Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Rafting on Ganga, Rishikesh (part2)


Second day we had the longest rafting route of the trip a whooping 35kms!! Had an early breakfast and left by road for a higher access point to the Ganga from where we would start our journey. The rapids we faced were just amazing and we had body surfing which not only sounds cool but it actually was cool. The water into which we asked to jump was bone chilling but I won’t freak you out, you start enjoying the little ripples right after you are absolutely numb. My advice do not get scared of the chilling water, else you will miss the fun of trying to get back in the raft. Every raft has a guide on board and you have to listen to their guidance else you are definitely doomed. No more question marks you will get the hang of it in the trial trip. We had the most mesmerizing packed lunch en-route, on a little island filled with pebbles of attracting and varying colors. All tired and exhausted we were back at base camp, but the strength was still on and our hungry tummies were happy to see the served tea and yummy snacks. Unfortunately we were followed by bad weather hence had to rush to our tents to pack our stuff into bags as the staff told us if it gets to windy the tents could not be accessible. Once done, we were out on the serene beach for a session of volley ball which soon turned out to be a rainy session. It didn’t crush our spirits, but certainly chilled our bodies. That night we were all huddled together around the camp fire singing our hearts out as the rain had stopped and had definitely failed to obstruct our spirit.

The third day we had a rest day where in, we were to spot at Jumping Heights a place which kind of explains itself.  It has the highest bungy jump which is at a whooping height of 250m with a giant swing from the same bridge (you definitely need guts) no sissies allowed. Once you do either of these activities you earn a ‘I have guts’ batch. Other activity that you can opt for is the 1km flying fox in which you attain unimaginable speed of 160km/hr. The jumping heights base has its own resort. In the evening we chilled out at CCD which was located near Ram-Jhula where were going to be attending the famous Ganga aarti. It was a blissful experience and the melody there could actually make us feel the divinity and purity of the place. Once cleansed and rejuvenated we were back at our campsite ready to challenge our difficulties.

The final day on the agenda we were going to be facing our most major rapids rated as grade 3+. We left the campsite with our entire luggage which was to be kept on the bus. We started at a point known as Marine Drive, this was unimaginably the most awaited day, and one could feel the excitement in the air. We had a cliff jump which is a 30ft jump with body surfing in a rapid.  We ventured into our final route on the Ganga, perched on our rafts with paddles on hand, ready to tackle the grade 3+ rapids. Jotting down a few  rapids here, the first rapid we came across was known as good morning rapid, followed by 3 blind mice, black money, cross fire, and the two most dangerous ones the roller coaster where in our raft technically flipped and the last was the golf course. Boy! Were we glad that it was done! What followed next was carrying the raft out of the water to the awaiting vehicle; it was so exhausting we didn’t anticipate it to be that heavy. A temporary tent was put for changing into dry clothes. Sadly, our trip was over. With joy in our hearts, with many lessons learnt and having had the most amazing adventure the trip had come to an end, the bus took us back to Haridwar station where we were to board our Lokmanya Tilak LTT express directly to Mumbai.

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