Himalayas

Today V and I ate a tasty American breakfast, drank coffee as we watched people cross a footbridge over the Ganga, and relaxed. Then we hiked 8 miles into the foothills of the Himalayas and visited an ashram called Phool Chatti Ashram. We sat in quiet solidude over the river and enjoyed the views the Ashram afforded us. We ran into Steven again, as this was where he was staying. He invited us to stay for lunch, and we got to eat with the swami, who, Vidhu observed, "looks like one of Santa's elves." Afterwards the three of us embarked on another hike into the forrest (Steven being the third, not the swami), and the day and hike were just beautiful. The sun was shining and we were all alone. I finally feel like I'm relaxing!!! Ahh.
Afterwards we trekked down to the Ganga and blessed ourselves by touching the holy water. Vidhu taught me a little prayer, which we sung as we annointed our foreheads. Then we giggled. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad that I am here with Vidhu. We watched the sun set over the village as we ate fresh yogurt with fruit and afterwards we retired to our room to read. I would love to stay longer here, but we're taking a train back to Delhi tomorrow, so that we can go on to Ashra and visit the Taj Mahal. But besides the damn hippies, I liked Rishikesh a lot.