It had been a long time since we last had such a great time together enjoying the crazy company of each other . I never knew that our friendship which started off somewhere in the first year of engineering would develop into a deep bond over a period nearing a decade now. Be it the short unforgettable trips and the last but not the least 'Sher-ePunjab' dhaba party, we bonded well over travel and some great cheap roadside dhaba food . Nothing has really changed since then it seems . This photograph taken back in 2009 during our Waki Lake 'Biking and Swimming' trip I think that triggered the idea for a meetup again and we chose Rishikesh as our destination to travel and do some adventure sports as well .
I created a whatsapp group about 3 weeks before our trip was to begin which acted as a medium for communication and planning . Since I was too lazy to do the bookings and stuff , Kiran did the whole research and planning and also the bookings as well . Me and Akash , well what we did was just to final in on the destination where we were heading . The group created a lot of anxiety and excitement and a countdown was already set 15 days in advance ! That distracted us a lot because of our habit of cooking up too much 'Khayali Pulao' thoughout the day . The pulao consisted of an overnight biking trip to Rishikesh and stuff like that . But since the bike trip was supposed to be through UP , wisdom took over us and we said that too much adventure, an overnight bike ride through UP, could be very fatal . Also we were a little confused over our travel destination between a biking trip to Kasol or a bus trip to Rishikesh . But finally we zeroed in on Rishikesh for some Rafting and cliff jumping . All the flight, bus and hotel booking set ,courtesy Kiran, our journey was finally planned well in advance .
For all the booking trouble he took for us , here is a small thanksgiving for my friend Kiran who was quite excited as I was when we met at the Airport where I was to receive him . Khushi toh dekho ladke ke chehre par :P
Kiran was the first to arrive from Bengaluru on 1st october. Akash was to join us in the evening from Pune . But it took a horribly long time in picking up and then back to the room , since it was Delhi and not a small city like Nagpur. So Akash didn't get the priveledge of a grand swagat as kiran did :P
Kiran brought me some muffins from Bengaluru . I was hell bent on these friends of mine to bring me some stuff to eat from their current place of residence. Me and Kiran here enjoying some muffins at Rajeev Chowk and also indulged in some flavored milk at Caventers @CP . After a lazy afternoon at my room we went for some shopping at Palika Bazar @4PM which is an underground shopping place for some cheap clothes for our trip . Also bough some cheap sunglasses exclusively to just show off some swag pictures and a small travel bag as well .
Akash was to arrive at NDLS metro station from the airport as it was too cumbersome to go back again to the Airport . After a little bit of confusion and some lost time, we were finally together and it seems the travel and food time began right from that very moment we had met. We headed straight to Karim's near Karol Bagh metro station .
Karim's though was a BIG disappointment ! Quite expensive and very average taste . Seeekh Kabab and Chicken Changezi were a huge disappointment . Maybe the place was too neat and tidy for our personal rustic tastes of Sher-e-Punjab type Dhabas . But even then the place was not worth the money and taste. But then Akash and Kiran insisted on having dinner at that over hyped place . We were short of options as well as time since we had an overnight bus to catch from a metro station which was a bit far away from the place we were .
BUS RIDE !!!
There could be nothing as worse as the back seats of a non-volvo type bus ! Sitting on the second last row , that was the most horrible ride we had ever sat on with absolutely no suspensions . The only reason why we booked the same bus seats on both the ways was because redbus- an online bus booking platform, indicated that our back seats was occupied by 5 girls ! :P With a heavy discount and the anticipation of having some very good company though out the journey on both the ways , this plan misfired very badly . The company ways like OK and the bus was way too bouncy to handle through out the night . To add to it further, there was this girl sitting in front of us who was constantly blabbering in English ! Some people I think suffer from a bad oral diarrhea !! I think its better to hire a taxi or some car-pooling service to travel to Rishikesh as the roads seemed not that good after all those bouncy times. We hardly slept for not more than 2-3 hrs thought the night on both the ways .
@RISHIKESH
The only good thing about the bus was that it was pretty punctual in its timing . After reaching , the first thing we did was to freshen up at this public toilet facility which was pretty cheap and decently clean with all the facilities .We anyways don't care much about the level of hygiene and stuff like that . We reported at the office of Ganga Valley Adventure company which organised the activities and also our forest stays. There are lots of 'forest camps' around in the radius of about 15 kms from the city which serves as a peaceful stay for tourists . While there is no problem in staying in Rishikesh which might also be cheaper , but I think it would be a bit chaotic and non-peaceful to stay there as it gets a bit too congested there .
