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My first Adventure trip to Rishikesh

Located on the banks of the river Ganga, Rishikesh is considered to be a place for religious people around India and people from Foreign Nations. It is mainly known for Yoga, Meditation and its sacred & historic temples. However, many of them don’t know that Rishikesh is not only a top religious place in India, but also one of the biggest Adventure Destination in India. It is also called as the ‘ Adventure Capital of India ‘.

My first Adventure trip to Rishikesh 

I am currently based in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh(55 km from New Delhi). It was a weekend and I planned to visit Delhi to get a bit of change from the usual monotonous life. I reached my friend’s place on Friday evening and it all began there.

Plan & Execution

Me and my friend were sitting and discussing about some wonderful trips we had in past. We have visited places like Nainital, Dharamshala & Mcleodganj together. As both of us like visiting new places and Adventure Sports, something was going on the back of our mind. I asked my friend if we could plan a short trip somewhere around Delhi may be within 200 km as I had to reach back home till Sunday Evening.

Three Idiots

Whenever I think of visiting a place, first thing that comes to my mind is a ‘Hill Station’. Recently, I heard about a small Hill Station called Dhanaulti where you can enjoy the Hills as well as a bit of Adventure Sports. It was already 6 p.m. , so after a short discussion we planned to start our journey for Dhanaulti immediately as we had to get back till Sunday Evening.

Road Route & Haults

We started out Journey from Sarita Vihar(Delhi) towards Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad Via Akshardham. We already started late and 6:30 p.m. is considered to be leaving time for Office for majority of the working people in Delhi. So, we were stuck in long Traffic Jams and it took us almost 2 hours to reach Ghaziabad.

Traffic Jam

We were travelling by my Wagon R Green which has a company fitted CNG. So, to make our journey a bit economic we refueled the car at a Gas Station near Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad at 8:30 p.m.

Delhi to Rishikesh

At about 10 p.m., we passed through the exteriors of Meerut City on the Delhi – Dehradun Highway. The road from Meerut to Muzaffarnagar is just awesome. So, we covered this 60 km run from Meerut to Muzaffarnagar without even applying brakes. We thought that we would get the same quality of road till Dehradun. But, just 10 km after crossing Muzaffarnagar the road condition was pathetic. This made us think that we would not be able to reach Dhanaulti even till 3 pm. So, we planned to take a hault at Roorkee which is at a distance of about 53 kms from Muzaffarnagar.

We saw the time and it was about 10:50 p.m and we were a bit hungry too. We stopped at at a roadside dhaba and took a parcel of Aaloo ka Paratha as we did not wanted to sit and waste our time at the dhaba. We moved towards Roorkee at 11:15 pm and reached Roorkee exactly at 1:00 am. Without wasting our time we booked a hotel near Roorkee Bus Stand.

Important information for CNG fitted Cars : Please note that if you are travelling by a CNG Car, you will not get any CNG stations in Uttarakhand. So, whether you are travelling to Dehradun, Mussoorie, Dhanaulti, Rishikesh, Haridwar or Roorkee you would not see any CNG Stations after Meerut City. Location of last CNG Station on Delhi – Dehradun Highway is Opposite to Subharti University, Meerut.

Plan Change at Roorkee

Before sleeping at out Hotel Room, we discussed our plan again. My friend told me that there is a popular place nearby called Rishikesh, which is a major Adventure Sports destination in North India. I always knew of Rishikesh as a religious destination so I was not fully convinced.

After a bit of research on Google I was fully convinced by my friend. Our plan changed from there on and we planned to move towards Rishikesh the very next Morning(Saturday) at about 12 p.m. Rishikesh is at a distance of about 51 km from Roorkee Via Haridwar. So now instead of Dhanaulti it was going to be an adventure trip to Rishikesh.

You might be thinking about the Road Route we took was not that good. But it is still best best choice available and why am I saying that ? For the Answer to this Question, You must read about the Best Road Route from Delhi to Rishikesh.

Adventure Booking

We reached Rishikesh at about 2 p.m. We saw a large number of Adventure Sports Offices there and we planned to make a stop at one of them, Himgiri Adentures. They offered almost all of the best Adventure Sports you could think of including Rock Climbing, Rappeling, Bungy Jumping, River Crossing, Giant Swing, River Rafting, Different types of Camping and a lot more. River Rafting is the most popular and quite inexpensive Adventure Sport activity in Rishikesh. Dont miss out on Rafting if you ever plan an adventure trip to Rishikesh.

You may like to Read : List of 10 Best Adventure Sports in Rishikesh

Rishikesh Route

We did not had much choice as we had only 1 single day to do whatever we can. So, we decided to opt for River Rafting at the pure and sacred Ganges and a Beach Camping near Shivneri. Our Package included Rafting & Camping with Snacks and Dinner(With the option of Veg/Non-Veg). It costed us around Rs.1200/head for this quite inexpensive and extraordinary package.

We were lucky that we reached Rishikesh on 29th of June, as Rafting is closed at Rishikesh in the Months of July and August due to Monsoon.

Rafting Experience

Himgiri Travels asked us to reach one of their offices in half an hour where we would be taken for Rafting. At about 3:00 p.m., We reached the spot from where we had to start our Rafting. We went on the weekend and its really difficult to find a Parking Place on Weekends. So, it is advisable to reach Rishikesh as early as possible so that there are no hassles finding a safe parking place for your vehicle.

