INDIA CROSSING THE RIVER GANGES Ram Jhula is an elegant suspension bridge which was built in the 1980s. Like it's brother bridge upstream; it's a pedestrian bridge. But this being India; the definition of 'pedestrian' is flexible. You'll find bicycles; mopeds; motorbikes; goats; cows and the odd handcart all fighting for space on the bridge. I've seen videos of the rush-hour chaos and I'm glad to not have experienced that. I have a bad history of monkey attacks so I was expecting trouble on the bridge. It seems that monkeys take one look at me and can't resist the temptation to mug me for all I'm worth. But this time I was forewarned and forearmed. I'd very carefully emptied my pockets of anything that could possibly be of interest to a furry fiend in search of a snack. My camera was held tight to my body and there was nothing in my bag to tempt. As we approached the bridge you could see the would-be muggers lined up on the bridge just waiting for me to appear.The bridge monkeys are entirely shameless. They swing between the wires confident in the knowledge that they are smarter and faster than you. The little babies are quite capable of distrcting you with their cuteness whilst their uncles and grandpas sneak up behind and grab bags of food from unwary passers-by. I should hate them; I should probably be scared of them; but I just can't resist hanging about with monkeys. Rishikesh is a town that splits itself across the river Ganges with most of the 'action' on the left bank (assuming you're looking downstream) but still plenty of hotels; ashrams and temples on the right bank too. To get from one side to the other there are boats but most people use the two suspension bridges – the Lakshman Jhula and the Ram Jhula (or Shivandra Jhula). Jhula just means bridge. Our hotel was sandwiched between the two bridges; although I didn't realise there were two until it was almost time to leave. We only used the Ram Jhula; it being closer to the place where the nightly Ganga Aarti takes place.