Now we were to join the rest of the group in Rishikesh. We were asked to report one day before departure at a Tourist complex. Frequency of the tour was one on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We picked the Tuesday tour. We took an auto rickshaw from TTD to the Tourist complex. It was large enough for three people and Rao's confidence in his efficiency in loading fitted our luggage also.
Nirmala was continuously coughing. She and Rao started conversation with the driver in Hindi. In my opinion, they had the same level of knowledge in spoken Hindi. They would not let me open my mouth. But, after every conversation, I had to translate everything to the driver (which was a boost to my ego!!!!). We were at the complex by 7 p.m. after dinner.
A total of 26 including one 10 year old boy Mohil arrived. We all stayed in the rooms allocated for each family. There were two other Telugu speaking families. A few from Gujarat and few others from UP. One couple from Bombay area Anil and Rashma became our close friends. I still have the large pine cone that they gave us which they collected in the wilderness there. Rashma was seen sitting and meditating during early morning hours where ever we stayed for night along the Holy rivers. One of the Telugu families was from California. There were some self introductions!! We left Rishikesh at 7 a.m. (after some breakfast) towards Barkot. We had a drive of about 220 kms ahead of us. By the way, Rishikesh is at an altitude of 345 meters. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides and is known as gateway to Heaven. Very beautiful and very peaceful.
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