Tinkle and Turquoise

A view of river Ganga in Rishikesh

Some travel decisions are unplanned and yet bring the most pleasant experiences. When started planning, Rishikesh was only meant as a respite on the long road-trip to Auli. I googled Rishikesh only because we had an extra day to spare on our 6-days vacation, only to discover that it was a Pandora's box!! We chose the fastest way to reach here from Bangalore: by flight to Dehradun. Set out early morning to Rishikesh from Dehra in a hired cab which I had booked online.

The Jhulas

We reached Rishikesh pretty early and decided to take a walk down the lanes. A hired guide led the path to Ram jhula and Laxman jhula. One connects two Ashrams and the other connects two districts. He explained the history of the two suspension bridges and suggested shops for inexpensive winter-wear clothes. Every nook and corner has a temple. We visited a few on the way to the jhulas. The Ganges looked vast and serene from atop the Laxman jhula. Experience the freshest air and the sound of peace amidst the mild chimes of passing mule bells and the distant tinkles of temple bells. It so happens that lord Laxmana did penance to lord Vishnu after the slaying of Ravana. The Laxman temple where he meditated was renovated when Adi Shankaracharaya visited Rishikesh in the 9th century. Walking the 2km distance from one jhula to the other, we passed by several ashrams each inhabited by a Rushi. We also got to learn about the semi-precious stones rudrakshis and sphatik. I was taken back to school days of science experiments when the shop owner showed how friction between two similar coloured stones ignites a spark of the same colour!

River rafting

After checking-in to our hotel and freshening, we started for the first adventure activity. It was a 16 km long rafting distance from Shivpuri to Laxman jhula. We met our teammates, some from our city Bengaluru and a few girls from Nagaland. The guide was a petite man with a large spirit. He must have been pissed off by our brothers and sisters working in IT so he had warned, "agar yahan pe koi engineer hai, to apna dimag mat chalana". He asked to act as instructed. There were very few instructions like 'forward', 'stop', 'backward' and 'get down'. Now 'get down' certainly doesn't mean to get out of your place from the edge of the tube and jump into the river, but it means to duck and sit on the floor of the raft, to protect ourselves from the crashing waves. We had our share of exhilarating moments during the rapids when the waves went higher and lower with the Ganges showering upon us. Swami and Guru, as were heavily built compared to the rest of us, led us from the front. Swami lost nerves and why not, he had to face the roaring waves first. Promptly the guide kept reviving his confidence. And then we felt the tranquility during the 'stop' moments, when we didn't have to steer but just sit and get carried along the calmer waters amidst the towering mountains on either side of the river. I felt like I was amongst the 'Fellowship of the Ring' that travelled in the serene blue waters of River Anduin just before the fellowship was broken. 

At the cliff-jumping spot

Looking at the colour, one realises why the river-rafting here is also called as white-water rafting. The sand and stones are all white! I suppose that the river reflects this and the green of the mountains to form a light turquoise. Though from Haridwar onwards the river gets polluted, it stays real clean at Rishikesh. At some point, we were allowed to float so some of us got down into the river and did some body surfing in obedience to instructions. The guide informed us that he visits Coorg in the month of October to conduct rafting in the rivers Kaveri and Barappole so next time we could go rafting closer home :)

Cliff jumping

We had a chai-break during river rafting. There was one spot from where cliff jumping was allowed and some of us gave a try. Though from down below from our raft it appeared an achievable feat, I had second thoughts when on the edge of the cliff. Even when people around you are giving words of encouragement and advice, you hear nothing but your own heart beating faster and louder than drums. If you jump sooner, you fear for lesser time. Once you take the jump, the splash-contact creates a split-second of void and then you feel nothing but AWESOMENESS! The life jacket helps keep afloat. After this stunt, being drenched and exhausted, the adrak chai and maggi are too good to skip. Well, you also need some calories to row for the rest of the rafting distance.

Other activities

Apart from river-rafting and cliff-jumping, there are numerous adventure and fun activities that Rishikesh offers. All kinds of bikes are available on rent. Last minute accommodations may be hard to find in the months of May to October due to Badrinath yatra. Plan your vacation well in advance. Our first choice to spend the day was a hot-air ballooning ride at Air Safari Rishikesh which was closed when we arrived at the location. When there was no response from the contact number, we went for plan-B of river-rafting. Regardless, after the rafting adventure, we had forgotten all about plan-A.

Aarti at Triveni Ghat

Triveni Ghat

So it happens that the motley group of 'Swami and his friends' had completed their first ever rafting experience. We took pics and bid adieu. A quick stop at our hotel for change of clothes and gobbling of yummy, hot food. We headed to Triveni Ghat on the shores of the river where the Ganga Aarti is performed by priests every evening at sunset, in a coordinated ritual, with bells ringing and drums beating in the background. This divine act is a sight to see. I instantly developed admiration of their devotion towards this river goddess, the kind of devotion which made them perform this grand prayer day after day with same gusto. You are allowed to offer only flowers and camphor diyas on dry leaf bowls to the holy Ganges. We relaxed on the steps listening to the soulful bhajans. 

Food and Yoga

It is said that only vegetarian food is available in Rishikesh. The jeera rice-dal tadka served at our hotel was too hot and deliciously zesty  for the cold weather. The Chotiwala offers some continental. Makkai-roti and sarson da saag offered here is flavoursome. Butter-milk is also available. We didn't get butter milk elsewhere on the journey. Curd was rarely available. We also saw some dosa stalls during our post-dinner walk in one of the steep lanes. There are several vegan bakeries too which have mostly foreign customers who come to Rishikesh for ayurvedic therapy and healing through Yoga and other spiritual exercises. Rishikesh is the Yoga capital of the world. It attracts people from all over the world. In fact, each hotel offers Yoga classes here. Even the Beatles visited Rishikesh once and the Ashram that they stayed in acquired their name.

We came to love this city in such a short time that we had to stop here even on our way back. Next morning we left early from Rishikesh to Auli. The cab driver had planned some sight-seeing stops for us on the way.  Please read 'As white as Auli' to know my account of the rest of the journey, a trip to a snow-capped hill station in the foot of the Himalayas.