Haridwar

I stayed in Delhi for one night on my way north. I liked it much better than Mumbai. It's very clean in Indian standards, much more Western. The roads are good, and that's probably why there's so much traffic. Very crowded in public places, train station in noon is like a huge pack of sardins. There are many parks, with few trees and huge areas covered with grass. Amazing architecture, the Muslims have done great job.

I went to Qutb Minar, some temples and museums, but took only a brief glance at Red Fort and Jama Masjid from outside, because there was blast there just a few days ago. The bazaars are very colourful and crowded, there's a huge variety of goods.

One day was just enough, it's too hot. Yesterday I've arrived in Haridwar, a holy city located on the Ganges, with thousands of piligrims, but a few tourists, most of which go to Rishikesh, just 15 km away. Haridwar is very nice. Although it's a very holy place and a big crowd of babas gather on the ghats, the city is very spiritual and it does not create pressure, like Varanasi. There are temples on hills around the city, a really convenient package tour includes cable car and a bus to travel between them. At evening time there's puja on the Har-Ki-Pairi ghat. Although it's still funny and strange for me to see all this idol worshipping, putting colors, flowers and sweets ahead of stones, and touching statues, I have to admit that it doesn't really matter and the most important thing is the faith the people share, which gives them power. Still, it sometimes seems ridiculous :)