Himalayas is a natural draw. What other destination could offer you the mountains, rapidly flowing rivers, valleys, gorges, caves, religious places of significance, a holiday paradise unparalleled. For someone who has been treated with these myriad offerings, coming again is but natural.
We had dreamt of spending a while at the beach of the mighty Ganges sans the trappings of modern day facilities; to be close to nature as much as practicable. With that set in mind, we booked ourselves with Getupandgo to a location some 30 k.m. from Rishikesh. We were received at Rishikesh on the 29th January and driven to the destination where what awaited us was something that we were not ready for. Ganga was lapping the beaches set in a valley with fairly tall hills on either side.
The river was pristine, jade green in hue, sublime and reigning supreme as the Goddess of all that she purveys. Unmistakably one gets the feeling of the largeness of one’s own inner space, standing at the beach and taking in the sight. Stay meant we were in tents that were anchored on the white beach sands with comfortable beds – two set in one tent. Creature comforts spelt minimalism in font size 40! Chemical toilets were something that one had to get used to. If one felt like having a shower, there were unpretentious shower cubicles to indulge in that adventure but with temperature hovering between 9 deg C in the night and 20 deg C in the day there was hardly any compulsion to try to douse oneself.
Since the holiday calendar was a clear six weeks away we didn’t expect to see many guests but we were surprised, somewhat pleasantly, that we were all alone! That meant we got pampered by the hosts – from sumptuous breakfasts to savvy snacks to delectable dinner spreads.
The white water rafting experience was serene though the adventure quotient was a little lower than certain other river valleys particularly the Beas in Himachal Pradesh. To compensate the river is wider; calmer which enables you to take the plunge and float or swim and is less demanding on the sinews and muscles as the raft meanders through the bends in the river.
Rishikesh and Haridwar abound in places of interest for the religious. We took the byzantine streets of Rishikesh by foot and were rewarded abundantly with scenes from an era that belonged a century ago; smells and sounds typical for that town; looking at trinkets that you want to possess for posterity. The visit to Haridwar was mooted by the compulsion to visit one temple that is popular and we took the Manasa Devi temple perched atop a hillock. Later we assembled in time at the ghat for that indelible impression that the evening arthi provides; where man glorifies mother Ganga, the eternally flowing river as the life-giver.
The experience overall was enriching. Team Getupandgo is hands-on and very warm, making the escapade even more exciting.
By: P. Ramakrishna
