After leaving Mahendranagar we enter India crossing the Mahakali River marking the western border between Nepal and India.

Reaching India, unexpectedly the climbing challenges return. Yet not known passses, but steep and high enough to compete with the reputable ones in the Himalayas.

In the hills around Almora. No glaciers, nonetheless up and down and up and down and up and down. The area is an urban sprawl with countless subsistence farmers to use every square meter on the steep terrasses for rice cultivation.

Quite a fortune: the Kailash Guest House in Almora.

The lower part of the Almora bazaar.

The upper part of the Almora bazaar.

Cowboys in the streets of Almora maybe having lost their animals in the urban herds.

We continue our route in West-Southwestern direction to hit the Ganges river again that will lead us Rishikesh eventually.

Countless discussions about bikes and gear was part of the everyday procedures whenever we stopped the bikes for more than a few seconds.

The largest Ashram in Rishikesh and cheap hippie backpackers pinned around it.

Rishikesh is a popular pilgrimage place, both for Sikhs but also for western travellers paying fortunes for meditation and yoga classes in the famous Ashrams.

Pamela fruits.

The little plastic-packed sweets and crisps in all street kiosks must be a top-seller, at least according to the abundance and variety in the shops.

The Ganges River. The stream of Life for millions of Hindu people and last lieu for even more dead after being burnt on the riverbanks.

Every night in Haridwar is hundreds of people coming to the ritualistic washing in the Ganges River. There is metal chains tautened between both sides for elderly people to hold on in the sometimes strong current.

The washing in about to start.

Thousands of little flower rafts are submitted to the stream often decorated with a flame in the middle giving an ceremonial athmosphere during dusk.

The ceremony in full swing.