The festival do have a great info page and FAQ’s page but I still had some questions and wanted to know about others experiences, so I have created a list of FAQ’s and questions post that I hope can help you out. Don’t forget to add yourself to the Facebook group for the year you go, it is really helpful for creating a sense of community and asking any extra questions you might have before you go also. They’ll send details of the group and how to join in all your email blurb.
How do I book? All ticket bookings go via the eventbrite page, which does contain quite a bit of information also, including some pictures of the different tier levels of rooms.
Once you book you’ll receive your confirmation email and you’ll be put onto the mailing list for future updates. These updates will also contain reminders for you to complete paperwork prior to the festival and send it through via Dropbox by a cut-off date, around a week before. It is really important you do this, otherwise I can imagine your check-in process will require a lot of extra time and some pranayama to get through.
Can I stay for extra days? Yes, remember to consider the additional days you might wish to stay on either side. Many people came the day before, which does give you an extra day to settle in and of course get your bed…remember last in, last bed choosing! I booked from the 26th until the 9th as I was unsure how long I might want there before and after and I also wanted some time to see the rest of Rishikesh. But be aware if you book extra days you may not be able to stay in the same room, which can be a bit of a pain. I was lucky and stayed in the same dorm the whole time but I know some others did have to move. After the festival the Ashram was welcoming a large group of new tourists, so some of those staying on a few extra nights did have to move room for their final night.
If booking the extra nights stay it will ask you for a contribution. I paid $10 per night but it’s obviously up to you how much you would like to offer, just remember they are doing amazing charity work and your money goes a long way in India.
Can I stay with friends? You can also request to stay with your friends when you book, even if booking separately. They won’t guarantee it, but two girls I shared with did request to be put together and were, they even arrived on different days.
When should I book? I booked my tickets at the end of January and was expecting for there to still be spots in the top tier rooms, unfortunately there weren’t so the only option was the third tier. If staying in a higher end room is your concern then get booking early on in the year.
What are the rooms like? The third tier rooms are single sex dorms of up to six beds. I believe they can hold smaller numbers of beds, it is more that the style and level of accommodation will not be as high as the higher tiers…marble bathrooms so I hear. However my dorm was split into three rooms, so it didn’t really feel like you were sharing with a large group and we had two bathrooms and toilets meaning we rarely got stuck in a queue.
The dorm was basic but comfortable, with a single bed, pillow and case, mattress cover and thick blanket. We were also given a towel which was a welcome surprise and a new mattress was delivered for all beds on the first day. The rooms all had some shelving, coat hooks and plastic chairs along with washing lines in the outside area that led to one of the toilets. We had a few hot water issues, the toilet didn’t smell too great but things were pretty quickly resolved, you just had to make sure you grabbed the right person to help you out.
One pain was some of the door keys didn’t work or just stopped working and I know some people missed classes because they were stuck in their rooms. This did feel like it was a recurring issue and I do hope they made a note of the keys so people don’t lose out next year. The moral of the story…if you notice your key is playing up, get it sorted straight away.
What about if they have sold out of residential tickets? If there are no more rooms available then you can buy a non-residential ticket for the week and find alternative accommodation to stay in nearby. They have a list of recommended options that you can find on the website or they will send you a list. Just remember the closer you stay the easier it is to take the early morning classes and pop back to your room out of class to relax.
How do you get to the Ashram? If you are coming from Dehradun airport the standard charge (in 2018) was 1200 rupees for one person, if there’s a larger group this price will be higher. The taxis will drop you at the Ram Jhula Bridge on the Sivananda Nagar side of the bridge and you can then walk across to the Swargashram side, where Parmarth Niketan Ashram is located. The walk across the bridge is only a few minutes and once across you then turn right and follow the road for around 5 minutes until you reach the Ashram. You can ask anyone for directions and they’ll easily know where to point you. Alternatively you could get a taxi to drop you at the Ashram, but this will take an additional ten minutes at least in the car and cost you around 300 rupees extra.
I arranged with the Ashram for a taxi from Dehradun (which you can do quite easily via their request email) however I met a few others on the plane who were heading the same way, so I agreed we could share the taxi. The driver unfortunately was not clear in how much extra this would be, or that he would be taking the longer route and driving across the bridge. This caused me quite a stressful introduction to the festival and I was left arguing over the cost I should be charged. All was resolved eventually but it wasn’t the best start, so be clear on your costs before setting off.
What about checking into the rooms? I checked into the room on the 26th and did this via the main office because I arrived so much earlier. I arrived around 2.30 and had to wait until about 4pm before I could actually check into the room which was a bit of a pain, especially as I really was one of the few people there at that time. It was an opportunity to practice the yoga mindset!
When can I check into the festival? The check-in for the festival didn’t start until the 27th, which I arrived at armed and ready with all my forms and in anticipation of the coveted wristband. Unfortunately the 10am check in time was hampered by the usual computer system glitches and at 1pm we began to finally make progress. If you have all your paperwork with you, this should be a reasonably flowful exercise as you move round the tables dropping off various forms, keys deposits, and collecting your room keys and wristband and from the 27th you could do room and festival check in at the same time. We also received a welcome satchel which had tea bags, notebook, pen, cup and flask for you to use throughout and a copy of Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati’s book; Satsang, In the Presence of Truth. The bag was a lovely unexpected addition and the book a really great read.
