Adventures at Rishikesh
Situated in the foothills of the Himalaya’s in northern India lie’s the holy site of Rishikesh which attracts millions of tourists and pilgrims every year. The Holy waters of Ganges in Rishikesh provide some with a kind of adventure that’s unimaginable. The rapids of Ganges make it one of the best places for white water river rafting in India.
To experience this adventure, we planned a short excursion to Rishikesh last weekend. We a group of 6 (which eventually came down to 5 as soon as the trip began) left Delhi on Saturday morning in a cab. Our plan was to enjoy the drive on a not-so-bad NH #58 and reach Rishikesh till evening. We had lots of time on our hand and eventually stopped at Muzaffarnagar, Roorkee and finally Haridwar.
We did have time for a dip in the holy waters of the Ganges at Har ki Pauri which is considered to be the most sacred ghat of Haridwar. Though we couldn't attend it,I heard that the evening prayer at dusk offered to Goddess Ganga at Har-Ki-Pauri is an enchanting experience for any visitor. The reflection of the golden diyas that keep floating on the river offers a beautiful view of the ghat.
Finally we reached our destination Him River Resort in Rishikesh in the evening. Surrounded by mountains from all 4 sides, the resort has unique clay cottages that are decorated in a simple but comfortable manner. While the walk to the resort was exciting and could hear the Ganges roaring, the sight of the white sands refreshed our tired souls. Once we put our bags in our cottages, all of us headed for the river. We spent some time there before moving back to our cottages for snacks followed by Bonfire, couple of games and dinner. Its soothing to lay on the white sand and rocks and view the stars in the sky with the river roaring in the background. The feeling experienced is difficult to put into words.
Though we were tired with the long journey and the already enjoyable stay in Rishikesh, we woke up fresh quite early next morning for Trekking cum sight seeing expedition. The destination was a majestic waterfall. We spent some time there before moving back to our cottages for breakfast. What was to follow was the highlight of the trip - White water rafting in the holy Ganges from Marine Drive to Nim Beach, a 24 kms stretch. We drove uphill to Marine Drive with the raft and were greeted with the instructions by our guide. Rafting in Rishikesh is a once in a lifetime experience.
When we started, there was a question hovering in my mind on how enjoyable this experience would be? I believe our guide could read my mind and immediately answered my question. He asked us to stand in the moving raft (Most of us were non-swimmers and were trying to somehow establish ourself on the moving raft). As soon as we all stood up, I could see one of my friend falling down. We couldn't control our laughter but at the same time everyone was trying to balance themselves. As we carefully and successfully balanced ourself on the moving raft, out of nowhere came the instrucution to jump into the river. This was the impetus needed to let go the fear. The life jackets helped the non-swimmers enjoy the stay in the water and we could feel the body going numb because of the cold water. Once experienced the fall in water early in the expedition, we could enjoy the rest of the rafting carefree. It is righly said that a great trainer cum guide could make a great rafting experience. The same was with us and the whole experience was amazing. We crossed around 15 rapids in our journey, some of them were Grade 4 level. Some of the rapids hit us hard and at moments felt like we were going down but somehow we balanced the raft from being toppled. We bravely tackled the Grade 3 and 4 rapids like Black Money, Three Blind Mice, Golf Course, Club House and Roller Coaster like a team and at the end of it felt like could have handled much tougher ones too. We also had an opputunity to swim in certain calmer patches of Ganges, and even body surf one of the Grade 1-2 rapids. The rafting on this 24 kms stretch took us around 3 hours to complete. At the end near Nim beach, there is a small cliff where one can try Cliff Jumping from some 30 odd feet into the cold water. It doesn't look a lot but takes the hell out of you to do it. It is also a place to enjoy some refreshment after an exhaustive rafting experience. The Maggi was amazing too. Like true rafters, we carried the raft back from the river through the sand to the vehicle which was waiting to take us back to our place.
We reached our cottage around 4 in the evening, had lunch, played a couple of games and left for Delhi late in the evening. The trip on a whole was an enchanting experience but felt that we were short of time. The adreline rush provided by the adventures here in Rishikesh is hard to resist. Next time, would atleast like to try Bunjee Jumping, Giant Swing and Flying Fox.
It is righly said that Rishikesh, better known as a pilgrim centre, is fast becoming the adventure capital of India as hordes of adrenaline junkies from around the world converge on the city. If you are looking for a short adventure filled weekend trip, then Rishikesh is a great option.
