April 7th, 2011-

Features of a Bad Hotel Room:

1) Dirty, dusty, stained sheets & comforter. Check.

2) Constant deluge of water running from one end of bathroom to the other. Check.

3) Mosquitos pouring into room via hole in the wall above the toilet. Check.

4) Threat of monkey attack. Check.

5) Showerhead non-functional—front desk guys insist that the “faucet shower” is just as good. Check.

That’s all that needs to be said about our POS hotel. Luckily they were nice enough to hold our bags while we spent a pleasant day exploring the town of Haridwar.

Little kids and old men got naked to go for a dip in the Ganges.

A giant Hindu god looked over the highway.

We got bindis from two lovely little girls.

Our favorite new (free) dessert: anise seeds with sugar. YUM.

Brenna browsed the world’s most phallic vegetable stand.

Finally we found our most entertaining destination: a clothing shop and one of its tailors, Robbie.

Brenna finally got a chance to buy her own shalwar kamiz.

Robbie was an enthusiastic salesman. Are you sure you don’t want 2 or 3 shalwar kamiz, not one? Maybe try on a sari while you’re at it?

Brenna held strong. Robbie did manage to sell me a pair of underwear (which turned out to be too small)…that sly dog.

Tonight: an overnight train to Amritsar (in the far north, near the Pakistan border) and the famous Golden Temple.