Well that's one of my favorite places in India. It maybe took a leader place in my heart because that was the first trip I did in India and went back 2 more times.
Rishikesh is a holy city in the Himalayas east from Delhi and on the Ganga river. By holy, it means a lot of temples, no alcohol sold there and a lot of yoga and meditation places.
First time I went there it was by the end of January for a weekend trip (as we didn't have enough vacations there we were usually travelling the weekends) and we have travelled for 6h from Chandigarh until there.
The funny part of the story: when we are very close to the city (around 10km away) we needed to cross a jungle. We got stopped by the traffic police saying us that the road was closed because elephants were sleeping on the road and there was no way to move them... I loved this explanation... this is something really makes India a charming place.
We finally reached the hotel and I remember that outside was freaking cold but in the hotel rooms it was even colder ... second thing which makes India charming :)
The next two days we explored the city (visiting different temples), giving food the monkeys which were invading the bridges over Ganga, looking for different picture spots etc. We were quite a big group and so we made many small groups for visiting. I think this was the moment I became very close to Mato & Robin... and I am still close to them :)
This is the place I also tried the Ginger Lemon Tea... maybe one of the best teas I have ever drunk.
I could definitely tell that Rishikesh seems like a hippy place... or at least all the foreigners we met there were looking like that :).
Rishikesh is a holy city in the Himalayas east from Delhi and on the Ganga river. By holy, it means a lot of temples, no alcohol sold there and a lot of yoga and meditation places.
First time I went there it was by the end of January for a weekend trip (as we didn't have enough vacations there we were usually travelling the weekends) and we have travelled for 6h from Chandigarh until there.
The funny part of the story: when we are very close to the city (around 10km away) we needed to cross a jungle. We got stopped by the traffic police saying us that the road was closed because elephants were sleeping on the road and there was no way to move them... I loved this explanation... this is something really makes India a charming place.
We finally reached the hotel and I remember that outside was freaking cold but in the hotel rooms it was even colder ... second thing which makes India charming :)
The next two days we explored the city (visiting different temples), giving food the monkeys which were invading the bridges over Ganga, looking for different picture spots etc. We were quite a big group and so we made many small groups for visiting. I think this was the moment I became very close to Mato & Robin... and I am still close to them :)
This is the place I also tried the Ginger Lemon Tea... maybe one of the best teas I have ever drunk.
I could definitely tell that Rishikesh seems like a hippy place... or at least all the foreigners we met there were looking like that :).
Second time I went there it was in march when the weather was much warmer almost summer... what can I tell about this time... well nothing except that I met one of my closest friends and greatest person in my life: Gutcha. He had arrived only several days ago and wanted to go for a weekend.
We went there with Janka (Hungarian girl), Iliada (Swedish/Greek representative), Gutcha and me.
The Rafting experience:
First day we went for rafting in Ganga River. First time for me doing such a thing... quite excited about it but a little bit stressed in the meantime especially when leaving the city of Rishikesh with the pickup and the boat on it, then trying the life vest and the helmet... well hopefully we were joking and laughing all the time and we had a chance to have a nice instructor who explained us very well the rafting experience (such as it was straight coming: "Rafting for nuts") in 2 words: "Row" and "calm" :)
There were three possible distances we went for the middle one about 13km which took us several hours. It was really a nice experience as we had enough time to relax, jump into the water, to row hard and enjoy the landscapes surrounding us.
Interesting fact: Ganga river is a holy river ... jumping in it from the boat was making me feel purified ... or at least trying to believe so:)
In the afternoon we had enough time visit some more temples and meet the sunset. The girls were quite excited about going to yoga class the day after. With Gutcha we also seemed motivated but that was before we started playing drinking games ... I still don't know how the girls managed to wake up the day after at 6 or 7 am... in any case with Gutcha we preferred to go and get our bodies purified in one of the temples once the girls got back. I think this also was the moment when we became so good friends with Gutcha... we could call it destiny.
We then left Rishikesh in the late afternoon
Funny part: that was the second time for me in Rishikesh, and the second time I was forgetting (and never founding it back) my phone charger or headsets, but so many nice memories in my head I couldn't forget ...
We went there with Janka (Hungarian girl), Iliada (Swedish/Greek representative), Gutcha and me.
The Rafting experience:
First day we went for rafting in Ganga River. First time for me doing such a thing... quite excited about it but a little bit stressed in the meantime especially when leaving the city of Rishikesh with the pickup and the boat on it, then trying the life vest and the helmet... well hopefully we were joking and laughing all the time and we had a chance to have a nice instructor who explained us very well the rafting experience (such as it was straight coming: "Rafting for nuts") in 2 words: "Row" and "calm" :)
There were three possible distances we went for the middle one about 13km which took us several hours. It was really a nice experience as we had enough time to relax, jump into the water, to row hard and enjoy the landscapes surrounding us.
Interesting fact: Ganga river is a holy river ... jumping in it from the boat was making me feel purified ... or at least trying to believe so:)
In the afternoon we had enough time visit some more temples and meet the sunset. The girls were quite excited about going to yoga class the day after. With Gutcha we also seemed motivated but that was before we started playing drinking games ... I still don't know how the girls managed to wake up the day after at 6 or 7 am... in any case with Gutcha we preferred to go and get our bodies purified in one of the temples once the girls got back. I think this also was the moment when we became so good friends with Gutcha... we could call it destiny.
We then left Rishikesh in the late afternoon
Funny part: that was the second time for me in Rishikesh, and the second time I was forgetting (and never founding it back) my phone charger or headsets, but so many nice memories in my head I couldn't forget ...
The third time I went there was already one of my last trips in India - May 2011... it was the equivalent of summer for Europe as the temperatures were reaching easily the 35ies.
We went back Rishikesh this time especially for the Rafting and wanted to do the biggest trip: 23km. We were a big team this time maybe as big as the first time we went there as we managed to have two full boats for us.
This time we had time to enjoy more the river, the landscapes and some wild beaches from where we could jump into the water.
Really amazing experience!
We went back Rishikesh this time especially for the Rafting and wanted to do the biggest trip: 23km. We were a big team this time maybe as big as the first time we went there as we managed to have two full boats for us.
This time we had time to enjoy more the river, the landscapes and some wild beaches from where we could jump into the water.
Really amazing experience!
Conclusion:
Being to Rishikesh 3 times made the city one of my favorite destination in India because of the culture, the activities but also because of the people I went there with. I would love to go back there one day with all those memories :)
Being to Rishikesh 3 times made the city one of my favorite destination in India because of the culture, the activities but also because of the people I went there with. I would love to go back there one day with all those memories :)