Cave and Rivers near Devaprayag, India

FEBRUARY 23, 2013

What day is it?  How long have I been here?  Time to get out and explore.  My host arranges for a day trip up in the mountains. 

Only forty minutes from the guesthouse my driver, who speaks exactly zero English, pulls over and points down a path from the main road.  No idea where I am to go.  I wander down hill, aimlessly.  Past a tumble down shack.  Past a yard where a cow grazes.  Further down the steep grade a temple of some kind appears and the path ends at a locked gate. 

looking down on the clouds from the temple

I stand around for a minute debating whether or not to jump the gate and continue when a man appears at a distance to my left and, I think, motions for met to continue.  It’s hard for me to say since in India the traditional head shake to indicate “yes” is really just a wobble and the hand gesture for “go that way” looks more like what us westerners would use to shoo someone away. 

how obvious is it that today was the day that, after 4 years of owning it, I learned my camera has a panoramic function?

Through the gate there is the biggest banyan tree I’ve ever seen growing around and into a rock wall.  There’s another gate leading to …a cave? I don’t know.  Again I stand around.  Chancing it, I open the gate and enter.  It’s so dark I can’t see a thing.  There’s a mattress to my left leading me to believe I might actually be in someone’s home.  The cave walls are one meter on either side of me and the ceiling is only slightly taller than I am.  Five steps in an there is enough of a glow of light for me to see meditation mats on the floor on either side of me.  Five more steps and I round a corner to see an altar with stone serpent and lingam, decorated with flower garlands and lit up with several candles.  The incense smoke is so thick I can taste it. 

I took a seat to meditate.  My mind was busy, nervous with the thought I shouldn’t be in there.  Time passed – five minutes, …twenty minutes, …I have no idea.  Men gathered outside the cave.  The entered walking right past me to the front.  Did they even see me?  It takes so long for you eyes to adjust its possible they walked inches from me without knowing.  At the altar they began to chant in unison, performing some type of ritual I could not quite make out.  I settled back in to my meditation. 

Some minutes later I got up and left, never knowing if they saw me and if I was supposed to be there.

The muddy water doesn't mix with the clean for a whole km

The next stop was the confluence of the two rivers in the area. 

view from my balcony

We climbed and climbed and climbed.  My altimeter read 2,100 meters a full two hours later before we stopped.  At this point in my journey I was pretty templed out. They are sacred.  They have historical significance.  They are beautiful.  And I’m bored of them.  People come from far and wide to see the temple that I view from my balcony every day. 

However, the temple here in ...wait ...where am I today?  Doesn't matter.  The temple was pretty amazing.  Not sure why this one felt different.  Maybe it was the elevation and the view overlooking the mountains.  Maybe it was the echoing of drums and horn, ceremoniously marking my entrance. 

Back down at the guest house it was time to seriously think about my departure from Rishikesh.