Day-9 & Day-10: Travel at Rishikesh, Haridwar & Delhi

Day-9 & Day-10: June 19^th, Travel at Rishikesh, Haridwar & Delhi It was the day geared up for doing rafting at Rishikesh and attending the famed arti ritual service for mother Ganges at Haridwar. River rafting at Rishikesh is renowned all over the world and is considered one of the best for it's easy access to level-4 rapids(level-1 is easy and level-6 is toughest). Rishikesh is also sometimes referred to as “World Capital of Yoga” as there innumerable number of Yoga centers available here which teach different types of Yoga. Our hotel manager arranged rafting service for us and we were given three options: 2-hour rafting which would cover 8 km, 4-hour which would cover 16 km and 8-hour rafting which covers 24 km. He told that the first one will not offer much thrill and it is mostly done by families and advised us to go either for second or third options. As we didn't had much time, we opted for the second one and we traveled 10-12 km to reach the base point where we will be starting rafting.

There were many groups who came to do rafting here and we had to wait for some time before we could enter the boat. We were given life jackets and helmet for protection and a paddle for each. We had to split into two groups as the boat can accommodate only 8 of us. We were accompanied by a guide who gave us some basics in rowing while rafting and made us comfortable by making us to practice some basic lessons. We had to drop our cell phones and cameras in a dry bag as water is going to get all over the boat. 

Once we were on the river, we started rowing and the flowing river made our job much easier before we faced our first rapid where we popped in, out, over the rapid within a few seconds. We were in a state of adrenaline rush and eagerly waiting for the next rapids. At some places along the river, the rapids were so turbulent that our boat got elevated and we needed to do sharp maneuvers to prevent our boat from capsizing. After facing some rough and more turbulent rapids, we came on a point where the turbulence of the river reduced and we could do diving there. We enjoyed as much swimming in the flowing river as on the boat during the rapids. We came to a point where we can do cliff jumping and all of us enjoyed it. Actually while jumping from the cliff, you have to be straight into the water but Pavan fell flat on the river which hurt him. It was  a thrilling experience doing rafting as well as cliff jumping and one should miss them if they are going to tour Rishikesh. At the end, we got down at Laxman jula and took a holy dip in the river even though we got completely wet during the rafting.

We traveled to Haridwar after having lunch and were able to reach before the arti service. We have to wait for some time as the pooja was going to be performed at 7.00 PM . The place was so much crowded that it was almost impossible to pass through them. Luckily, we were able to squeeze through the crowd and witness the arti from close-by and offered our prayers to maa Gangamayi. After the crowd has dispersed, we took a holy bath in the river Ganga as it said that whoever takes a dip here, all his sins will be cleansed away.

We left for Delhi at around 10.00 PM and the next day we visited Akshardham temple. As the main temple was closed , we couldn't enjoy much. Even the temperature was around 44 degrees which made the visit altogether a bad one. After having our lunch at Pizza hut we boarded the flight to Bangalore.

And regarding the trek, it was a great and diversified one as we came across alpine forests, beautiful meadows, rocky mountains and icy paths. Never I have seen a trek with so many elements of nature blended into one. Even though I told my friends that Roopkund trek is my last, I still get mesmerized by the beauty of the majestic Himalayas and I simply cannot refuse any future treks.

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Day-8: Loharjung - Rishikesh

Day-8: June 19^th, Loharjung to Rishikesh We started the day cracking PJs and enjoying ourselves with gossips. All of us were in jovial mode. I called up home to inform my whereabouts after which I got good bashing from my mother for being on the trip without any connectivity for 4 to 5 days. We met our guide and made payments to him for the trek after which he informed us that he is going to lead another group to Roopkund two days latter and we conveyed our best wishes to him.

Later we started ourselves for Rishikesh( in a single jeep) after having a good breakfast. At Karnaprayag, we had to split ourselves into 9+2 and were looking for those 2 bakra guys who have to travel together. Some people argued that who ever joined the group last had to travel separately. Hari and Aswin were ruled out as they had already traveled on the way to Loharjung. I suggested that we should single out those 2 guys based on lottery system and we adopted it immediately. We gave our driver to pick those two guys names and everybody was in a tense mood as they don't want their names to come up. At last, Raju and Karthik were the destined people to be chosen by fate :-) as they were one of those guys who didn't agree to the lottery system initially. Later they informed us they enjoyed very much in the bus as they had the chance to sleep well.
 

On the way, we stopped at Devprayag to have a look again at the sangam of Alakananda and Bhagirathi(actually, we got down here to have some refreshments :-) ). By the time we reached Rishikesh, it was around 7.00 PM and it took some time to find a lodge as the guys who went to look out for them were in conflict with each other on the room features. We went to a nearby Gujarati restaurant and pampered ourselves with tasty food after a long time. Initially, Pavan refused to eat anything and only ordered lassi but latter joined us as he couldn't stop his temptations.

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Day-7: Bedni Bugyal - Loharjung

Day-7: June 18^th, Bedni Bugyal(~ 11300 ft) to Loharjung(~ 7900 ft) via Wan This was the day , I could clearly remember, when everyone of us were in their jovial mode. After remaining silent for so many days, Hari came out of hibernation and starting cracking PJs. Even Pavan was in the same state. We thanked our porters once again and started walking towards Wan, the village from where our guide is from.

The trail was a zig-zig route through forests and we took shortcuts to get down faster which hurt our knees badly. At some point, we could see Wan village through the forests which gave us relief that it may not be more than few hours before we reach there. It took us 2 hours to reach Wan river where we took a break to enjoy the captivating greenery. During any trek, one feels refreshing whenever he meets a source of water and takes pleasure in playing with it.

After walking through some difficult routes, we were left thinking how people start their trekking from Wan village. The route we took (Loharjung → Tolpani → Bedni) was much better and easier than the route from Wan to Bedni Bugyal. The idea of trekking from Wan itself was a bad one and one should not use this route at all to trek till Bedni Bugyal. After we reached Wan village, me, Murali and Vasanth took bath near a water tank and it was great to have cold water bath after a long and tiring trek as it refreshes your mind and body. We settled accounts with our guide and porters and Raju offered an extra amount to the porter who carried his rucksack. From here, we traveled in a jeep loaded with 14 people inside and 4 guys on the top which is common in some villages as the public transport is poor. As the roads were pathetic and the jeep heavily loaded, it took us 1 hour to reach Loharjung. When we got down, all our bags were dusty and we had to take bath to clean ourselves. 

At night, me, Karthik and Murali went out to have some snacks and we ate 3 samosas per person. When we informed the other guys that samosas were really tasty, they hurried themselves to the hotel but they had to share a single samosa and they craved for each piece of it. Later, the shop-owner informed them that 3 guys came before them(we were those 3 guys) and finished all the samosas.

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