Our reporting time at the forest camp was at around 11 Am . So we had enough time after freshening up and we decided to hire a bicycle to travel to our forest camp. We thought it would be very adventurous and also cheap to travel on a bicycle there but our dreams were cut short as there were not enough well maintained bicycles to hire . Two wheelers are amply available but then it was not worth the money since the route is not that scenic . Also loacl taxies and autos(tuk-tuk) are cheaply available depending on your bargaining skills . The taxis available with the travel companies there are quite costly , so you could independently approach taxi-walas and get it done at half the price. Also local buses run there but your have to be pretty specific about the place you have to go . Well anyways , our biking trip was cut short and we hired a local bus to a place which was nearby to our forest stay . Somehow we managed to get a taxi with the help of a really swag police officer midway. Due to some miscommunication we reached to a wrong destination but made our way back again somehow on another taxi . We sure did waste a lot of time there . Better to book a taxi from the city itself .
Also after we got fresh we took a long walk along the Ganga river where the aarti takes place every evening . Although it was quite bright during the morning sunshine the cool winds and the blue waters were very soothing to the eyes and the soul. A sense of peace and calm prevailed through the air along as we walked . Had a decently good breakfast at Chatiwala along the river with some great view.
@FOREST CAMP
After all the lost ways and the hitchhiking attempts we finally managed to reach at our forest camp at around 2 PM where our lunch was waiting for us . Sadly it was all vegetarian affair there but the idea of a non-veg dinner was very encouraging news for us . Located along a small tributary (if I may correct on using the technical term for it) it was a very peacefully located space definitely worth the money . Called Shivashish Camp, it was 14kms from Rishikesh .
Little did we know that there was a range of activities to enjoy there . Table tennis ,which we happened to play a lot back in the engineering days , was available there in a decently playable state . We thoroughly enjoyed playing there and ended up playing almost for 3 hrs continuously ! It was a very great feeling as we got to enjoy one of our common interests in the middle of some forest besides the Himalayas ! We were overjoyed !
The camping tent was actually quite hot to have a good afternoon nap , but we were quite comfortable in playing in the small tt facility there . That's relativity for you. :D After we played our lives out we decided to get a quick bath in the water stream next to our camp. The water behaved in both a hot and cold way . Colder along the main stream and hotter in some still water, but who doesn't love getting wet other than Akash . He was worried about what to wear for the next day . Bad for him . Kiran obliged after a lot of motivation . Took some really cool snaps there . The water has this energy which takes out all the pain out of your body . Very difficult to explain . Some things you understand only when you actually experience it ! There were this two newly wed couples who asked Akash to click some really cozy pictures . Both me and Kiran were enjoying the look on Akash's face who was a bit embarrassed and confused . Gosh, sometimes I feel , how great a honeymoon could be . But then , let's stop this khayali pulao and concentrate on the chicken that was waiting to be eaten there tonight . :D
Trust me , we men also work a lot on our looks :P
After the swim in the river and a little photo session of ours and the couple as well , we headed back to our camping tents which by now had cooled off a little . We took a bath again in the tent itself which was a bit weird as one could listen to what the other was singing in the tent next to us . We ddn't really care much though .
The weather up in the mountains changes pretty fast , and it is that time of the year where there is a lot of variation in the day and the night temperatures . After the sunset it got pretty cool down there . A pretty competitive game of volleyball started in the evening with Kiran trying his best to get involved in an all north Indian group it seemed . But that dddn't last longer . :P
The number of times I indulged in getting myself clicked in some swag shots is uncountable :P
As the day ended with sun escaping behind the mountains, out came the bottles of whiskey and wines around the whole camp setup with bonfires around the place . We preferred to stay back inside the tents out of exhaustion and were really lazing around the comfortable bed and blankets . There were also some starters/chakna readily served but since we were not drinking so we were not really interested in making an effort to eat them . Also we wanted to keep some space for the chicken that we were going to have later that night .
A had some great conversations while inside the tents where everyone was warming out on how life is going on . This was not under the influence of alcohol, so some serious philosophical and 'life' stuff was going on . That was one of the great conversations and quality time we spent there after a really tiring day physically !
