Camping by the Ganges

What could possibly be better than camping Rishikesh?  The Gate of the Garhwal Himalayas.  Named appropriately after Lord Vishnu’s one of the innumerable names, Rishikesh (Hrishikesh) has always done justice to its meaning. As the word Hrishikesh denotes Lord of the senses, the whole city brings one’s senses alive when it comes to appreciating the mysticism and natural charisma of the place. After winning the great altitude, as you pan your eyes from the red flags strewn all over this beautiful town to the blushing sun at the horizon, a surge of energy automatically flows into your veins. This is because you have always known the color red as the symbol of positive energy. Probably, this is why you will find red in the highest arc of a rainbow and it is the first color to disappear from your vision as the night approaches. But, the red lost during twilight is soon replaced by a spread of yellow as soon as the ‘Ganga Aarti’ begins at the Triveni Ghat. At this moment the concrete stairs, Vedic hymns, countless oil lamps and clinking bells outline a world oblivious to the usual commotion in this small town just 138 miles away from Delhi.

God knows how it all started but suddenly I took this very seriously!! I had to go for an outing. It all started as fun.   It had to be some adventure sport and hence I decided upon Rishikesh. :-) Now this had been on my minds to go to Rishikesh for water rafting and I was so excited to hear this name!! Yes yes ... thats the place and I started working on the accommodation and travel plans. 

Rishikesh, Uttarakhand is known for its White water rafting through the river Ganga.  My plane tickets were booked and I was on our way. I started at around 7am on a Tuesday morning. I was not in a mood to sleep (Monday night) and right so! Who'll sleep thinking of the trip :-) Having Chai on roadside dhabaas is so much fun especially at night :-) Njoyed a lot. Finally slept for few hours and when I opened my eyes it was time to leave home for the airport. This was my 4th or 5th tea. :-) of the night. Or shall I say, the first for the morning!

Adventure sports at Rishikesh:

Rishikesh had so many options for outdoor activities and I was thrilled with it, wanting to do each one of them. Lots of minds when think about something, most likely it ends up in a mess. I almost did something similar.  But then decided to take it light and instead of all, do few activities but spend time and enjoy it! 

Natural Jacuzzi in Rishikesh: 

This is nothing but some stylish name to sitting in river water and enjoying the light stream of water flowing around you. We spent most of our time in water. It was so relaxing, we could spend hours in there. Splashing water over each other, clicking photos, playing truth and dare, it was fun time!

Trekking to the Himalayan waterfalls: 

This was fun. It was biting cold.  Everytime the wind blew, I pictured myself turing into a Chocolate Cornetto.  The Himalayas were all around us.  How pleasant! The fairy tale of "Alice in Wonderland" just came alive in my heart.  The green waters of the Ganga coupled with its melodious flow brought music to my ears.  We sang while trekking and also played "What's yours like". Man! This was fun.  We reached the waterfall, to take a dip in its icy cold water.  This may not make sence at all. Its less than 4 degrees centigrade and we walked under a Himalayan waterfall to take a dip.

Water rafting in Rishikesh: 

Finding a green, serene and exotic location near Rishikesh is not a big task since the whole region is nestled in the best of the Himalayan trail. But, it becomes difficult to choose one from the myriad of such beautiful locations strewn all over the holy city of Rishikesh. Our brains went through this painful exercise once we reached this city of senses. The purpose was to relish the great religious fervor centered on the city of Rishikesh`. God forbid us from skipping such sacred places in the beautiful stretches of the Himalaya. But, secretly, we were contemplating a great river rafting exercise in Ganges. That would have meant our sacred dip at the holy Ganges! Thus, began our search for a perfect rafting in Shivpuri and camping location and finally we zeroed on a beautiful camp site near Shivpuri with a spectacular river bank to compliment the style of the arrangements.

The white sand upon the bank resembled that of a beach and the atmosphere around was no different from a beach side carnival. The sand that shone like gold when we arrived soon changed color like a chameleon and the beach looked like a sheet of silver as soon as the moon appeared at the horizon. The green hills no longer looked green and the darkness outlining those majestic hills gradually descended upon this well maintained camp site. But, the evening was lit up with a warm bonfire and never for a second did we curse the lanterns by our bed sides. At times, the absence of electricity can be welcoming too! There was no dearth of things we required for that special night by the Ganges -food, music and warm hospitality! A bunch of friendly fellow campers to our company the camp felt like a comfortable party. This was just because, almost by 13 kilometers upstream from Rishikesh on the road to Deoprayag, there we found our route to salvation. An ideal stress busting exercise we would like to call it.

But, do we need to mention how romantic it is to stare at the sky and hear the sound of the mighty Ganges in a moonlit night? You will understand it better when we tell you how we spent the rest of the night- clean Alpine tents with roll up windows and warm blankets to beat away the river side chill.  But, we couldn’t sleep away that exciting night as a completely new experience awaited us in the violent rapids of the river nearby.  It’s not that we are born adventurers but what’s the harm in trying out a mild rapid like Sweet Sixteen (Grade-1)?

But, till we encountered the rapids, River Rafting in Rishkesh and the camps offered us an ultimate opportunity to go private with nature at its best. Our best camp site treat was the beach volley ball game we that we enthusiastically took part at but saluting the game spirit we never cried on our defeat. We won in any way because nothing can go wrong at such a beautiful place. The only thing that vanquished was our tempered bodies and souls! And to a certain extent our fear of the wild, untamed rivers! Some rejuvenation amidst the Himalayas was necessary and the camping happened just in right time. Right here at Shivpuri!