A date with Ganga

Since my posting in Delhi, a visit to Haridwar and Rishikesh have always been on the anvil. We have often toyed with the idea of going on a bike trip up there. However, it never materialized. In short, Rishikesh and Haridwar have always ranked high on my places to visit.

Everything finally came in place 2weeks back on the last weekend of November -10. But this trip was quite different from my other trips. For one, I was going with an entirely new group, my roomie being the linking factor between me and them. The entire planning was done by them, and unlike our usual pack and leave kind of trip,they were planning it for nearly a month.

Accordingly, a tour package was booked withan agent at Rishikesh costing about 1.5k per head. It consisted of camp, barbecue and white river rafting in the ganga. The main confusion was on the mode of transport. The initial plan was to book a cab without a driver and do some self drive. But soon this idea was dropped and we decided to go with a professional driver. The next dilemma was on the vehicle to hire. One group wanted Ford Endeavor, the other an Innova. I belonged in the Ford Camp. But finally the unavailability of Endeavor and the high cost of the ones that were available made us go for Innova.

With a couple of guys dropping out, the group finally consisted of 6 members. It was planned to set out at 6 in the morning as the route, though very short, is notorious for its traffic. We were ready by 5:30 all eager to set out, only to learn that the driver hasn’t showed up at the taxi centre. The departure thus got delayed till 7. 5 of us joined from Delhi and we picked the sixth on the way, from Noida. The surprises were still not over though.

The CD player in the cab seemed to have a mind of its own as it kept rejecting perfectly working CDs for no obvious reason. Only two were working- Sai Bhajans and a collection of AR Rahman hits. We went for the second. But many of the Oscar winning musicians songs were too slow for the driver who kept changing them and then with an occasional taunt asked us whether we have only such “rona-dhona gaanas”. The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful except for a major buffalo market on way near Muzzafarnagar, which attracted huge crowds with rented lorries to carry off their purchases.

We reached Rishikesh around 2 and after reporting at the tourist agent’s, went straight to camp. We were allotted our tents followed by a simple yet delicious lunch. The camp is located on the sand banks of the river and after a bit of rest we started playing some beach volley ball. This was followed by football, till one guy got knocked out with a strike on his head, and then cricket.

By 6 the sun started setting and we started gathering for the camp fire. It wasn’t really a camp fire but did enough to keep us engaged as we kept taunting the camp organizers for making it strong. We had an amazing sunset, followed by a nice dinner. One of the best time of my life.

Next day we were supposed to set out at 10 for rafting, but everyone woke up only around 9. After freshening up and a heavy breakfast, we were finally ready to get physical with ganga. The guide gave us instructions and safety tips to follow while on the raft and going head on against the rapids. Thus we set off, 6 of us with two guides, myself and my roomie manning the bow of the raft, the guides forming the rare.

Highly unsynchronized in our efforts, the guide roared himself soar scolding us. With very low spirits we prepared ourselves to meet the first rapid. Boy, words cannot explain the sensation of having freezing cold water hitting against your face and the relief you feel once you have made it out in one piece. The first two rapids were supposedly the most dangerous and we made through the first. But the second one held more surprises.

While I was rowing full strength in the second rapid, I felt some serious commotions just behind me and saw one row blade flowing past our raft. The guy sitting immediately behind me had fallen into the water and the guides put in a valiant effort to pull him back aboard. This was followed by another roaring session of the guide. But I guess the mishap followed by the guide’s humiliation fired all of us up. We found harmony in our movements and after the next couple of rapids, the guide started praising us.

Soon we hit flat waters and were allowed to take the holy dip. Thanks to the life jacket, I was able to float around in the 60 foot deep, freezing cold water. Soon, one of the members started shivering, what the guides called being possessed by GOD, and we all climbed back. We took the raft aground and had some tea and hot maggi from the only vendor along the way. This was followed by cliff jumping.

After everyone had their share of fun, we continued our journey downward. Finally, after nearly 4 hrs of rafting we covered the 17kms journey from Shivpuri to Rishikesh covering 5 rapids. Everyone was excited, no one have had such an experience before and immediately started planning for the next trip.

After a quick lunch, we continued our onward journey towards Haridwar. We reached just in time to watch the evening Arathi. Finally, we came to the end of an amazing weekend. Now looking back its impossible to imagine how much fun was packed into those two short days. Eagerly waiting for the next trip to meet the dear lady Ganga.