Haridwar and Rishikesh - Research for the Trip

This past week myself and two other colleagues made a much awaited trip to Haridwar and Rishikesh. My earlier attempt to visit these places the week before last was foiled by a rather unexpected development in my Project. I had set out do some research for the trip and seek directions from other colleagues in Delhi (I have been based out of Delhi since April 09) when it first occured that we had to undertake this trip. We drew a blank whenever we asked anyone questions on how to plan the trip but then we did find two colleagues with some excellent knowledge of both the places one was a frequent visitor and the other hailed from Dheradun and hence both were a treasure trove of information, the knowledge was of immense value to us. Combined with my readings from Guide Books and research on the internet, which incidentally doesn't have much information on these two places, I have compiled my experiences in this post.
Haridwar or Hardwar means the Gateway to Hari or Har, i.e. Vishnu or Shiva depending on whether you are a Vaishnavaite or Shaivaite. It is the entry point to Char Dham the four holy places of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangothri and Yamunotri. It is here that River Ganga (called Ganga-ma) touches the plains after travelling 253 km from its origins at Goumukh in the Himalayas and hence Haridwar is also known as Gangadwar. In Satya Yuga the legendary King Bhagirath is said to have brought Ganga from Heaven through years of penance for the salvatyion of this ancestors from the curse of Saint Kapila. Every three years the Khumbh Mela is celebrated in one of these four places and every twelfth year the Maha Khumbh Mela is celebrated at Prayag in Allahabad.
According to our Hindu mythology this is one of the four places where a drop of Amritha (Nectar of immortality), that was obtained by churning the ocean, fell when it was being carried to heaven by Garuda. The other three places being Ujjain, Nasik and Allahabad.The spot where the Nectar fell is called the Brahma Kund at Hari-ki-Pauri. It is believed that having snan here will wash away your sins and you'll attain moksha. Agastya is said to have done penance here. Sage Kapila is said to have had an Ashram here and hence Haridwar is also known as Kapilastan. Haridwar also finds a mention in the Mahabharatha.
Apart from the rich mythological History I couldn't find any other details on the net I was keen to get some travel advice. Nevertheless I set out scouring every travel source I could lay my hands on - Books, Humans! I wanted to first figure out how to get there. Apparently you can either get to Haridwar by Train, Road (Bus and Car), Air and as I learned later even by foot! I am not joking, read on and you'll know. Trains to Haridwar leave from Delhi. A one way ticket from Delhi to Haridwar by Shatabdi costs Rs. 435 and the journey would take four hours and thirty five minutes. The latest fares and details of other trains can be obtained from the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Company website at http://www.irctc.co.in/. But this meant that to get around at Haridwar and Rishikesh we would have to engage a cab or rely on the tuk-tuk (autorickshaw) and being tourists its highly likely that we'd be fleeced by the cab and rickshaw operators. I then made enquiries if there were any bus services and yes there were travel agents running Volvo buses to Haridwar and the fare was about Rs. 370 and the journey time would be seven and a half hours. We checked out the Cab rates and it was costing us Rs. 3300 for the two days and the intervening night. (Haridwar is 186 kms from NOIDA). Since we were three of us a quick arithmetic revealed that the cheapest option was to travel by A/C Cab and could also have the flexibility of moving around in Haridwar and Rishikesh without having to rely on the local transport.

So we booked a Cab through a local Cab operator.