Tuesday, April 7, 2015

The Dip in the Ganges

Nestled in the hillocks in Uttrakhand is the majestic Ganga. Its vast beauty has always amazed me and awakened a sense of wonderment. How can a river take in so much crap (literally) and yet be so so beautiful. Well that’s the Ganges for you!


I planned a trip to Rishikesh for the joy of living in the wilderness and feeling the river. We booked a camp near the Ganges, a little on the outskirts to beat the weekend crowd. We trudge down the hilly road to the camp. Our adventure begins from the trek itself. The tents were reasonable, but we didn't care much. The nature around was too overwhelming for anything else. 

Even though we were tired after the 24 hour journey, the energy of the area is simply infectious. Its difficult to stop oneself from

taking a dip in the chilly waters. We play around, we kayak a bit, swim in shallow waters and fool around a lot. The  water rafting was a beautiful and an exciting experience for all of us. The raft trudges on the 50-60 feet deep water surrounded by hills. The guide ensures safety but its difficult to think straight when the raft passes through the gushing waves of the river. The people have named the rapids with funny names like black pearl etc; matching the ferocity of teh rapids.
Rishikesh has a number of other activities like rock climbing, cliff jumping, cliff crossing, etc. But we stuck to the water sports only.


The move away from nature to the city was extremely tough. Just like in all our other trips, we promise the place to come back!