Rishikesh Day 1
The first time I heard about Rishikesh was from my parents and I reckoned it (till the time I went there) as a place for “Spiritual journey”. But now the only thing that I am reminded off when I think of Rishikesh is the pristine white sand beach, the gurgle of Ganges, white water rafting and a place where one can explore tranquility and spirituality.
At 6.30 am we started our journey from Gurgaon to Rishikesh in a Innvova . We took a break around 9.30 am to have our breakfast -the mouth-watering (butter laden) paranthas and Chai at Cheetal, mid way restaurant , still scintillates my taste buds.
We reached Rishikesh around 4 pm as generally there is a lot of traffic between Rourkee and Rishikesh. But our destination was not Rishikesh but further 2 hrs by road to Kaudiyala, the devbhoomi of Uttarakhand. After a long day in the car , we were absolutely tired. So we decided to visit "Chotiwaala" and enjoy the delicious meal there. Rishikesh's main attraction Laxman Jhula and the Shiv Murti looked beautiful in the night.
We decided to come back to visit these places the next day.By the time we reached Kaudiyala, it was 7.30pm. Moment we reached Kaudiyala it was a different experience all together – suddenly all the tiredness vanished upon looking the beautiful white sand, the river and the camps. Yes we were going to stay in camps amidst the pristine mountain valley, a star studded sky and the gurgle of Ganges. It was a different world – away from the hustle bustle of NCR. Then came the first surprise – We couldn’t walk down to the camp, a gentleman came to escort us in the raft to the camp. That was the beginning of the Rishikesh experience! I had never expected that Gages could be so pristine and even more surprising was the white sand river beach. It reminded me of the White sand Beach of Bicheno on Tasmania’s east coast. Truly, we have places in India which are no less than any of the exotic locations of the world. The camps were beautiful lit with candle inside and had a comfortable double bed –that was a modern amenity for a “camp”. The first time I went to Rishikesh in 2006, the camp did not even have mobile connectivity. And yes no electricity too. Can’t imagine a life without these, but believe me – the very absence of these essentials made that trip even more memorable. Imagine how will a city dweller feel sitting on pristine white sand, beside the Ganges - under a full moon black sky with zillions of starts and hundreds of constellation. That too without electricity and mobile connectivity? Well one has to feel it, to understand the out of world experience. Even sleeping inside the camp with the continuous gurgle of the Ganges was like a melodious lullaby to my ears.
