India - Step 5.4: Rishikesh Yoga Ashrams, Vegan Cafés and the smell of incense sticks

Coming from Mumbai, Dehli and Agra - it was a relief to finally reach Rishikesh.

The place where all the Yogi and Hippie tourists are. It´s not really Rishikesh - it is a part over the Ganges called Tapovan. Here I found what I was craving: more Yogaplaces that you can count, vegan Cafés and Bakerys, Hippie-vibes, Reiki, Ayurveda and everywhere is the smell of incense sticks.

Arriving here was again a little adventure. The bus dropped me on the middle of the highway at the entrance of Rishikesh - which is still like 15km away from the place that I just described. It was again the middle of the night, me standing somewhere, nowhere and uber wasn´t an option.

Luckily there were other people who needed to go that way, so I took a shared TukTuk which was still expensive as it was a longer ride. At one point the Tuktuk drops you because you need to cross the Ganges. Which at this point is not possible with 4-wheelers, so only with scooters. Again I had luck, because in the Tuktuk I met a hostel-owner. I didn´t had accommadation so I could go join them with the Scooter and stay at the hostel for one night.

The next morning I took a boat back to the other side of the river to Tapovan. As I was still sick I decided to take a room for 2 days to get better before I joined the Yoga Ashram.

Walking around Rishikesh, you still notice the India-vibes of cows, traffic, honking and chaos but it is way less then in the places I´ve been before and all covered by the Yogi-Vibe. On the street markets you can buy typical Hippie-Clothes, Crystals, Jewerly, Incense sticks, teas and more. In tiny streets you find entirely vegan bakerys that make my heart beat higher.

I arrived in the Ashram and instantly regretted that I can only stay 3 days. It has a very calm, peaceful and spiritual vibe. I had a shared room with another german girl, that unfortunately left after my first day.

The Ashram has a daily schedule that starts at 5:20 a.m.

THE FOOD was included and really good. And with really good I mean some of the best food I had. Its kind of always the same: lentil Dals or Curry, rice and Chapati (love) and also a mix of veggies and Potatoe which was so tasty. I will miss it.

In general it reminded me of the time in VIPASSANA - also following a schedule and having good indian food. Even though the schedule here was less strict, with a lot of free time and also not obligatory to follow. The Yoga we did was very different than the classes I had before. They focus a lot on pranayama (Breathwork) and don`t do a lot of vinyasa flows.

It was a perfect enviroment for yoga, meditation, reading in the free times and focusing on yourself and inner-work. The yoga halls in the ashram are super beautiful and one morning we did Yoga at the Ganges.

Still every morning I sat in my vegan Shala Café, sometimes with girls from the Ashram and sometimes alone to work or write my blog.

After the days in the Ashram I had two more nights in a hostel, very close to another super cute vegan Café Place called Secret Garden.

Most of the time I stayed in these nice Cafés, I met a german girl and we went to the Ganges beach together. My last day I even did a Reiki Chakra healing session

Summing up my India-Experience; I can say I learned a lot. It is not only because I did a 10-days meditation course, stayed in a yoga ashram and did a Reiki session. But also because I experienced so many unusual and new situations for me. The traffic, the people, the chaos, the culture, the food, the monkeys, the dogs, the cows, the temples, the hostels… India is for sure an adventure you need to be ready for and you will expand your horizon for sure

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I need to say I am more than ready to leave and have a good time in Sri Lanka, waiting for new adventures.