I was one of the few on the 27th, but obviously the queues will grow as the time creeps closer to the start date. I didn’t hear of any ridiculous queue times but make sure you bring paper copies of everything with you to help the process along. This area was open throughout the festival, so if you are also collecting day wristbands you’ll be directed here also.
What’s the schedule like? It is a busy schedule as you’ll read in my blog post here. But you are given a booklet with all the weeks’ plans which is a great way to keep a track on where and when things are and of course mark down your must do classes. The day was split into around five time blocks, with around five classes in each block to choose from and after speaking with previous attendees it seemed this schedule hadn’t changed too much from previous years. There is also an app that you can download, which I would recommend to do when you have WIFI before you arrive, so you are prepared.
There are some schedule changes that inevitably happen and are supposed to be logged on the app to keep participants updated. This was not always the case, through human or technical fault, so a white board was also kept near the gate for people to see. I didn’t see too many though, there were a few illnesses with teachers and one story of the Sadhana teacher not turning up at 4am, (yeah I would have been pissed too) but luckily Gurushabd saved the day and took over.
Where is the yoga held? Most of the spots for yoga sit in the back area of the Ashram, away from the accommodation. Here you’ll find the four yoga halls, the yoga tent and the food hall. If you were lucky enough your class might be held at the Ghat, which was generally for the big players and busy classes, such as with Gurumukh. They don’t have yoga mats at the Ghat, so you’ll need to either borrow one from the halls (they aren’t too keen on this) or buy one to avoid the faff. Just remember to take along an extra layer as either a cover up from the sun or the wind as it whips across the river.
What are the yoga spaces like? The Ghat and tent were your largest spaces so some of the big classes were held in there. The tent could be very hot and sweaty and was not my favourite location. The yoga halls could at times could be chocka, but I don’t think I ever saw anyone turned away. However, don’t be one of those people rocking up 10 minutes late and expecting people to move, arrive early if possible to ensure you get a good spot.
What should I wear? The general rule is legs and shoulders should be covered at all times. In some classes, and really depending on how comfortable you felt with it some people wore vest which were fine, but otherwise a light T-Shirt is recommended. I often doubled up with vest and T-shirt so I could see how I felt throughout the day.
Is it cold? Apparently this was one of the warmest years, although I still saw some people in woolly hats which I think was a tad extreme! I generally needed a light scarf and jumper in the mornings and evenings to keep the chill off, along with my yoga trousers. For bed, I found the blankets to be super warm and often just wore a pair of shorts and vest.
Can I wear yoga leggings? In the Ashram yes, but If you are going to go out into the town don’t be in a short T-shirt and tight fitting leggings, it’s not really the place for it. Bring vest tops for those classes where you can take off the extra layer and light T-shirts to cover the shoulders, but not roast you to death.
What’s the food like? All food is served buffet style in a large tent in the back garden at the set dinner times. This year there were four stations to queue at, which for the number of people did at times mean a little bit of a wait, but it was never more than maybe 15 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised with how well this was all organised.
Breakfast was normally a porridge, plus a gluten free version, some dry cereal and milk (also soya milk) papaya, coconut shreds and bananas. There was also traditional Indian breakfast available and occasionally we had pancakes which was very exciting! Hot water, herbal tea and a kind of coffee type thing were also served.
Lunch and dinner were reasonably similar. Rice (often brown) a dhal, a veggie curry or two along with spicy vegetables, roti , gluten free roti and poppadoms. Occasionally the curry was made with paneer but there was always one curry that was vegan. There was often a dessert too, like a sweet rice ball, not really to my taste but some people loved it.
During evening break you could also grab a coffee/chai type mixture and some popcorn to keep you going. There’s also shops, fruit and juice stalls just outside the Ashram where you can buy any extras you need. There were some great vegan biscuits on offer that many people brought to keep them going.
Overall I was really impressed with the catering, to manage it for that many people and cook food with some great flavour was a triumph. I felt a bit ropey one day with stomach ache, but that was after I ate a paneer curry which I’m just not used to.
Is there filtered water available? Yes both in the food tent and in the Ashram via water fill-up points. I drank it the whole time and had no issues.
Is there wifi? Ermmm, not really. It was advertised as having it and on day three there was some kind of limited service but I definitely wouldn’t rely on this. There are a few cafes that have WIFI that you can use, or get an India sim. For a whole month and 1.2 GB of data a day it cost me 750 rupees which is pretty amazing and certainly helped out with my Instagram addiction.
Where can I get cash out? There is one right next to the Ashram, in fact there are cash points throughout Rishikesh but this doesn’t mean they’ll always work. You would often see an out of service sign for a day or two on a machine. Morning times were better as they had often just been filled, but with the number of people needing cash it did start to feel a little desperate at times. I would definitely come prepared for your trip and top up your supply before you start running too low.
Do I need to bring a yoga mat: I would recommend to do this, especially for classes at the Ghat or if you are running a little late into a class. Unless you are particular to your own mat from home, don’t bring one and just buy one there. They were about 1000 rupees and you can then leave them at the Ashram as a parting gift.
What’s the area like? Rishikesh is beautiful! And there is so much more to explore than just the area by Parmarth Niketan so do try and get out and stretch the legs. You can read all about Rishikesh in my guide here and if you want to know more about my experience at the festival you can do that here
Photo credit for the wonderful peace sign group photo in the main image goes to the International Yoga Festival and the charities they support, please follow:
@abccharity @filipagoo @fiagoo
#abccharity #kindisthenewcool
