Hi we are Joerik and Pauline from Holland!    

We just completed our 18 months long trip.                                         

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No stress in Rishikesh

We are at a beautiful place right at the foot of the Himalayas. The town where we are staying started to get famous in the late 60ies when The Beatles stayed there for 2 months while working on their album. They stayed at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram. The Ashram of a Yogi that was well known to me since I grew up in a dutch Maharishi Community.

These days Rishikesh is the number one hot-spot for Yoga, Meditation and Spirituality. After our first hectic two weeks in India (you will hear more later). Rishikesh seemed to be the perfect town to get some rest. So let me describe an average day here:

We wake up early with the rising sun showing itself from behind the mountains. I open the door to the balcony and stretch myself. Fresh air coming from the mountains. The sound of the wild Ganges river surrounds me. I walk to the road and order two fresh chai which I drink from my hammock while I enjoy the view. Pauline and I start with a Yoga class. There is so much choice from different types of yoga so we get surprised again and again. After Yoga its still early morning and we enjoy a healthy yogurt, fresh fruits and honey breakfast. This is the moment when Pauline and I Start making plans for the day. Today we drive along the Ganges river with our rented motorbike. We stop at a small path which leads us to an amazing beautiful waterfall. Together with our new Canadian friends we walk uphill while the sun gets hotter and hotter. We are so happy when we reach the waterfall. Together with local Indians we swim at the base. Later that afternoon when we are back at our basic (ashram) stay we take some time to relax. Before dinner we try a Osho Dynamic meditation class. Wow that's was quite interesting. The sun falls, surrounded by other travelers and some laid back music we enjoy our curries with naan bread. I think to myself: Why would I ever leave this place.

After the first two weeks we almost forgot that India could be so relaxed. From the Taj Mahal we traveled to Rajahstan. A beautiful province with a specific culture and architecture. We enjoyed it a lot but after 20 temples and palaces we were more than fine. The heat was much and I had suffered from diarrhea for more than a week. Indians asking for selfies (especially with Pauline of course) were hard to keep away from us. We were allso a bit stressed after our camera broke on day two. It took two weeks before we found a professional who was able to fix it.

Now we are more relaxed and look back at the first two weeks it is very clear that we have already seen and experienced a lot. It's a nice feeling to leave a place behind and move on. We will also leave Rishikesh behind. Our plan is to slowly move higher into the Himalayas all the way up to the border of Tibet.

This is a series of 18 months a traveling from India overland to Holland. Please read #1 for and introduction. Click here

Thanks you all for reading and upvoting :)