Auli Rishikesh - An Unexpected Journey - I

On 30th April four of us from IIT Kanpur Mathematics department decided to have a little farewell trip and on the 1st May I was there standing in the tatkal line at IIT K reservation counter along with Piyush D who was motivating me to stay strong. It was "mera pehla pehla tatkal ticket" from Kanpur Central to Haridwar. Also behind the scene of action were other members of the fellowship - Arpan Jain on the irctc website and Piyush Vyas sleeping comfortably in his hobbit bed.

Next day on 2nd we boarded Sangam Link express. We played 29. I mean the other three played 29 and I played "put random card on the deck". We reached Haridwar and took a passenger train from there to Rishikesh taking us less than 40 minutes. We had our brunch at Haridwar where decent cheap food is available. The hotels are mostly crowded on weekends but we took an auto to a hotel in close proximity to the station. We got a double bed room for 4 people and were charged 600 rs for it. We inquired about rafting and adventure activities in Rishikesh and left the hotel at 4 for rafting. 

We reached Muni ki Reti and talked to an agency conducting river rafting. They put us on a jeep and it took us to one of the starting point destination of rafting - Brahmapuri. We paid Rs 1000 for 4 people for 12 km rafting. Rishikesh was not as hot as we had seen on the internet. And by hot I mean the temperature hot. The road to Brahmapuri was in good condition and ran along the Ganges flowing below in the gorge. 

Reaching the spot we took a narrow trail on foot to the sandy banks of river. We waited on the sands enjoying the serene views of Ganges, watching other rafters flow past us who took the more thrilling 18 km rafting track. The sands were clean and whitish. It was a beautiful scene with us on one side and river separating us from the mountains on the other bank and sun rays peeping stealthily through the hills and falling on the glittering sands. After our raft was brought we boarded the raft along with another family. We had two people with us who instructed us, had equipped us with a life jacket, oars and a helmet. We sat tightly, holding our oars and rowing furiously and stopping according to the instruction of our guides. Before coming to the each series of rapids the guides used to announce its name and scare an aunty who was already terrified since the moment she had set her foot on the raft. One of the rapids were called "Double Trouble". The rapids were thrilling and it gave us a sensation that we were riding a four wheeler on Indian roadways. 

In the midst we had stopped and disembarked from our raft to the shore where Maggi and beverages were being sold. It was like one of the scenes of Lord of The Rings in which the fellowship stopped at the shores of River Anduin from there narrow boats and rested. None of us four got killed there. Clearly none of us was attacked by orcs or anything lethal but there was one instance when a lady tried to sell us a plate of maggi for 40 bucks. At places where the water was calm the raft slowed down and the guides asked us to jump into the waters. Cautiously we placed our feet in water and with our hands grabbing the raft ropes slowly hopped in the cold water. There was no current and it felt perfectly safe. We laid back on our backs on the water and watched the ram jhula pass over our head as we drifted in the cold and silent waters on the cool evening with the temple lights looming on the edge. It was probably the most tranquil and pacific moment I have ever felt. Our rafting ended at Muni ki reti in late evening. 

With this ended our day 1 of the tour. Here is another picture of us going through the Anduin like Ganges river with the : 

How it actually was:



 How we felt it!!