Situated in the foothills of the Himalaya’s in northern India lie’s the holy site of Rishikesh which attracts millions of tourists and pilgrims every year. The Holy waters of Ganges in Rishikesh provide some with a kind of adventure that’s unimaginable. The rapids of Ganges make it one of the best places for white water river rafting in India.
To experience this adventure, we planned a short excursion to Rishikesh last weekend. We a group of 6 (which eventually came down to 5 as soon as the trip began) left Delhi on Saturday morning in a cab. Our plan was to enjoy the drive on a not-so-bad NH #58 and reach Rishikesh till evening. We had lots of time on our hand and eventually stopped at Muzaffarnagar, Roorkee and finally Haridwar.
We did have time for a dip in the holy waters of the Ganges at Har ki Pauri which is considered to be the most sacred ghat of Haridwar. Though we couldn't attend it,I heard that the evening prayer at dusk offered to Goddess Ganga at Har-Ki-Pauri is an enchanting experience for any visitor. The reflection of the golden diyas that keep floating on the river offers a beautiful view of the ghat.
Finally we reached our destination Him River Resort in Rishikesh in the evening. Surrounded by mountains from all 4 sides, the resort has unique clay cottages that are decorated in a simple but comfortable manner. While the walk to the resort was exciting and could hear the Ganges roaring, the sight of the white sands refreshed our tired souls. Once we put our bags in our cottages, all of us headed for the river. We spent some time there before moving back to our cottages for snacks followed by Bonfire, couple of games and dinner. Its soothing to lay on the white sand and rocks and view the stars in the sky with the river roaring in the background. The feeling experienced is difficult to put into words.
 |  |
Though we were tired with the long journey and the already enjoyable stay in Rishikesh, we woke up fresh quite early next morning for Trekking cum sight seeing expedition. The destination was a majestic waterfall. We spent some time there before moving back to our cottages for breakfast. What was to follow was the highlight of the trip - White water rafting in the holy Ganges from Marine Drive to Nim Beach, a 24 kms stretch. We drove uphill to Marine Drive with the raft and were greeted with the instructions by our guide. Rafting in Rishikesh is a once in a lifetime experience.
When we started, there was a question hovering in my mind on how enjoyable this experience would be? I believe our guide could read my mind and immediately answered my question. He asked us to stand in the moving raft (Most of us were non-swimmers and were trying to somehow establish ourself on the moving raft). As soon as we all stood up, I could see one of my friend falling down. We couldn't control our laughter but at the same time everyone was trying to balance themselves. As we carefully and successfully balanced ourself on the moving raft, out of nowhere came the instrucution to jump into the river. This was the impetus needed to let go the fear. The life jackets helped the non-swimmers enjoy the stay in the water and we could feel the body going numb because of the cold water. Once experienced the fall in water early in the expedition, we could enjoy the rest of the rafting carefree. It is righly said that a great trainer cum guide could make a great rafting experience. The same was with us and the whole experience was amazing. We crossed around 15 rapids in our journey, some of them were Grade 4 level. Some of the rapids hit us hard and at moments felt like we were going down but somehow we balanced the raft from being toppled. We bravely tackled the Grade 3 and 4 rapids like Black Money, Three Blind Mice, Golf Course, Club House and Roller Coaster like a team and at the end of it felt like could have handled much tougher ones too. We also had an opputunity to swim in certain calmer patches of Ganges, and even body surf one of the Grade 1-2 rapids. The rafting on this 24 kms stretch took us around 3 hours to complete. At the end near Nim beach, there is a small cliff where one can try Cliff Jumping from some 30 odd feet into the cold water. It doesn't look a lot but takes the hell out of you to do it. It is also a place to enjoy some refreshment after an exhaustive rafting experience. The Maggi was amazing too. Like true rafters, we carried the raft back from the river through the sand to the vehicle which was waiting to take us back to our place.
 |  |
We reached our cottage around 4 in the evening, had lunch, played a couple of games and left for Delhi late in the evening. The trip on a whole was an enchanting experience but felt that we were short of time. The adreline rush provided by the adventures here in Rishikesh is hard to resist. Next time, would atleast like to try Bunjee Jumping, Giant Swing and Flying Fox.
It is righly said that Rishikesh, better known as a pilgrim centre, is fast becoming the adventure capital of India as hordes of adrenaline junkies from around the world converge on the city. If you are looking for a short adventure filled weekend trip, then Rishikesh is a great option.