The amount of seriousness of the conversations could be seen on the face of Akash :P
We pushed ourselves out of the bed to have some good dinner with and retired again in the cozy blankets which seemed the best place to be in in the cold weather there . But then Akash insisted on sharing one's spooky experiences in life and we really had a funny time reliving the scary moments from our childhood . We also talked about the pros and cons of having a girlfriend and stuff like that . We , I think, enjoy this really simple and child like times over having a drink I guess . One doesn't really need to drink to do some emotional and straight from the heart talking . Once you have a great friendship bond over a long period of time , you could share these happy and maybe some difficult moments from your lives . Drinking although might be a complimentary thing . But nonetheless we enjoyed a happy time over a high time and slept peacefully after that .
RAFTING DAY FINALLY !
The next day we were to go for rafting in the ganga river for a distance of about 16kms . We all were excited and got up a bit early to enjoy some fine sun and guess what a little more of TT ,football and badminton . We were really having a great time there more than what we could have asked for .
After a long drive to the Rafting office and back to where we were actually were supposed to raft , finally it was time for real adventure sports ! The rafting experience was really really thrilling and the guides guided us pretty well to tackle and ride the Rapids there . One really has to go there and experience the thrill beacause it is something that I cannot explain it here . You have to go out and do that stuff there . Floating on the river and some cliff jumping was one of a kind of experience . A small accident though left me with lost glasses and a bleeding nose , but I don't really care about such small events . It was one heck of an experience !
All smiles even with the broken nose :P
I had anticipated that something like this would happen and I would be needing another set of glasses . So I carried and extra pair although now I feel I can see enough to do it without glasses itself . Maybe next time .
After we almost ended with the rafting .
After it ended we got back to the office to collect our luggage and change our wet clothes . That evening we walked though the city a little like typical tourists exploring the city . We had a late lunch at a hotel where we were lured of getting a free Wi-Fi . But it seems we were duped a little because the internet was not really working . The chinese food there was although very very tasty and satisfying .
Later,we walked towards the river front again where we witnessed the evening 'zoomed in' aarti :P across the other side of the river .
The Zoomed-in Aarti along the ganga ghats :P hehe The 20X zoomed worked good :D
The actual aarti going on
It was a very different experience this time in the evening where one could see the ghats as well as the temples . It was different to see so many spiritual people around and the shraddha people have for gods . We sat there again having good conversations over spirits and stuff like that . Kiran and Akash were very informative on the different concepts of life and death and also spirituality and of human thoughts ! We talked about meditation and mind power which was feeling very unreal but great in the spiritual atmosphere around the place. It is quite difficult to express the feeling but it was great !
As it was getting darker and the insects started bothering us , so we headed out for early dinner as we had to catch a bus at 9:30 and no one was really in a mood to puke inside the back seat of that horrible bus ! Well we thought we would be having a lite dinner and we did have one consisting of just a veg pulao . But not until we stumbled upon some roadside Paneer sandwich stall and some tasty icecream and kaju shake stall ! We were really high on food and wanted something more out of this place . Now let me tell you one thing , if you come to Rishikesh and areas like this, you get some really really tasty and fresh paneer and other dairy products like makkhan . So as we were walking across the road to catch the bus , we saw a dairy shop where a fine white makkhan really caught our attention ! Now figuring out what to eat it with , we bought some toast and really had this satisfying desert of toast with makkhan over it beside the road in front of a Gurudwara . The cream roll was also pretty heavenly .
The heavenly paneer sandwich in the making ! A must have when you go to Rishikesh . It is a short walk from the Gurudwara .
So we had filled our tanks with lots of food and we ddn't really cared about the food overload before we were to board the bus . We knew that the bus would be a rough ride again with hardly any sleep , so the food thing before the start of the journey helped a little . The same 5 girls sat behind and it was nice to share a smile with those 'kids' , little did they know that we already knew they were going to see us again :P But anyways , this is all about our trip to Rishikesh .
I think you make one of the best friends during school and college and it was really special and great to have old friends back together . Priorities might change over time but people don't really change much and in this era of connected world , a short trip always helps to bond more than a virtual connection over whatsapp group or facebook . Go out and meet your good friends and travel together whether you are young or old . Time is pretty less so enjoy as much as you can . Respect the individual and their thoughts and be ok with their differences . Speak your heart out with your special friends and talk about stuff you can't really express in public or over facebook . It helps a lot personally .
I want to thank Kiran and Akash for making this possible and hope we do more such trips together somewhere in some corner of the world . It is surprising to me how I remember each and every moment from the trip and I tried a little to write it in the form of a lazy blog :P There are lots of places to explore and a lot of fun waiting for us in the future . Enjoy and I love you guys !
