River Rafting, Rishikesh

• Camping next to Ganges has been stopped by NGT now. Still there are camping options nearby.
•  It is better to book the entire package with camping like food, rafting etc.
• Rishikesh is not walking distance, it makes sense to cover the city on return leg.

It was the first long drive from my car. I was excited. Piyush and Animesh agreed to share the risk and hence we started on the weekend of the Christmas of 2008. Disaster struck within 2 hours of our departure. Thanks to low visibility, my car was hit by a Santro and all of us were down - the fun was supposedly gone.

Sad me with first dent in my car

We reached Rishikesh by 1 and realized that the damage was not much. That somehow lifted our spirit. We booked for a riverside camp and ate our lunch there. By 4 we were flowing on a raft in the Ganges. 

Camp next to Ganges @ Shivpuri

There were several rapids and most of them were able to push us flat on the floor of the raft however we tried to balance ourselves. That was hair-raising fun.

Rafting team

We came back by 7 and dried ourselves in our respective camps. A bonfire was prepared at the centre of the camp and delicious snacks were being served. That it was a cold December made the arrangement perfect. Later we had a tasty dinner far superior to our expectations. We slept hard as the day was exhausting.

Morning view of Ganges, Shivpuri

Next morning we woke up in the middle of hills and a river. We left the camp by 8 and reached the Rishikesh city for breakfast by 9 AM. it was planned at the famous Chotiwala. The servings were average. We tried Gita Bhavan for some sweets and became instant admirers of the place. 

Ram Jhula

Post some photo-shoots on Ram Jhula we started back for Delhi and were back to our respective homes by 5 in the evening.

Tughlakabad Fort

It was Bachcha's idea to go for the Tughlakabad Fort. Google maps suggested it was almost in our backyard. It was a mistake and we realized that after an hour of leaving home when there was no fort nearby to us. Eventually we reached the gates and realized it was on the Mehrauli Badarpur Road although not very conspicuous.

We entered the fort area and after some shoots, tried to do something different. The walls of fort are tricky. We started moving on this and reached one corner of the fort complex. The view from there was awesome. We could see the walls of Tughlakabad Fort going for miles. It was time to take few royal pictures.

We did not return back and kept moving forward on the walls seeking an exit. It came after some exploration and it directly took us to the top of the fort which was kind of a plateau. We could see the entire complex from here. In the shade of dying sun, the ruins looked all the more enchanting.

We tried to visit another part of this fort which was at some distance and captured various shades of twilight before deciding to go for the Chicken Parathas and Macaroni at Tankoos.

Mumbai

Trip: Bangalore > Pune > Lonavala > Mumbai > Gandhinagar > Udaipur > Ranakpur > Chittorgarh > Ajmer > Jaipur > Delhi

No city represents true India better than Mumbai. The disparity in every dimension of life is breathtaking here. Visit a night club and you may find the most expensive luxuries of life in abundance. Visit a slum and you will have a lifetime of pictures and images to remember. So what should a tourist do here?

Lion Point @ Lonavala