Tour to Rishikesh

A tour to Rishikesh has always so much to offer. And when you get this opportunity with your colleagues, fun quotient breaks all barriers. The sacred Ganges on the foothill of great Himalayas provides an opportunity to explore a whole lot of adventure sports, and come closer to the nature .The town's magical mix of Sadhus, yoga enthusiasts (many call it the 'Yoga capital of the world'), and adventure buffs alike, are all drawn to its mystical and captivating charm. The aura of mystic small camps rooted alongside beaches, the occasional waft of incense, tranquil breeze, the gentle murmur of the Ganga gurgling into the plains, the clanging of temple bells overwhelm the senses.

14 hours of traveling, 22 enthusiastic Agnitians, 16 Kilometer of rafting amalgamated with of cliff jumping and ever existing "rapids” tantamount to 44 hours of incomparable fun .One can imagine how it feels to wake up one early morning to find yourself ready to play volleyball with your colleagues on the beaches of mother Ganga.

After Volleyball it was time for rappelling and mountain climbing, which most of the guys managed well. The activity exhausted most of the agnitians. It would be a crime if I don’t mention the treacherous path of the camp from the road down to the beach. One had to put handsome amount of efforts to reach the road from the camp. Most of the guys even discarded the idea of trekking after lunch.

Still some daring agnitians stood up for the challenge of trekking @ Neer kutto waterfall. It was around 2 PM and temperature was always going up, with 
some extra efforts we could reach the first milestone reservoir and enjoyed the bath there, but then weather took the U-turn and it started hailing and we couldn't reach the top.

Temperature had taken a dip in ice cold water after that rain and beach camp distance being hardly at 3-4 meters from the river bank was already giving jitters to us for the night to follow. To add to this, while retiring to bed we noticed that the zip was missing from the tent and we observed a real cold night :(.

 Next morning we were up for the rafting. From the many options available for rafting at Rishikesh like Bramhapuri, Shivpuri, Byasi, Kaudiyala Etc. we opted for most popular stretch i.e. Shivpuri to Rishikesh 16 kms rafting run, that has grade 4 rapids like Roller coaster & Golf Course, Initialization. We started from Shivpuri in 3 rafts. For the guys who were not the first timer, biggest adventure was en route rafting i.e. “Cliff Jump”. Only a couple of guys could manage  that.

As you stand at the cliff for jumping, the look downstream is unnerving. The thought that the 'diving' Ganga, the life-giver, the mother, the goddess, the benefactor could be forty feet deep and suck into the inners of her belly is baffling as the romance meets reality.

But as one dives into the river, the goddess is endearing all over again.