Rafting in Rishikesh
Rafting in Rishikesh” by Anirudh Singh is licensed under CC BY 2.0

We had to share our raft with a group of college going students. We were all given a 5 minute training about rafting like we need to sit on the edge of the raft, how should we hold the paddle, when to take a pause etc. Everyone heard the trainer very carefully, but I knew that no one will be able to follow any of the rules 🙂

We were also given a dry bag where we could keep our belongings like Mobile Phones, Wallets etc. Unfortunately, we did not know about the dry bag, so we left our Mobile Phones and Wallet in the car.

Rafting in Rishikesh

Finally, the raft was pushed in the rapid flow of Ganges. We all started moving our paddle swiftly and the raft also moved with the flow. After a minute or so, we saw a very high tide and our raft went down and moved up again. We all shouted with extreme joy ! It was fun also to compete with other people rafting around us. The nature of water changed every minute in the river. You will find calm water somewhere and suddenly you might see high tide and rapid flow of water. But I tell you, the most enjoyable moment of Rafting is in these tides.

In the Ganga Rafting

Near Laxman Jhula, we got to see some calm water again. Where the trainer told us that we could get down into the river holding the ropes attached to the raft. Though all had life jackets on their chest, no one really dared to get into the River. A boy from the group jumped into the water first and slowly everyone started jumping one by one. Finally, Me and my friend also jumped into the Water. The water was really cold. They were all taking photographs of each other. As we did not carry our Mobile Phones we asked them to click our pics and send them back to us on Watsapp.

This experience of about 12 km of Rafting was Superb ! I really cannot describe it in words. You should definitely try it whenever you plan an adventure trip to Rishikesh.

Camping Experience

Parking on Road Side Rishikesh Camping
Parking on Road Side Rishikesh Camping” by Anirudh Singh is licensed under CC By 2.0

It was already 5:30 pm and we headed towards Himgiri Adventure Camp. It was located some 8-10 km ahead of Rishikesh and we reached the camp till 6 pm. We had to park our vehicle on the side of the road and get down to the camp near the river. I clicked some pictures of the situation to give you a clear idea. Though leaving our vehicle on the road side just like that made feel it was unsafe. But we didn’t had any choice because we could not take the car down the hill with us for Beach Camping.

Camping in Rishikesh
Camping in Rishikesh” by Anirudh Singh is licensed under CC BY 2.0

We managed to get down 5 to 7 minutes and found this Amazing Camp. This camp was located just besides the river Ganga in a fresh and lovely atmosphere. It had a Volleyball & a Badminton Court and some 40-50 camps. The prime attraction of this place was the beach side seating arrangement. It was really an awesome place to be.

Lanterns used in Camping, Rishikesh
Lanterns used in Camping, Rishikesh” by Anirudh Singh is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The place did not had electricity nor it had any Mobile Towers, So you would not get any signals. If you have an Airtel Sim, you might be lucky to get some signals sometime. We were given lanterns for a bit of lighting. So, for once you will feel quite disconnected from the external world. But me and my friend found it quite interesting stay. There are some other Camps which also have Electricity, DJ Music and other things for Entertainment. However, our Camp was a bit peaceful.

Beach Camping Location in Rishikesh
Beach Camping Location in Rishikesh” by Anirudh Singh is licensed under CC BY 2.0

As soon as we arrived we were allotted a camp. We kept our luggage in the Camp and walked for a short survey of the place. The kitchen guys told us

that we would be getting our snacks in some time. In 10 minutes, snacks were served to us which included Pakodas, Papads & Chillie Paneer. The quantity of the snacks was so much that it could even serve 4 people. Anyhow, we managed to finish half of the snacks and a kitchen boy asked us whether we would like to have veg or non-veg for dinner. We ordered for some Non-Veg.

Getting to the Camp, Rishikesh
Getting to the Camp, Rishikesh” by Anirudh Singh is licensed under CC BY 2.0

After having half of the snacks we got down near the river to see the Beach Side seating arrangement. It was just out of the World feeling to be there. The Camp guys set a Bonfire at this place for us which made the place more beautiful. We sat at that place for 3-4 hours and the cool breeze and lovely sound of the water made us feel on top of the World.

At 12 p.m we went to sleep in our Camp as we had to wake up earning Morning to get back to life. It was a very short and unplanned but lovely trip to remember for years to come.

This was it ! Our Adventure Trip to Rishikesh was full of fun and quite inexpensive as well 🙂

Suggestions

1. Start your Journey as early in the day as possible so that you have the Complete day with you. Rishikesh is about 6-7 hour Journey from Delhi with normal Traffic.

2. Last Refueling Station for CNG Vehicles on Delhi-Dehradun Highway is at Meerut.

3. Keep your Mobile Phones and Wallet with you while going for Rafting. These items can be kept safely in the Raft in a Dry Bag.

4. Be prepared that you would not be getting any Mobile Signals while you are in a Camp. So if you want to make any calls, you should make it up the Hill or in the City.

5. If you are going to Rishikesh specially for rafting, don’t go there in the month of July or August as Rafting is closed for these 2 months.

Hope you liked to read about my Adventure Trip to Rishikesh. If you have any feedback, questions or want to share your experience, you can leave your comments below.

Don’t forget to check out crystal world water park if you are in or around Rishikesh :

Also, Check out Vlog about Road Trip to Rishikesh and Offbeat Camping 28 kms from Rishikesh City :

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About Anirudh Singh

Anirudh Singh is a passionate blogger and the man behind Amazing India Blog. He has 5 years of experience in the newspaper industry and he founded Amazing India Blog in 2015. Apart from writing and editing articles on Travel, Business and Technology at Amazing India Blog, he also contributes to other well known newspapers and online news blogs.