A trip to Rishikesh- the city of Monks

by Khushi Khare (India)

A leap into the unknown India

It was an unexpected trip to Rishikesh,India-The town of Monks. I was staying with some of relatives and we decided to go on a quick trip to Rishikesh on one of the weekend. The journey started from Ghaziabad,India ; via haridwar. We packed our bags and left the house at 5:00.a.m. Started the car in a sleepy but exciting mode and left our place. Initial 1hour of the journey was all about sleep and soft songs in the background. We were five people, my uncle and aunt and my two cousins and Me. As soon as we all completed our part of sleep, it was time to dip ourselves in the travel vibes. As we were about to enter Haridwar, we stopped at a passing tea stall with mangoes trees all-around. The beautiful sound of peacocks and soft breez with a hot cup of tea opened all of my nerves. After that my cousins and Me, made our squad and went to climb on mango trees. We had amazing fun , jumping here and there and clicking pictures Now it was time to take a dip in holy river Ganga. After half an hour or so we reached the holy ghat of Ganga. The ghat was full of people doing different holy rituals. Here and there I was able to see Aghoris. The flow of Ganga was vigorous and the water was chilled. We four changed our clothes and went to the stairs of the ghat. I gathered all my courage and went inside the water. People around me were taking quick dips in the deep water while I was confused and scared. I took name of the God and jumped inside the water with my head....the water inside was dark and peaceful,it was a matter of minor second when I thought, I am talking to an invisible between death and life and I came to outside water suddenly. After the holy dip, we got ready to continue our trip to Rishikesh.Had a quick breakfast and started the car again to hustle. After 45 minutes we crossed the haridwar and entered Rishikesh. Rishikesh is located in the northern part of India,between the mountains. As we were climbing the sloppy roads towards Rishikesh, the temperature felt decreasing . The view from the car window was serene, Green lush mountains all around talking to candy lile clouds. Deepest of deep valleys and a sense of spirituality all around. We finally reached our hotel,and gathered our luggage to check-in.It was evening by then of the same day. After we checked in , we got ready to roam around the streets of Rishikesh and to visit a nearby temple. We explored the traditional market of Rishikesh. I was able to see holy clothes, necklace, rings and other diety things. There was the most pleasing sound from all the directions of the flowing Ganges. And finally this day ended with a rooftop dinner with the view of beautiful flowing Ganga. The night passed and the sun rised, and it was a new day. We did planned RIVER RAFTING on this day. I was so scared and excited and what not. Rishikesh is most famous for two things-Yoga and River Rafting . For river rafting we did booked three seats. A jeep picked us and took us to our rafting point. A Rafting guide came and helped us to wear our life jackets and gave us our oars. As soon as I went to the raft, I was effing shocked after seeing the flow of water and the depth. The depth was more than 120feets. The guide came and told us all the necessary instructions before beginning. The draft was finally dechained in the lost waters. After some time our raft was in the mid of Ganges . We all had different thoughts in our mind, we were able to see the increasing flow of water before us. Suddenly the flow increased and our raft was hard to control, we were using oars with all our energy to guide our raft. Rafting was another kind of experience, where strangers were my closest friends in few minutes. It really felt like the river Ganga took all my sins and miseries in this trip.