Haridwar

I was only supposed to pass through Haridwar, but India had other plans for me.  Although I was disappointed I didn’t get to see the Golden Temple in Amritsar or the fun border ceremony at the Pakistani border, I had an enjoyable and (mostly) relaxing day along the Ganges in Haridwar.

Like Rishikesh, Haridwar is a holy city along the Ganges.  It is vegetarian by law, and there is a nightly Ganga Aarti ceremony.

Before setting out to explore Haridwar, I went directly to the train station.  I probably went to see if there were any signs that my train back to Delhi was canceled.  I couldn’t figure that out for sure, but I was surprised at what I realized there.  The sign I’d seen before indicating canceled trains wasn’t hastily put together.  I was a semi-permanent sign showing my the nightly train to Amritsar, along with 9 other trains, had been canceled for over 2 months.  Hmm, advance notice that my train had been canceled surely would have been nice.  Oh well.  That’s India!

Because I hadn’t prepared an itinerary for a day in Haridwar, I just rambled about.  As I strolled down Haridwar’s main street, I eventually realized that I was seeing a lot of orange.  There were lots of orange decorations for sale in the shops lining the street.  There was also a happy, carnival-like atmosphere.  I was starting to thinking I had stumbled across a major Hindu festival.

The giant statue of Shiva stands in a park on the tip of a small island at the entrance to the channel that cuts off from the Ganges.  My visit there was the unhappiest part of my day in Haridwar.  As I entered the park, a group of beggar children approached me.  As I’d seen with other beggar children, they were mumbling in very low voices as if they didn’t intend that I hear or understand what they were saying.  Also like I’d seen elsewhere, they were making motions with their hands from about chest-high to their mouths.  I could only guess it meant that if I handed them money, they would eat.

I had read before my trip to India that you shouldn’t give money to beggars.  If you did, you’d be identified as someone with money to spare and you’d be swarmed.  It’s an unhappy situation to be in because it’s only human to want to help.  Although I tried to ignore these children, they followed me around the park relentlessly, mumbling and gesturing the whole time.  I can’t tell you how unnerving the low-level mumbling is.  Although I had been hoping to relax in the park, I had to leave quickly.  The children finally let me be once I left the park.

Going Back to Delhi

It wasn’t the day I had planned, but it was the day I was given.  And I made the best of it.  Now it was time to return to Delhi for my 3rd and final visit there.  And then, believe it or not, my trip to India will finally be over.

Fortunately, my train to Delhi wasn’t canceled.  I shared a compartment with a chatty American woman who was in Haridwar for dental tourism.  It seems that flying all the way to India can be cheaper that getting certain dental work done in the States.  I wish that were more shocking.  It just seems funny to have to go all the way to out-of-the-way Haridwar.  But apparently Haridwar is a hotspot for dental tourism.

Anyway, as we approached Delhi, she offered me a ride in her Uber.  Now those that know me know I’m not a fan of Uber or its ilk.  But I wouldn’t be paying for it, and it was getting late.  And I was really interested in seeing how hailing an Uber would work at a busy, chaotic Indian train station.

Well, it didn’t work.  She kept calling the guy.  But she never found him, and he never found her.  So we went with what my plan had been all along–taking the subway.  My new friend insisted I do something that made me very nervous–sit with her in the “women only” coach.  I protested, but she insisted it would be okay.  Fortunately, it was only 3 stops to get to where I was going.  And sure enough, at the second to last stop, the officials came on board.  They started yelling at me.  Thanks a lot, lady!

By the time they stopped yelling at me, we had arrived at my stop.  Fortunately, yelling was the harshest treatment I got.  I said goodbye to the dental tourist, sprinted off the subway, and ascended to Connaught Place, New Delhi’s very British traffic circle and shopping district.  I quickly found my hotel.  For my last 2 nights in India, I’d be staying at a comfortably modern city hotel.  I checked in, had dinner in the restaurant, and settled in for the homestretch.

[Factual information is primarily gathered from Wikipedia, so you know it must be true.]