Wednesday 17 April 2013

Rafting on Ganga, Rishikesh (part 1)


Rafting on Ganga, Rishikesh

Just came back after a thrilling adventure camp from the religious place of Rishikesh.
The ultimate gateway to the Himalayas located in the Uttarakhand district of India it is located approximately 20kms from the holy city of Haridwar.
The name Rishikesh means master of senses and very rightly suggested it can thrill your senses to the absolute core.One of the major attractions filled with adventure and thrill is the option of rafting,. Added attractions are bungy jumping, giant swing, flying fox, cliff jumping on the serene Ganges. Rafting on the holy river is in itself a pleasurable experience.

We boarded the garib rath at bandra terminus Mumbai and alighted at Rohila, Delhi and then were transferred by bus to New Delhi where we boarded the Darjeeling janashatabdi to Haridwar (mid-station) then transferred to campsite by bus.

For those who want to enjoy stays in tents and the wilderness there are many places to choose from.I stayed at Camp Rapidfire, located an hour and a half from Rishikesh you have to trek down from the main road. Hiking back up, every-time you have to go out, may be tiresome for few, but it definitely is not a negative when you actually see the camp site.With a sprawling white sandy beach having its own volleyball courts and welcoming tents with your very own sleeping bags, this campsite is definitely worth experiencing.The staff was very friendly and helpful. The food was awesome. The amazing thing is you have an option of veg & non-veg.
Apart from that at the campsite the major issue is there is no electricity you have to carry torches and there are gasoline lanterns which light the entire campsite at night which is a very pretty picture having to watch silhouettes of the tents.  But just in-case you want to get your phones charged you could request the staff to charge it for you (don’t worry they are absolutely trustworthy).

On our first day at the campsite we had a warm up rafting session where we were briefed about the gear and given general instructions on paddling. We then ventured into the Ganges for our first taste of what rafting exactly is. This apparently was a 12km long stretch. Sounds tiring, right? Trust me it isn’t, we didn’t even realize it, what with trying to maneuver the raft (which is actually not as easy as it looks) and getting our commands right. We lost ourselves in it. We reached back to campsite for a really late but appetizing lunch. Evening was the bonding and games session......

to be continued... 

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