Travel Diary–Haridwar (2009)

It’s been more than a couple of weeks before I get this chance to make an entry on this blog – more like a travelogue now. Anyway, this post is about, well a not so recent trip to Haridwar. Now, Haridwar is a place that I would love to avoid and strike off my travel destinations forever because of all the pain that can be seen spilled all over the place. The irony is that I know I shall never be able to cut it off my travel plans owing to all the religious connotations the place carried with Hindu rituals and customs.


The actual reason for taking this trip was to fulfill a family commitment and an obligatory presence for one of the religious ceremonies in the family. However deep within I let myself believe that I was on another of my photo-walks and somehow the place did not appear as bad then.

We started off on the morning of August 15 at about 0530 from our place and boarded the Dehradun Shatabadi (Train No. 2017) from New Delhi Railway Station. The train leaves from platform 1A at about 0650 hrs and those wanting to board the same are advised to reach the Ajmeri Gate side of the railway station as it is the first platform from that end. We arrived at the other side of the station and for us, it meant walking all the way to cross all platforms in between (the distance would be less than a kilometer maybe, but if you are carrying your own luggage, you shall end up cursing the person who got you dropped at the wrong end).

The train crosses Ghaziabad, Meerut City, Muzaffarnagar before reaching Saharanpur where it takes a 20 minute halt and then passes Roorkee before it reaches Haridwar junction at about 1125 hrs. the journey is pretty comfortable as compared to traveling by road as the route is prone to run into long and painful traffic jams.

The train left us at Haridwar station 5 minutes later than its scheduled arrival time. It was raining when we arrived and thus began our woes. Usually one can find an auto who would leave you at the ghats for 50/-, the untimely downpour (or timely for them actually) gave the taxis and auto-rickshaws a golden opportunity to make a killing. We ended up paying 300/- for a distance of about 2 kms and that too after much haggling.

However, some time soon after the loot seemed justified as the single road connecting the railways station to the city and the ghats was totally packed. The cars could only move bumper to bumper and it took us about 100 minutes to traverse those 2 kms. (I know, I would have rather walked, but for the rain and the luggage). I was informed by the driver that this is now a regular feature in Haridwar on weekends. Probably people from around Delhi see it as a weekend getaway destination and pack their bags and drive out for a weekend dip in the Ganges. My word of advice - if you can, plan your trip on a weekday than a weekend.

Luckily for us the accommodation was booked in advance and we could check in easily. If you are looking to stay closer to the Ghats, do not expect 5 star facilities. Feel lucky if you can manage to get clean sheets and mattresses on the beds and a clean washroom. There might be no room service available and as in many cases, no restaurants or kitchens to order food from which means that you stay at one place and move out in the evenings to grab food elsewhere.

When it comes to the food, you would normally find deep fried puris and vegetables everywhere. There are no decent places to eat around ghats sans a few halwai shops where again you can dig into some puri-halwa-sabzi fare. However, if you can dare to walk a bit, there are a few above average places to dine around ‘Jagannath Dham’. Don’t bother asking for directions, just take a cycle – rickshaw from anywhere you are and tell the rickshaw puller to drop you ar ‘Jagannath Dham’.  Apparently it is a huge and popular ashram and people living there know it pretty well as a landmark. So, we checked into a lesser known place opposite this much known ‘Jagannath Ashram’ and settled in. We decided to venture out to ‘Har ki Paudi’ – the bathing ghats at Haridwar for the holy dip into the Ganges around 4 the same day.

The place was swarming with people of all shapes, sizes and varying degrees of undressing.  You could find huge uncles with bulging paunches and typical ‘petticoat’ aunties. There were boys and young men with and without wives who would squeal every time they took a dip and came out. There were older looking vicious men who were eyeing women whose wet clothes stuck to their sagging frames and then there were the regular paraphernalia of beggars of all ages and all sorts or disabilities wearing all shades of saffron and white - pretty much the regular stuff.

I went about on my shooting spree as soon as I landed foot on the ghats. The others who accompanied me left me pretty much on my own and got busy dipping their heads in the water which was a shade that I saw as a cross between green moss and earthy brown. Anyway, I walked around as much as I could and got couple of very interesting pictures. We spent the rest of the day lazing around in the hotel room and walking around in the market. A larger part of the next day was absorbed in the religious ceremony for which we had come for.

Another anecdote worth mentioning here is the story of the stolen shoes. This might be of value to people visiting this place for the first time as well. Since it had been raining the day before, the streets and the roads were largely muddy and wet. I decided to abandon my slippers and be in my shoes for the day. Some odd errand during the ceremony wanted me to take off my shoes and stand aside for a while.

I would have barely left for a few minutes and someone, by then had taken off with my shoes. What I was trying to avoid all the while was inevitable now. I walked barefoot all the while on those wet and slimy roads to a shop in the market to buy me another pair of footwear. (I am smiling as I key this in now. It did feel bad then).

We left the city soon after the holy service was complete. We were doing the return journey by road which gave us the leverage to make a pit stop at ‘Patanjali ashram’ run and managed by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev. The place is huge and has a large eating space and organic food joint. The lunch was a simple ‘Thali’ fare, moderately priced and easy on the palate. I can recommend it to people who relish trying out different foods.

As I mentioned earlier, the journey by road can be grueling and testing on your driving skills and patience. The single road was flanked by reckless drivers who would cut and turn as if they owned the road and long traffic jams at almost every time we crossed a city. The return journey took us about 8 hours and on the whole it was a relief being back.

View the picture set HERE