Was always thinking of going to Kolad, near Mumbai for Rafting in the dam released water but luckily had some project in Gurgaon for more than 2 weeks and as weekend was inbetween the work days, me and my colleague decided to go to Rishikesh for the real deal of White Water Rafting in the Holy Ganges.
Rishikesh a small sleepy town on the banks of Ganges which is around 224 KMS from Delhi ISBT (Inter State Bus Terminus) is where all the major activities of White Water Rafting takes place. Now I shall describe on how we travelled to Rishikesh and what were the day schedule.
We decided to leave early in the afternoon, left around 12:30 Pm after having a good breakfast at Haldiram's in Gurgaon. After 60 Kms ride through New Delhi and Old Delhi we reached ISBT in one and half hour. Entered the massive ISBT and were asking people where will we get buses for Haridwar or Rishikesh also deep in our heart we were hoping we get a Air Conditioned bus but then we hear a sweet words "Haridwar Rishikesh Haridwar Rishikesh" from a torn down bus conductor. We ask him once and hop on.
Note: ISBT is one those massive bus terminals whe breuses ply from Delhi to almost every city 500+ kms from there. You can reach anytime and you can get a bus to anywhere 24 hours. And it is the starting point so you do get a place to sit also.
The bus had cushion seats and like an idiot I selected a window seat on top of back wheel. So could not get good leg room. Note: Always sit next on the first seat next to the door has ample leg room. The tickets cost Rs. 177 only and after 7 hours running through wrong side and off the road we reached Haridwar.
Our trip was taken care by The Great Himalayan Expedition and as we reached late we had to take a car for Rs. 600 to Marine Drive (one of the sandy beaches on Ganges). We got off after 25 Kms ride to the beach and a raft came to ferry us on the other side. Where we see lots of tents and people joking and singing and drinking.
We were assisted towards our tent which had a big cot and blankets. After having dinner which had veg and non veg fare was quite good. After relaxing a bit by the river we went off to sleep
Note: Things to carry, hand sanitisers, soaps, tissue papers, torch and medicines and top of the list should be alcohol (if you drink)
Got up around 7 am and we were told the next raft moves out at 10 am while we did our morning stuff and had a hearty meal. We were introduced to our Leader, Ram Singh who was going to guide us on the rough and beautiful Ganges.
We were first told all the things about the raft, the oar and what are the different terms.
There are around 9+ Rapids on the 25 Km Rafting trip, will try to name each of them
- Balance : one of the easier rapids where we were told to stand on the raft edge and it was pure fun to hold your balance
- 3 Blind Mice: 3 rapids one after another with difficulty increaing on each one.
- Back to Center: Another simple one with bit of bump inbetween.
- Roller Coaster: The big Daddy of all if you are right in center of it you can be hit by huge waves on your face and at times lose your balance.
- Golf Course : Similar to Roller Coaster but a bit smaller we missed out on the main surge.
There are 4 more which I currently cannot remember the name of. Icing on the cake would be the 25 feet clifff jump where we saw lots of guys reaching the edge and backing out.
And the end of the day after paddling forward and backward and swimming in the river made us a tired bunch.
The total cost for us was Rs. 1600 for Staying and rafting, traveling was around 1000 from Gurgaon to Gurgaon and all the experience was priceless.
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