One day trip to Rishikesh

When we heard of our friend’s sister’s wedding coming soon, our brains had all the escapade ideas popping out. And so we were bemused to decide what could we do. After hours of discussions as to what better could we do to make these 4 days the most astonishing days for us and so we came to a conclusion to go for a one-day road trip to the city of lord of the senses and ultimate destination for yoga, Rishikesh.

Our drapetomania from our busy college days started on a day prior to the wedding. We were agog for the phone call to be made early morning to meet up! And as our excitement did not let us sleep the night before while keeping us on call to have a glance at our checklist.

My Rishikesh Trip

Though we knew the place we had to stay in but we did not book it as it was off-season and one of our’s acquaintance as well. Early morning when our trip began, all three of us were ready with our backpacks and kept everything in our ride of the day i.e Maruti Swift.
We had several stops to take breaks and stretch ourselves (and to exchange our places too) in this long yet aeonian journey of about 5-6 hours via NH44. We left at 9 in the morning and luckily the weather was gloomy enough to give us the actual ‘trip vibe’.

1) So on our way, the first was a petrol pump about 4-5 kilometres from Murthal where we thought of having the elysian start of the day with a cup of ‘chai’ from a small stall nearby. And trust me the stall chai would give you better taste than anywhere.

2) The next stop was our brunch stop somewhere near Roorkee named as Mahadev Dhaba (there are too many of the same name so you may not find it via google maps). We stodged over the Masala Maggie and toast. Afterwards, our last stop was the Gateway to Gods, Haridwar. The serenity of this place makes you halcyon in all its ways.

3) Due to time constraints, we couldn’t stay there for a longer period but staying on the bridge while seeing the beefed-up Lord Shiva Murty in the middle of holy river Ganga felt like an agelong period.

4) And finally, we left for our destination which was Adarsh gram in Rishikesh. Our stay was in Raj holidays adventure and camping. If we were to tell some reasons why to stay would be an amazing view, less crowd, mouth-watering food (they give amazing meals i.e breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner)

5) Separate rooms with clean washrooms and the best are the availability of speakers at affordable rates. We checked in since we had no plans and time for roaming around the city we stayed there and enjoyed the evening serenity talking and grooving over some of our favourite playlists. We also made some nice friends Kartik and his brother(around 6 to 7 yrs old) who were in camp adjacent to ours. The kalon is this place felt like nubivagance.

6) As the evening turned into night, the lights got brighter with the view even prettier. Since the place is about 1-2 km far from the residential area, we took a walk at 12 midnight(in search of some matchsticks). Walking down that mountain in the pitch-black night with that walwalun was just ludic enough to make it worth for us.

7) So, after a great great night, we woke up at 10 Am & it was time for a quick pack up as we realised, oh my we have a wedding to attend/crash and we couldn’t afford to be late even by a single minute.

8) We got done with the breakfast which was a large cup Tea(obvi & why not) & some stuffed paranthas with some curd on the side. By 11 am, we’re ready to roll but without getting clicked? I don’t think so!! We took out some time & clicked nearly about 200 photos before leaving, yes you read that right *200* & let’s not even talk about the whole *1-day Trip*.

9) We packed our stuff into the car and were all ready to crash the wedding. We decided to take a different route this time via the road that runs beside the Ganga canal which got us late but it was worth it.

10) We came across some beautiful places in between including small lakes, beautiful roads full of life and it was all topped off when it started drizzling with some heavy rain later topped with lightning. Suddenly it felt like a cluster of emotions, emotions like joy, bliss, love and what not !! It’s a feeling one could never pen down. We stopped there to suck it up all in.

On the roads again

It was a hot afternoon, we were driving non-stop and it was only a matter of time that we became hungry & decided to have brunch at a roadside Dhaba (the name even we don’t). Where we ordered some daal, rice and naan-don’t even ask about how it was but hey, it was bearable & we were quite starved so it didn’t matter much frankly.

On the road again, it started to feel like home as we entered Delhi and were headed towards Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, the wedding destination. Along the way, we had less time for the change of clothes so we stopped at a friend’s place where we already had our outfits all steamed and ready. We had a quick makeover and no time we were back on the road again. Sounds hectic right? Well, it was. Hectic, exhausting but WORTH IT.

Finally, we were able to make it to the wedding with some delays (obviously) but it was totally fine as we told everyone that it was the *traffic & not us*

Though it been about 7 months it still feels like a beautiful yestreen. Glad we could manage it all and make it meritoriously graved in our memories.

Ritika Chauhan

Ever seen a psychologist being adventurous? Ya, you heard it right, despite being a bonzer at *reading minds* as everybody perpetually perceives I am an affable and jocular person who loves exploring people, places and herself. My vagary of getting out of my comfort zones made me experience a lot of trouvailles. From being passionate about travelling to those scribbles and doodling I discovered myself. To know about some mirifical stories of escaping from the chaos to the search of tranquil; follow up!

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