves to bathe in the holy water. We spent much of our time meandering through the streets, watching the eclectic mix of the locals and the pilgrims. Haridwar is much less touristy than Rishikesh and we were the only white people in miles.

Superb bus system- Haridwar to Dehradun (1.5 hours) is approximately 80 cents

Rishikesh, made famous by The Beatles, and also known as the ‘Yoga Capital of the World’, was a total trip. The entire city has a serene aura of connectivity and calmness that I have never experienced before. It’s a large backpacking hang out; prices are ridiculously cheap and there is a ton going on. Ashrams, yoga and mediation classes are found around every corner, Sadhus (spiritual men) are scattered throughout the city and beaches, and the food and social scenes were great- it was really good to see and interact with other 20-30 year olds who are out exploring the world. We took the bus from Rishikesh to Dehradun feeling 100 percent revived.

Rishikesh

Embodiment of our Rishikesh stay

In Dehradun, we stopped at our usual places of interest, but also had the chance to stop at KKM- a leoprasy mission and home in the heart of Dehradun. It was absolutely fascinating. It is a place for those labeled by society as ‘lepers’ and not able to find work anywhere else due to the attached stigma, to find a sense of belonging. It provides its workers with homes, food, and jobs in the form of spinning, weaving, or tailoring, all on the premise of the mission. These women and men were really excited to interact with us, despite the language barriers. They carry with them a deep sense of understanding of the way the world works, and are surprisingly optimistic and carefree.