Au revoir Rishikesh, rebonjour Delhi

C'est une Elise un peu amochee qui vous ecrit. Nous avons quitte Rishikesh hier et, comme notre premiere experience en bus avait ete positive, on a fait l'erreur de supposer que la deuxieme fois serait aussi bonne. On a donc achete des billets pour le bus "deluxe" des notre arrivee en ville. Hier, donc, on s'est rendu au terminus de bus pour decouvrir ce que veut dire Deluxe: pas grand chose! Les sieges etaient dechires, parfois manquants, et plutot sales.

The roads in India are a long series of pot-holes, and when there are no pot-holes, it's because they're reparing the road, which means it's a dirt road. Which all makes for a very bumpy ride. Since I had really bad pre-menstrual cramps, I couldn't stay seated without wanting to throw up, so I had to lie down on the seats. I decided I'd be more comfortable if I went to the back of the bus, where there's a long row of seats. The problem is that the back is even bumpier than the middle, so when the people in the front jump up a bit, the people in the back jump right into the air.

On a frappe une grosse bosse qui m'a fait revoler quelques centimetres dans les airs, puis, BOUM! Sur l'epaule! CRACK! AYOYE! (Rien de casse, ne vous en faites pas) Nico est vite venu voir comment j'allais, et heureusement parce que j'ai presque perdu connaissance a cause de la douleur, tout est devenu noir. Pas le fun. Apres ca, je suis retournee m'asseoir et j'ai essaye d'ignorer la douleur a l'epaule et la douleur au ventre.

I made it to Delhi and to the hotel, but all this was not good for my stomach, and I was sick with a temperature last night and this morning. Luckily, I've recovered quickly from the fever and was able to eat and wander the Main Bazar a bit this afternoon. My shoulder still hurts, but as long as I can move it I think I'll be okay.

As for Rishikesh, we did nothing that we'd planned on doing there, but we got exactly what we needed at the time. We wanted to take so many classes on this and that, we wanted this to be a contemplative week, and it was, in its own way. We rested a lot, since the hotel was so beautifully set and our room was really sunny and comfortable, we met some cool people, we got to get back to nature, which, being a Canadian girl, I miss after a while. And we got to eat some nice home-style food. A little break in the craziness that is India. Actually, I'd say Rishikesh is like India-mild, like salsa! Just exotic enough without being overwhelming.

J'ai pu assister a un mariage indien! Tout etait ferme a cause de ce mariage, ce qui m'a d'abord frustree, mais ensuite, quand j'ai compris qu'on etait tous invites, j'ai profite de l'occasion, surtout que Sara, une des Canadiennes, m'a accompagnee. Elle a pris plein de photos, j'espere qu'elle m'en enverra pour que vous puissiez voir cette folie. C'est incroyable, une vraie foire! La ceremonie comme telle n'est meme pas si importante, elle dure longtemps mais les gens n'y pretent pas trop attention. Ils sont surtout la pour la bouffe. Et quelle bouffe! Un gueuleton! Il y a tout plein de tentes qui servent differents plats et tout le monde mange puis jette son assiette (faite de carton ou de feuilles de bananes) par terre. Le tout est eclaire de gros neons pour bien voir les superbes saris des femmes, qui sont toutes decorees de bijoux brillants. Et pourtant, malgre toute cette atmosphere de fete et malgre la grosse musique, les gens ne semblent pas aussi excite qu'on pourrait le croire.

Mostly people either ate or sat, looking at the other people. Or they talked. Only the men danced, which is so strange to me, since so few of my male friends dance. The bride and groom sat on thrones on a little stage and people would come take their pictures, but there didn't seem to be much attention directed towards them.
The day before we left, we booked a day trip to see the mountains and the villages around Rishikesh. We had our own car and driver, but I really think it would be better if we were self-sufficient (though there's no way I could drive here!) Our driver always seemed surprised at how quickly we came back from the sights he brought us to.
We first woke up at 4:30 to see the sunrise over the mountains. It was very beautiful, but unfortunately, we weren't able to see the Himalayas because of the clouds. We then made a little 2km trek up a mountain to see a temple, but because of the altitude, I had a lot of trouble walking up. Still, it was nice to be in cooler air and to see all these trees and mountains. It almost felt like home.

On a fini notre visite dans une ville montagnarde ou les Britanniques venaient se sauver de la chaleur. Mussourie est une jolie ville, incroyablement propre pour l'Inde, ou il etait agreable de se promener un peu.
Et maintenant, il nous reste moins d'une semaine en Inde! J'espere qu'on ne sera plus malades et qu'on pourra profiter du temps qui nous reste pour voir les attractions touristiques qu'on n'a pas pu voir la derniere fois.