Yoga in the Himalayan foothills

The lovely ladies Chrissy and Tash came to visit for a couple of weeks. We decided to take them up to Rishikesh for a week of vegetarian food, no alcohol and chilling out. The holiday could have been a complete disaster as Tash and Chrissy don’t go very well without alcohol and Tash hates ‘chilling’…

But we thought ‘what the hell’ and took them on the 6-hour drive up to the start of the hills. Some of the traffic was manic, as to be expected, and what made it worse was the girls egging me on to overtake when there was no space. I dutifully obliged much to Helen's horror who had a front row seat.

Thankfully Rishikesh was great – We managed to get the mix of yoga, eating and exploring just right. A few highlights of the trip for me included:

• Yoga on the rooftop of our homestay. The home stay comes highly recommended if you visit (http://seventhheaveninnrishikesh.com/)

•  Buying a Tibetan singing bowl (under candlelight because the power was out). I also learnt how to play it (ish).

• Playing around in the Ganges on a beach we found near the Beatles Ashram.

• Trekking up to a lovely waterfall

Not to be outdone....

• The food was great. The dish below is from a nice Tibetan place called Moonlight cafe.

• Visiting Haridwar on the way back and seeing the daily ceremony (Ganga Aarti) at Hari-ki-Pair

Spot the odd ones out....

We weren't quite brave enough to bathe in the Ganges but we did put our feet in (its quite cold and there is a very strong current!)

A few things I would like the Rishikesh tourism board to sort out – the aggressive cows, the incessant noise of motorbike horns and the bridge (didn’t like crossing it as it gave me vertigo)!

We returned to Delhi and went to the commission before I had to head off for a stag do in Jaipur later that evening (another 7 hour drive in the opposite direction). With lunch we ordered a beer and a bottle of wine. When the wine arrived the girls commented that ‘now we're on holiday’... 

So next time they visit I’m going to do away with the interesting trips and excursions and instead just make sure my fridge is fully stocked!

Thanks girls for a great holiday... :-)