It was a bit of a mission to get to Laxman Jhula (my final destination) another rickshaw ride and a walk down lots of steep steps and then over the bridge. The bridge was pretty narrow and crossed the Ganga which looked beautiful with clean water and little beaches. Quite a surprise after what I remembered of Varanasi two years ago. I negotiated the usual obstacles, people, cows resting in the middle, a few monkeys perched on the wires looking aggressively at the passers by and of course the odd motor bike. I had been given the Bombay guest house as a reference point by some other travellers and it was ideally situated so I tried my luck. At this time most of the places were full so luckily there was a large room available. I had the task of finding accommodation for Jan (O.K. Tim. I changed a few names in the beginning but no one needs that much anonymity really) and Dan and as I had gone along with others organizing most though not all of the accommodation I felt I better organise something good. The room was crap but large and hey three guys need the basics and that's what we had. I was there for five days on my own. Even I tried to brighten up the place with my aum sheet stuck against the wall and a brightly coloured sheet which ended up as safi.
After settling in I woke up with a bad tooth ache and knew this one was not going to go. With typical denial I put it out of the front of my mind and told myself I would find a dentist the next morning. As I went for my first wander literally across the road at the German Bakery was Mark. I met Mark two years ago in Vattakanal so we sat and chatted for a while. I was really pleased to see him again. There was some festival going on (bugger time) I now forget the name. He suggested we go as he was going to check it out anyway. Later in the day Mark and I were walking along the road and I saw Anastasia who I also met I think in Kassol two years ago so now in one day I met two old friends. Great! Anastasia also had some strong pain killers which I took and the pain subsided somewhat. We hung out together and made some plans for the next day to meet up.
I woke up to intense pain and found my way back to Rishikesh and a dentist. I was told I would need root canal treatment. Oh, god I thought. It would take five days to complete. Great my independence was to be used like this? I had no choice so agreed to the treatment gobbling the pain killers which thankfully worked to about ninety percent and sat back and the drilling commenced.
With root canal treatment for those of you lucky enough to have escaped it so far the dentist takes a small wire brush and skewers out your nerve endings. The pain goes right into your skull. Anyway enough of my torture in the chair. It passed but I was left with swelling for ten days.
Now I want to talk about what really interested me. The intense energy there. It was incredible! Everyone I came into contact with felt a powerful attraction to the place. It was strong yet gentle. On one level it is full of temples with Indians clanging bells and making puja. There are yoga and meditation centres, Ashrams and of course the famous ashram where the Beatles stayed. The holy Ganga river where people washed themselves both to get clean and for spiritual purposes. I must emphasise the water was fast running and clean. A tad chilly but not that bad, oh, and no dead body's.
On the day we had all organised I was woken up by Tim. He had arrived quite early and woke me from a deep sleep. Having not seen each other for a while it was great to see him again. We hugged and chatted and caught up on what we had both been up to. A couple of hours later and Dan appeared. The three of us reunited and it felt good. Pretty instantly the jam sessions started again and it was like old times. Tim tried to turn me into a kinda roadie but I thankfully failed miserably and went back to just listening.
Tim and I decided to do a reiki course together and this was just the prompt I needed. I have done reiki two but have had to sit with it and only practice on animals. Just another way of learning patience (still need to work on that a wee bit). As soon as we finished the course I according to the certificate was now re named a Mr. Richard Spene. The chap had the balls to say that was how I spelt it and for a second I wondered if that was possible thinking the last time I misspelled my surname I was about three. Anyway name corrected I have my reiki one certificate. Then the fun started. At this point I know some of you may think I'm bonkers (some have for years) I saw peoples auras. From time to time over the course of my life I have seen them and said very little about it but now it was as if people were walking about with flames like those from a hob above their heads on full blast. when I started to practice poor Dan was my first guinea pig and I made the mistake of touching his crown chakra. He said it felt something like dunking an empty milk bottle in some water. Dunk! We were told not to as it is so sensitive. No harm was done though as it is spiritual energy and will not harm anyone. Then Auras and all the different colours. I am learning what they all mean but I saw purple, white, gold, blue and many more. This kind of talk can get one locked up but everyone seemed to be in tune and I saw what I saw and I now I see it as a gift.
Soon we had our little group and hung out together usually starting at the German Bakery across the road where three or so Indians worked and the best and brightest was little Santosh who was much older than his few years. It may sound posh but it was a shack really.
The weather picked up fast and soon we were spending a lot of time on one of the beaches and swimming in the fresh river.
The day came when we all decided to go to The Beatles ashram. It was only forty minutes if that from where we were staying and so we set off with didgeridoo, djembe and guitar. the walk was easy and we were soon there. We paid our fifty rupees and in we went. It is unmaintained and overgrown but still magical. The windows were all smashed but the buildings were mostly intact. As we walked around you still got a strong sense of what John, Paul, George and Ringo must have seen. We saw building number nine where John Lennon went to meditate and wrote the song no. 9. and then we found these cool dome buildings with ladders up the sides. we all climbed in and of course I got a little stuck as I couldn't swing my leg over, it cramped. Eventually we were all inside and then the music started. The acoustics were brilliant and I sat back with the sounds of the music carrying me away with my dreams. Pascal and his mates were there and heard us and came over and joined in. To the people who were there thank you for your beautiful music and company. I have some pics I desperately want to put up but as my netbook has crashed I am praying that the info can be saved. If so they will all be posted. There Is so much to say about Rishikesh I think I will make it a two parter. Next in a couple of days.
